Kiss
by foraworldundeserving
Summary: While the kiss in Original Song was oh-so-beautiful, there's millions of ways those two boys could have shared their first kiss. PROMPT FIC. COMPLETE.
1. Sleepover

**While the kiss in Original Song was oh so lovely, there's millions of ways that those two boys could have shared their first kiss.**

**This will be a series of one-shots showing what could have started Klaine. Some will be from earlier episodes in the show, some totally random AU moments, some from an established relationship, others not. I hope to cover all genres and thoroughly exhaust my obsession of these two boys locking lips (which may never happen).**

**I would love love love for people to give their ideas on what they want to see happen. Therefore, this is a prompt fic. I'll take any prompts I'm given :)**

**So here's the first story! This is a prompt from _Kasumi the Stargazer_ who posted three different prompts which I will joyfully work through. The prompt for this one: _Oh! Or you could make them kiss while Blaine is sleeping over at Kurt's in BIOTA, only he doesn't remember because he was drunk!_**

**So here's my take on it. Instead of making it a drunken kiss with no real meaning, I've made it so it's canon compliant (at least in my opinion) and possibly a stretch of the imagination but I adore it (yes, I will be the first to admit that I love my own stories - I just write what I think I'd love to read). When my friends talk about the parties they went and got wasted at, they mention the different types of drunks (kinda like the profile in BIOTA that Finn does for Rachel) and this isn't actually all that uncommon. I think Blaine would be the 'spill your soul' type person and I've gone from there. Enjoy!**

* * *

Sleepover

Kurt groans as he attempts to lug Blaine out the door of the party. Blaine whines, clutching at the doorframe. "But I wanna stayyyyyy!" he whines, digging his heels into the ground. "Finn gets t'stay."

"Yes, that's because Finn 'forgot' he was a designated driver and had some drinks and now he can't drive." There's a thud from inside and Rachel starts giggling. "And it sounds like he just passed out anyway, and he's a deadweight when he's out so he can just stay here and fend off Rachel's advances when he wakes up."

Kurt finally manages to detach the drunken boy from the doorframe and begins to tug him none-too-gently towards his car. Blaine is about to start complaining again when he sees the moon and begins to try and catch it. Kurt rolls his eyes and manages to drag Blaine to the car where he fumbles with his keys. Unlocking the door, he turns back to Blaine to find him trying to take off Kurt's shirt, _again_. "No, Blaine," Kurt says sternly, tugging his hands away from his shirt. "My clothes stay on. So do yours."

Blaine pouts but allows himself to be led into the car and have his seatbelt strapped on. Kurt kiddy-locks his door before shutting him in and walking over to his side. There's a crash from inside the house and Quinn's voice can be heard yelling something about monkeys. Kurt shakes his head and, not for the first time tonight, pats himself on the back for not drinking. He slips into the drivers seat and looks across at Blaine who is poking the dashboard with too much interest considering it isn't doing anything in response.

Kurt winds down the passenger window as he puts the Navigator into gear. "Blaine," he says sternly to the giggling boy beside him. "That window is down so you can be sick. If you feel like you're going to be sick, stick your head out the window. I will not be stopping so you can have the opportunity to try and fall out of my car. I am also not above throttling a drunk person if any vomit lands _inside_ my car. Understood?" And Blaine nods like the petulant three year old he appears to be.

Of course, the first time Blaine sticks his head out the window, Kurt pulls over instantly to make sure he's okay, wrinkling his nose as he pats the back of the vomiting boy.

* * *

Kurt turns off the engine and checks the time. 1:14. Okay, if his dad caught him coming in at this time, he'd be in trouble. If his dad caught him coming in with a drunk person, he'd really be in trouble. If his dad caught him coming in with a drunk _gay_ person, well, he probably wouldn't be allowed out of the house until he turned 25. This required subtlety.

"Blaine - Blaine!" he says to the boy beside him who has been staring vacantly out the window muttering something about cotton candy under his breath. "We're going to play a game, okay?"

And now he has the drunk boy's full attention. "I love games!" he exclaims enthusiastically. "Is it pass the parcel? Cause I'm good at that!"

Kurt sighs and wonders again why he loves this idiot. "No, it's not pass the parcel. It's - " he searches wildly for a good title and settles for the truth. "It's called 'keep away from the big scary sleeping man with a shotgun.' We have to be really quiet so he doesn't wake up and shoot you, okay?"

Blaine nods repeatedly until Kurt reaches over and stops him. "Okay," he says, hopping out of the car and opening Blaine's door to unbuckle his seatbelt for him. He crosses his fingers and hopes it works.

By some miracle, Blaine is better at being quiet when he's drunk than sober - possibly because he's not breaking into song all over the place. They make it to Kurt's room without incident and Kurt shuts the door behind them after quickly checking down the hall to make sure his dad and Carol's door is shut. He turns around to find Blaine jumping on his bed giggling his head off. Kurt just smiles and sits on the couch to watch him. It was times like these that Kurt really wants to see videos of Blaine as a child.

Blaine eventually gets sick of being a three year old and turns serious. He lies back on the bed and beckons for Kurt to join him. Kurt reluctantly gets up and sits on the bed beside Blaine. "Can we play truth or dare?" he asks.

Kurt wrinkles his nose. "No, honey, we played enough of that at the party -"

"You called me honey." Blaine looks far too pleased with this term of endearment. "I think you're like honey too. Sweet and soft and - and beautiful."

Kurt feels his breath catch in his throat because _did Blaine just call him beautiful?_

Blaine must see the look on Kurt's face because he sighs and sits up unsteadily, clutching Kurt's shoulder for balance. And Blaine may be off his face drunk, but there's something in his eyes that Kurt can't quite read, something that tells him that the boy is more aware right now than he is sober.

"Kurt, I'm not g'na remember any of this tomorrow. 's just the way I am. So - so I need to tell you this now because I know how sad it makes you when I don't seem to notice you being totally 'n love with me." Kurt hisses in a breath. "D'worry, I don't notice when I'm su-sober. Just like I don't notice that I'm in love with you too."

And Kurt thinks someone must have spiked his punch after all because there is _no way _ Blaine is lying in his bed telling him he loves him. No way.

"So I'll wake up tomorrow and won't remember any of this. And I'll probably keep being an idiot and not being can-cin- won't think about your feelings. But I _need_ you to know that the Blaine in here," he pats his chest unsteadily, "loves you. A lot. And some day, some awesome day, he's gonna wake up and realize and you two are gonna be so happy. But until then, you need to have courage."

And before he knows what's happening, Blaine is leaning towards him and _oh God, he's going to kiss me_ -

Their lips touch. And Kurt wants to cry because this _isn't _how he imagined he wanted his first kiss with Blaine to be but at the same time it's so perfect. And when Blaine finally gets his act together, they'll have another chance at it and Kurt will make damn sure that it's real perfection.

Blaine pulls away, smiles goofily and passes out.

Kurt just blinks. Once again, not _quite_ how he'd imagined it. And not how he'd planned the night to end up; he was going to put Blaine on his couch but Blaine looks so adorable lying there in his bed that he can't resist. He deliberates for a long moment whether to just curl up next to Blaine and damn the consequences in the morning ... but no. With a reluctant sigh and one last look at the sleeping boy, he flicks off the light and makes his way to the couch.

The room is quiet except for the sound of Blaine's breathing and Kurt imagines that some day that same sound will be repeated in a room of their own, except he actually _will_ be cuddled up next to Blaine. Until then, Kurt can only wait until the oblivious boy finally gets his act together.

Maybe someday, Kurt will tell him what went on tonight. For now, he can just let Blaine sweat over whether he did something really embarrassing or not.

And Kurt slips off to sleep with a small, hopeful smile.

* * *

**There you go _Kasumi the Stargazer, _hope you like it :) And everyone else of course! **

**I adore writing prompts so please keep them coming. I have three more to work through now but I'd love many more. Just to clarify, it doesn't have to be scenes from the show. It can totally ignore the kiss in _Original Song_ and be somewhere in the future, or at a random point in the timeline that isn't shown on screen. Let your imaginations go wild!**

**Please review with your ideas and feedback :)**


	2. Warehouse

**Yay for prompts! Thanks for the feedback on the last chapter, and to _Kasumi the Stargazer_, I'm so glad you liked it! And of course, everyone else too. But I do apologize for grossing some of you out with the fact that Blaine had been throwing up then kissed Kurt - I didn't even think of it when I wrote it! If it makes you feel better, just pretend/imagine in the scene break before they entered the house, Kurt got Blaine to drink some water or something. I'm sure that's what my subconscious did. **

**Okay, once again this one is from **_**Kasumi the Stargazer**_** and it's a two part request which I will break into two separate stories :) sooo, the prompt: **

_**And I kind of... Okay fine, REALLY REALLY wanted them to kiss in 'Sexy'... **__**Think you could make something out of that? **__**The part when they were alone in **__**the abandoned warehouse **__**(because come on, how hot would that be?) or the part **__**when they're alone in Kurt's room...**_

_**:D**_

**I actually totally forgot about **_**Animal**_** in all the hype of that episode and it was only when I got this prompt that I went back and listened to this song. I thought it was just Blaine singing it until Kurt chipped in and I almost fell off my bed. I only wish I could track down fictional Blaine, shake him by the shoulders and ask him how the hell he could NOT find Kurt sexy? His voice is intoxicating, when he sang 'you're killing me now,' with that almost **_**growl**_**, I swear I nearly swooned. So this is to the inner sexy Kurt. (and if anybody has a copy of that video, PLEASE YouTube it! All my other favourites are up (Misery FTW!) but that one isn't and I really want to see it.)**

**Oh, and watching Chris Colfer interviews just prove how sexy he really is. And his skills with the sai swords! (someone prompt that PLEASE!) Kinda makes me sad that he's playing for the other team and proves that saying that nearly all the good guys are gay (with the obvious exclusion of Darren Criss). Ah well, I'll stick to my fantasy world where I can have him do whatever I like. **

**Disclaimer: No, I don't own Glee, just what happens behind the scenes ;)**

* * *

_Warehouse_

As the giggling girls flounced off, Blaine turns to Kurt and can't help but stare for a moment. The boy looked like he'd just walked out of a 30's movie. On anybody else, Blaine would think it looked stupid. On _Kurt_ - well Blaine couldn't understand how he couldn't do sexy, especially with that _voice_... Maybe there was just something wrong with him today.

Speaking of which - "Are you alright?"

Kurt stops. "Yes, why?"

"Well you had some weird facial expressions during the song."

Kurt looks affronted. "Those were my sexy faces."

And Blaine can't help but raise an eyebrow because, _really?_ "Kurt, you looked like you had gas pain." The second it's out of his mouth, Blaine cringes because now Kurt looks like he's ready to explode.

"Great! How are we supposed to get on the stage at Regionals and sell 'sexy' to the judges when I have as much sex appeal and knowledge as a baby penguin?"

And now Blaine's really not sure what to think. "We'll figure something out," he manages. (1)

"Like what?" Kurt raises an eyebrow. "I have no sex appeal. I don't attract people and that's why I'm still alone. I can live with that, Blaine, but I don't want to get up there and show the entire world that that's the case."

Blaine opens and closes his mouth a few times. "Kurt.. wait? Are you serious?"

"You may be happy to perform regardless of your own feelings but I don't -"

"No, not that. Do you seriously think you don't attract people? And you're _okay_ with that?"

"Well what else can I do, Blaine?" Kurt huffs out a breath. "Am I meant to sit around and be miserable every day because I may very well be alone forever? I tried that, it got old fast. Just because you can get anybody you want doesn't mean we're all that lucky." And to Blaine's horror, Kurt is fighting back tears. "I should go."

Blaine reaches out an arm and grabs Kurt's hand as he turns to walk away. "Kurt. Wait, please."

He tugs Kurt over to the stage and sits down next to him.

"Kurt, I'm sorry I hit a nerve, but you've got it all wrong. There is no chance in hell that you'll be alone for the rest of your life, and no way can I get anybody I want. In fact, I haven't gotten anybody I've wanted yet. You know that. But this isn't about me, it's about you thinking you're unattractive."

Blaine watches as Kurt appears to shrink in on himself. He bites his lip for a moment before thinking _to hell with it_ and grabs his hand, running his thumb over the back of it gently.

"Kurt, I - I don't even have the _words_ to tell you how wrong you are. You are such an incredible person and there is nothing about you that isn't attractive." Kurt mutters something under his breath that sounds suspiciously like 'baby penguin faces,' and Blaine sighs. "Even when you were doing those faces, there was something that was still so attractive about you, because it's _you_, Kurt. You have the most impeccable fashion sense and look so damn near perfect every time I see you. But even when I come to get you in the morning and you're half dressed and your hair is a mess, you still look amazing."

And now Kurt's looking at him like he's never seen him before and Blaine can't tell if it's good or bad but he continues anyway because this stuff has been inside him for _so long_ and he has to tell him now.

"And don't get me started on your hair. It's just - wow. But on top of all of that, there's just you Kurt. Your personality, your wit, the way you have an answer for everything, how nobody sees you uncomposed unless you want it that way, how you put up with idiots like me for this long, and how you _just don't see how attractive you are_. Because, Kurt, I don't put my heart out on the line for just anybody, and I need you to see how amazing I think you are."

"So, Blaine, in a rambling mess of wonderful words, did you just essentially tell me you like me?"

And Blaine gulps because that's _exactly_ what he'd just done. But it's too late to take anything back now so he just lifts his head and nods.

Kurt grins. And Blaine started mentally hitting himself for not doing this sooner if it meant that Kurt would _smile_ like that. He was so caught up in his internal beration that he nearly misses Kurt's own confession.

" - and I thought I'd never have a chance with you after the whole Jeremiah escapade, but Wes said it would only be a matter of time before you got your act together and - "

"Wait wait!" Blaine holds up his hand looking bewildered. "You _knew_?"

"I hoped. Wes and David said they knew for sure, but David thought it would take someone close to me dying before you confessed anything (2). Wes agreed that you'd probably be comforting me but he hoped it wouldn't be so drastic. So .. oh, David owes Wes money now."

"They _bet_ on me?"

Kurt takes one look at Blaine's face and decides that changing the subject would be a good idea. "But hey, it's all out in the open now. And we're together now.. right?"

At the hesitant look on Kurt's face, Blaine rushes to assure him that they were indeed together, before remembering how this whole conversation started.

"As for the sexy stuff," Blaine waggled his eyebrows and Kurt hit him. "Ow! Anyway, what I was saying before I was so _rudely interrupted,_" Kurt sticks his tongue out. "All you need for that is a bit of .. practice."

And now Blaine's mouth is dry because _is Kurt really looking at him like he wants to jump on him and -_

Oh. Kurt's kissing him. Okay.

_Woah. Where did Kurt learn to kiss like __**that?**_

Kurt pulls away and gives Blaine a look as if to say _am I sexy yet?_

"Who gave you permission to _stop doing that_?" Blaine almost growls, launching himself at Kurt who, laughing, allows himself to be pushed backwards so they are half-lying on the stage.

The second kiss is even more passionate than the first, probably because Blaine manages to actually respond to this one. Kurt is nibbling on Blaine's bottom lip and then his tongue is inside Kurt's mouth and he actually _moans_ and that sound is the _best_ sound Blaine has ever heard come from Kurt. Neither of them care that they're on a hard wooden stage when they could be on a couch or a _bed_, they're just totally lost in one another.

This time, Blaine breaks the kiss and lies down next to Kurt whose eyes have glazed over. He begins to run his hands through his hair and Kurt _whimpers_ and turns towards Blaine -

"Okay, officially the sexiest thing I've ever seen."

Blaine yelps (though if asked later, he would deny it vehmently) and jumps up to see one of the Crawford girls staring at them contemplatively.

"Forgot my bag," she says, gesturing unnecessarily to the bag she held in her hand. "And your bus is leaving in approximately one minute so if you don't want the other guys to walk in on this, you'd better leave now."

Kurt and Blaine scramble to their feet, muttering their thank you's as they grab their things and hurry towards the door, the smirking girl walking behind them.

She may have cheered a little when Kurt's hand found Blaine's, but who cares? Kurt's newly-found sex appeal might just win them Regionals, and had certainly won him a boyfriend.

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from "Sexy," to this point.**

**(2) Yes, that was a dig at **_**Original Song**_**. Not that I didn't love the episode and the song was incredible (I'd fall in love with someone if they sang like that), but it took a bird dying before Blaine could figure out he loved Kurt. He watched Kurt deal with bullying and probably a lot of aftermath. He had Kurt take care of him when he was drunk off his face and stand by him when he serenaded another guy. Kurt freaking **_**confessed his feelings**_** for Blaine right to his face and still nothing. But when a bird dies and Kurt cries (ha, rhymes), Blaine suddenly realizes he's in love with him? Sigh. Such is high school life, I suppose. **

**Okay, confession time. Writing make-out scenes is actually kinda difficult for me because *deep breath* I've never made out with anybody before. And before you ask how old I am, I'm eighteen. I've had boyfriends, I've kissed them, but never made out. So I take inspiration from other stories I've read to try and get it to sound right. So if it ever does sound a bit off for those of you who have the experience, please forgive me for that. One day I will have experience and then my make-out scenes will be **_**awesome!**_** ;)**

**And one of my next prompts is to basically write a full make-out session :S so that'll be coming up soon and I hope I don't hash it up too badly. **

**So that's all from me. Please review and keep prompts coming in :) **


	3. Bedroom

**Yay! I'm loving all the reviews, especially those of you who are perfectly happy with the way I write make-out scenes, so thank you! Also, getting comments from readers telling me that it's perfectly okay to have never been properly kissed and my time will come do make me really happy, so thank you for those too. I've gotten some good prompts, a lot of double-ups though so I'll try and remember to credit both people who prompted the story. **

**The second prompt in the two part one from **_**Kasumi the Stargazer (**_**who may not be reading this anymore as she apparently died from the awesomeness of the last chapter**_**)**_**: **_**And I kind of... Okay fine, REALLY REALLY wanted them to kiss in 'Sexy'... **__**Think you could make something out of that? The part when they were alone in **__**the abandoned warehouse (because come on, how hot would that be?) **__**or the part **__**when they're alone in Kurt's room**__**...**_

**With pleasure :) this was adorably sweet to write. And while that is the end of prompts from _Kasumi the Stargazer_, I encourage and implore her to keep prompting :D**

**Disclaimer: Glee isn't mine. Damn.**

* * *

Bedroom

"This is pointless, Blaine." Kurt stands from where he and Blaine were sitting in front of the mirror and paces across the room. "I don't know how to be sexy because.. because I don't know the first thing about sex."

Blaine isn't sure he's heard right at first. Surely McKinley had done sexual education at least once? But - oh, obviously not for gay teenagers. Blaine's heart goes out to the bright red boy in front of him and he frantically searches for something to say but can only state the obvious: "Kurt, you're blushing."

Kurt's eyes narrow and he's off. "I tried watching those movies but I just get horridly depressed and I think about how they were all kids once and they all have mothers and, god! What would their mothers think and why would you get that tattoo there?" He presses his lips together as if he's trying not to cry and _oh hell, he is._

"Maybe we should have a conversation about it. I'll tell you what I know?"

Kurt looks like Blaine's just offered to demonstrate every sex act possible on his bed. "I don't want to know graphic details!" He takes a shaky breath and then shakes his head. "I like romance. That's why I love broadway musicals because the touch of fingertips is as sexy as it gets." He still blushes every time he utters that word, 'sexy,' and Blaine just finds him absolutely adorable in that moment and - wait. _Did I just call my best friend adorable?_

"Kurt," he says gently, shuffling forward to where Kurt has slumped in a chair looking miserable. He gently reaches out to touch his hand. "You'll have to learn about it someday -"

"Well not today." Kurt looks at Blaine and now he really is blinking back the tears. "I've heard enough for today, I think you should leave." (1)

And now Blaine's left with a decision: to do what's easy for Kurt or what's right? He looks at the boy sitting across from him who lookssmall and _defeated_ and he comes to a few realizations right there and then. Some will need to be processed later, but he knows for a fact that he is kind of in love with this boy (and somehow this doesn't surprise him as much as he thought it would) and he needs to help him.

"Kurt," Blaine says softly, raising a hand as Kurt tries to interrupt. "Please, let me talk. If you still want me to leave when I'm done, I will. But there's something I need to tell you first."

He waits until Kurt finally nods, tucking his knees up under his chin and he looks so _vulnerable_ that Blaine just wants to wrap him in his arms and never let him go. Instead, he takes a deep breath and for the first time ever, begins to share his own painful experiences.

"You know I've never had a boyfriend. And the closest I've come to any of that stuff is making out with people playing Spin-the-Bottle." Blaine grimaces, remembering the Rachel Berry episode and Kurt manages to crack a small smile. Encouraged, Blaine continues.

"I never knew the first thing about anything to do with relationships. Up until a few months before you arrived at Dalton, you would've known more about it than me because at least you know romance. I knew nothing at all. And then Dalton had a Sex Ed day and because it's an all-boys school they didn't just talk about what they considered as _ordinary_ sex. They talked about gay sex."

And now Kurt's looking petrified and Blaine can't help but laugh before hastily explaining himself.

"That wasn't at you, I promise. It's just - that's exactly how I looked when they mentioned it for the first time. Wes actually thought I was going to pass out." He chuckles again. "But I sat through it and at the end .." he trails off. "Well, it didn't scare me as much."

"You were scared too?" Kurt blurts out, then claps a hand over his mouth.

Blaine leans forward and gently tugs the hand away. "You know you can say whatever you want to me, okay? Yes, I was scared. I knew nothing about what to do. I mean, I kind of knew the mechanics but how was it supposed to be pleasurable? Who did what? All those sorts of thoughts were running through my head like I imagine they occasionally run through yours. And I didn't want to know the answers because if they weren't what I wanted to hear.. well, I couldn't exactly _change_."

And Kurt's sitting up and nodding in the same way Blaine was when he had been introduced to it all. _Finally, someone gets it._

"But I still wasn't all there. I knew a bit more but I still didn't know what to expect. David brags about his 'conquests,' " Blaine wrinkles his nose and shudders, "but I'd never heard anyone gay talking about their experiences. So, I did a bit of research on the internet and then - well, I went to Kevin."

Kurt raises an eyebrow with a strange look in his eyes and _is that jealousy?_ "Who's Kevin?"

"Guy who graduated last year. He showed me around Dalton when I was new and confused. He lives with his boyfriend Nick. I went to him, and," and now it's Blaine's turn to blush, "Iaskedhimwhatitwaslike."

"Sorry?" Kurt asked.

"I asked him what it was like." Blaine is staring at his fingers, face a flaming red. He hears Kurt chuckle and then a set of fingers are under his chin lifting his head to look at Kurt.

"Blaine, if I could, I would've done the same thing. Well - if I knew someone and was brave enough and didn't go bright red every time I said the word sex." And sure enough, Kurt blushes at the end of his sentence. Although that might have had something to do with the next sentence preparing to make its way out of his mouth: "So, what did he say?"

And now they're both bright red and Blaine's painfully aware of the cramp in his knee from kneeling in front of Kurt for so long. Standing up, he moves over to Kurt's bed with Kurt trailing behind him. He takes as long as he possibly can to make himself comfortable and sighs when he realizes once again that Kurt is avoiding his gaze.

"He said it was amazing. Of course, a bit weird at first and deciding who's going to .. uh, do what, can get confusing, but once you get into the - rhythm of it, apparently it's great. They didn't really tell me any more than that because as soon as we started talking about sex, Nick started giving Kevin these _looks_ and I thought maybe it was time for me to escape before I witnessed anything firsthand." He smirks, then grows serious again. "Though we did get to talk about more than just that. We talked about feelings too, and Nick said it doesn't mean anything if you don't love the person. He also said," and Blaine pauses to make sure Kurt's listening, "that sex and everything leading up to sex is _incredibly_ romantic."

Blaine is pretty sure that Kurt's stopped breathing. Finally, he manages to find his voice to squeak, "Really?"

"Mmhm." Blaine smiles. "They said that when you're with someone you love, words sometimes aren't enough. But actions," he paused for a moment to internally draw up all of his courage, "can say exactly what our words can't." And Blaine gently placed his hand into Kurt's.

Blaine catches the spark of hope that ignites in Kurt's eyes as his hand hesitantly closes around Blaine's.

"And that's the same for everything in life really. A lot of things can't come through in our words. For example, if I wanted to say 'I think you're a great friend,' I'd probably do this." Blaine takes his other hand and puts it on Kurt's shoulder. Kurt smiles but there's a flicker of disappointment and _no, that's not what I meant!_

"If I wanted to say 'I'm sorry I've been so stupid lately,' well, I'd probably do this." Blaine's hand moves lower down to Kurt's upper arm and gives it a gentle squeeze. He hears Kurt draw in a quick breath.

"And if I wanted to say 'I've been an oblivous idiot and we should've had this conversation a long time ago,' perhaps I'd do _this._" Blaine takes a deep breath and moves his hand to gently stroke Kurt's face. Now he _knows_ Kurt isn't breathing but neither is he and he'd better do something before they both pass out, either from lack of oxygen or terror.

"Now, I'd like you to show me something. If I wanted to say, 'I'm sorry it took me this long but I've finally realized I'm in love with you and I hope you feel the same,' what would I do there?" Blaine knows this is a big risk but he can't take this from Kurt, it needs to be _from_ Kurt. And now he's starting to panic and maybe he's read the signs wrong after all and Kurt's going to push him away and tell him they're just friends -

But Kurt's hand is hesitantly moving to stroke Blaine's face and there's a glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes as he whispers, "I'd probably do something like this."

And Kurt leans in and presses his lips to Blaine's.

Blaine's brain just has a chance to shout _"finally!"_ before everything shuts down and he's lost in the sensations of Kurt's lips on his and Kurt's hands in his hair and _Kurt-_

Kurt pulls away gently and as Blaine's eyes flutter open he can already see the self doubt spreading across Kurt's face and he needs to stop that, so he simply pulls him back in for another one of those amazing kisses.

* * *

Some time later, Kurt and Blaine are lying on the bed just staring at one another.

"So," Blaine offers hesitantly, "I guess this makes us together?"

Kurt just smiles that adorable smile of his and runs a hand through Blaine's hair. And even though he looks so cute_, _there's something his eyes that's just so wild and untamed and -

"Kurt, you _are_ sexy."

Kurt smiles. "I had hoped so," he says. "I mean, Mercedes was always telling me so when we were part of the Cheerios. I was _this_ close to having to pull out those videos too."

And before Blaine can ask _what videos?_ because he would really _really_ quite like to see these videos, Kurt is kissing him again and he can't argue with that.

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from 'Sexy' up to this point. **

**This makes me happy. Really happy. **

**And in getting the transcript for this episode, I read through to the scene where Blaine is talking to Burt about teaching Kurt about sex, and Blaine does say that Dalton doesn't have sex ed. Oh well, consider it a random one day thing if you will. And yes, it also says that Blaine found out all his information on the internet but I don't believe he would've gone ahead and said to Kurt's **_**dad**_**, "Oh, I went and asked this gay couple I knew what gay sex was like." So it kind of works with canon, if you squint. **

**So, keep the prompts and reviews coming! :) Next one looks like it's going to have a little bit more action in it (think **_**Original Song**_**, original kiss, but better! (theoretically)). **


	4. Hot

**I love you guys! I'm getting awesome prompts and awesome feedback and now that I've gotten past this one (struggled a bit but it's done!), I should be rolling them out really quickly :) that's not a promise, but I love writing these prompts so I sure hope so!**

**Before I start, I forgot something in my last chapter. That prompt, while originally prompted by _Kasumi the Stargazer_ was also prompted by _heal my bleeding heart. _Sorry for not recognizing you!**

**Today's prompt is from **_**terribear62 **_**and is as follows: **_**As far as the kiss goes, I have watched it repeatedly, and each time I wanted to see the second *HOT* kiss for much longer, and not have it cut after the measly second and a half that was in the show. **_

**Amen, sister! While it isn't exactly a 'first kiss' prompt, it's good enough for me :) I did re-write the whole scene because it would've been a little bit short otherwise, plus the whole scene is just gorgeous (I have it on my iPod). So, enjoy!**

**I also have a quick question for you guys. I wrote a story where Kurt has epilepsy and basically, I don't know what I can call it. I don't want to make the title offensive to those with epilepsy and I want to go with my usual one-word title theme so if anybody can throw something my way, I'd appreciate it a lot. Thanks :)**

**Disclaimer: You all know the drill by now.**

* * *

Hot

"What's that?"

Kurt raised his head as Blaine entered the room, gesturing towards the sequins on the table in front of Kurt.

"I'm decorating Pavarotti's casket." Kurt replied, taking a proper look at Blaine. Why'd he look so.. _nervous?_

"Well, finish up." And before Kurt could tell him how insensitive he sounded, Blaine continued on. "I've got a perfect song for our number and we should practice."

"Do tell," said Kurt, raising an eyebrow and internally chanting _please no Pink, please no -_

"Candles, by Hey Monday."

Kurt blinked. "I'm impressed. You're usually so Top 40."

"Well," said Blaine, taking the seat across from Kurt and avoiding eye contact. "I wanted something a little more .. emotional."

Kurt's brain shut down for a second as he tried to ignore the adorable hesitancy in Blaine's voice. Then - _wait, emotional? With me?_

Kurt gave Blaine his best 'spill the beans,' look as he asked the question that could define their relationship to one another forever. "Why did you pick me to sing that song with?"

And Kurt had never seen Blaine this nervous before and suddenly a small part of his brain which he usually managed to silence piped up. '_He's telling you he loves you, idiot.'_

While Kurt was busy internally shutting himself up, Blaine had begun to speak. "Kurt, there is a moment." He hesitated again and now Kurt just wanted to scream _get on with it!_ "When you say to yourself, 'Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever."

And now Kurt couldn't even breathe and _dare he hope?_ No, not again, not to get broken again - but was that Blaine's _hand?_ On _Kurt's hand?_

Kurt's brain shut down again and he nearly missed the rest of Blaine's confession.

"Watching you do 'Blackbird' this week, that was the moment for me. About you."

_Do something!_ Kurt screamed internally but he was frozen, staring at this beautiful boy across from him finally pouring out his heart in a way that Kurt had only dreamed of.

"You - you moved me, Kurt."

And now Kurt could feel his face breaking and _is it truly possible to be this happy and have a moment this beautiful?_

"And this duet would just be an excuse to - to spend more time with you."

Now Kurt knew he was dreaming, especially when Blaine leant forward, half-rising out of his seat to take Kurt's face and kiss him.

_Heaven._

Kurt couldn't even remember when he started responding to that beautiful, beautiful kiss. He couldn't remember lifting his hand to hold Blaine's face. But suddenly, all to soon, Blaine broke away with the most amazing look on his face and Kurt knew it must be mirrored on his. _Did we just do that?_

_Wow._

Blaine blushed - _Blaine! Blushing! - _and laughed a little, then seemed to remember himself and stammered out, "We should practice."

And Kurt didn't even know where it came from because he's never been into cheesy-type lines but all he knew is that Blaine's lips were amazing and he wanted _more_. "I thought we were."

They stared at each other for another second, then suddenly they were meeting again, both leaning into the kiss this time with a complete urgency as if to say, _where the hell have you been all of my life? (1)_

The first kiss is always the one that stays in people's minds forever, but Kurt was pretty sure the second was pretty damn good too, possibly better. Of course, there was no real comparison. The first was beautifully sweet and hesitant, two people finally finding themselves in each other. The second - well Kurt had never _longed_ for anyone so long while actually being with them. This was a _kiss_.

Blaine moaned against his lips and entwined his fingers in Kurt's hair and Kurt could barely breath because _he caused that_. In turn, he wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and even though he was totally petrified and had _no idea_ what he was doing, he just let himself go.

Their lips were moving against one another as if discovering every single thing about the other person's mouth. Kurt pulled away for a second and Blaine actually _whined_ at the loss of contact before Kurt was pushing Blaine back and straddling his lap, reattaching his lips hungrily. And suddenly Blaine was nibbling on his bottom lip and Kurt couldn't stop the moan from escaping his lips, causing Blaine to grip him tighter, moving his hands from Kurt's hair to his waist and pulling him in.

Kurt hesitantly opened his mouth, delighted when Blaine did the same and now he could _taste_ Blaine and somehow it was just what he had imagined. Blaine couldn't even be _described_. And now Blaine's tongue was in his mouth and Kurt just lost himself in the sensations this caused. After awhile, Kurt returned the favour and felt Blaine go limp underneath him. Kurt couldn't stop the smile crossing his face because _he was the one making Blaine feel this way_. He nibbled on Blaine's lip, then moved his mouth down, kissing alone Blaine's jawline and moving down to his neck. He felt the gasp from Blaine as he attached his mouth to Blaine's neck, gently biting it as he kissed him.

"Oh god - Kurt, where did - where'd you _learn that?_"

Kurt had absolutely no experience with kissing someone, let alone anything to do with _tongues_, and Blaine had said he had never kissed anybody either (excluding Rachel, but Blaine could barely remember that in a drunken haze). Therefore, either one of them was lying, or kissing was just one of those things that you could just _do_. Kurt doesn't care which, all he knew was that this was something he could damn well get used to. He gave Blaine's neck one last kiss before moving back to his mouth, kissing him again quickly until Blaine decided to return the favour. And now all Kurt could do was throw his head back and he couldn't even _speak_ because this was _so good_. After awhile, he couldn't stand anymore and moved his head to catch Blaine's mouth again because this was _his_ mouth now too.

Finally, their kissing grew less urgent until Blaine very reluctantly broke away. Kurt sighed and leaned his head against Blaine's chest, before realizing exactly where he was sitting.

"Oh hell, Blaine! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just _jumped_ on you like that, I don't know -"

"Kurt, I swear if you apologize for that, I'm breaking up with you on the spot. That was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced and I fully expect more of that in the future." And Blaine looked so adorable with his hair messed up and cheeks flushed, but his swollen lips and red-marked skin told another story. Blaine Anderson was _sexy_. And the way he was looking at Kurt made him feel exactly the same.

"So, we're together are we? Because I always imagined I would actually get _asked_, not jumped - "

Blaine smirked and reached up a hand to Kurt's face again, effectively shutting him up. "Well, in that case. Kurt Hummel, would you do me the honor of being my boyfriend?"

Kurt simply raised an eyebrow and pulled his boyfriend (_boyfriend!_) in for another kiss.

Of course, Blaine decided it would be _funny_ to pull away at that point and innocently enquire, "So, we're together now are we? Because I always imagined I would get a _response_ when I asked that question, not jumped -"

Kurt actually _growled_ at that and grabbed Blaine's tie, yanking his face towards Kurt's.

They didn't leave that room for a long time.

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from 'Original Song' to this point. **

**Good? Bad? This is the one I was hesitant on, because as I confessed in Chapter 2, I've never made out with anybody before. So I hope I did it justice anyway. A bit short too but I don't want to chuck a whole lot of extra words in to fill it out and lose the raw intimacy of it. **

**Please review and continue to prompt! :)**

******P.S. Okay, I love you all and I love your prompts to death but I have to request no more BIOTA prompts! I've got it covered from every single possible angle in prompts and I've had to turn a few down just because if you put them all together, they're kissing about every five seconds in every scene! So thank you to all those who have prompted BIOTA scenes and I will do most or all of the prompts given, but no more please! There's plenty of other episodes (or imagined scenes) to pick from :) **  



	5. Pavoratti

**This prompt is from **_**BriannaLiz and similarly prompted by **__ShezzaMezza_ : I've always wanted (when Pavoratti died) for Kurt to just start rambling about how sad he felt, how he wished he had more time with him, yada yada yada. Then Blaine just kisses him out of the blue to make him shut up. **The prompt from _ShezzaMezza _is a bit different but I had already written this and it worked for her(?) prompt too so I just made them the same.**

**I can totally see this happening too, especially with the way Blaine acts when he comes in to tell Kurt about the song and tells him to "finish up" decorating Pavoratti's casket. Insensitive much? (that said, it is a bird.) So .. yeah. Author ramble over.**

**This is my shortest story yet, simply because I think short and sweet is good for this one. Taken from the scene in **_**Original Song**_** straight after Kurt has finished singing **_**Blackbird**_** (which I adored).**

**A few quick notes:**

**1. I got some feedback about my writing from _Syaoran-Lover_ about my punctuation not being up to scratch sometimes. If anybody else notices stuff like that, please let me know. It's all stuff I can work on and I probably work best with examples of where I've gone wrong. Just a quick comment on that though, sometimes I do deliberately write run-on sentences when I'm writing dialogue or thought processes because nobody thinks in perfect sentences. I just think it adds a bit of life to the characters sometimes. But yeah, please keep the feedback coming!**

**2. Quick note for _andomawesomeness12 _who left a review on my _Nightmare_ story but I know they read this too. I assume by the staircase scene you're referring to the first time Blaine and Kurt meet at Dalton? In which case, it's the episode called 'Never Been Kissed' which is episode 28 in the series and episode 6 in the season which is Season 2. If you want to see the whole video, I recommend MegaVideo, it should still be on there.**

**3. And another one! I know this is getting really long, sorry :/ but _Syaoran-Lover_ messaged me commenting on my first chapter where Blaine tells Kurt that he loves him when he's drunk, saying: _Blaine seemed like a real jerk to tell Kurt that when drunk, so that he wouldn't remember in the morning, and then poor Kurt would have to live with that knowledge and not be able to do much about it! _I just have to point out that sober Blaine actually had no idea he felt that way, it was only when he got drunk and let down his guard that he realized how much he loved his friend. It was nothing about Blaine saying it just so he could get away with not remembering, his sober side honestly didn't know. But of course I feel sorry for Kurt too!**

**Authors note is now almost longer than the story so I'll shut up. **

**Disclaimer: Insert obligatory comment here.**

* * *

Pavoratti

Kurt finished his song and wiped the tears from his face dramatically before making his way over to sit next to Blaine. And now Blaine had to try and avoid the fact that there was a gorgeous boy sitting next to him who was emotionally distressed and _how had he never realized how beautiful he was?_ It took all of Blaine's concentration to focus on the rest of the Warbler meeting, which was mercifully short. Apparently after Kurt's impromptu performance, nobody quite had the energy to argue about outfits and Wes quickly called the meeting to a close.

As the other Warblers filed out of the room, Kurt went to the tape player. Blaine lingered behind until the last Warbler had left, then took a step towards Kurt who turned in his direction with a pain-filled smile.

"Are you okay?"

And at this question, the dam burst again.

"Do I look okay, Blaine? No, I'm not okay, I'm grieving. I lost one of my closest companions today, someone who _understood _me and my passion. Someone who would sing to me no matter what time of day and would listen to my complaints no matter what -"

At this point, Blaine tried to interject because _he_ was there for Kurt _too_ -

"And now he's gone! And now I have a death on my conscience and I don't know what to do about that! It's kind of like I just killed Rachel Berry's talent."

"Kurt, it's o -"

"Don't you tell me it's okay, Blaine Anderson! Pavoratti was one of the only people who noticed my talent around here, the other is the one who constantly overshadows me every single freaking competition!"

_To hell with this, _Blaine thought to himself. _If Kurt wants some recognition and understanding, he's damn well going to get some._

"And I - _mmph!_"

Blaine stepped forward and attached his mouth to Kurt's.

The kiss was short and sweet, but both boys broke away breathless. On the plus side, Kurt had stopped talking and was looking dazed, one hand gently pressed to his mouth. This allowed Blaine to get a few words in while Kurt recovered.

"I'm sorry for your loss, Kurt, I really am. But it isn't the end of the world. You're allowed to grieve, yes, but don't ever think that you've lost the only one who noticed you. Because I've always noticed you. And it may have taken me a very long time, but I've finally noticed more than just your friendship. I've noticed everything I want in a boyfriend and I hope you feel the same way." Blaine sat down, all of his fight gone. If Kurt rejected him now -

But Kurt was sitting next to him and taking his hand, a sweet smile crossing his face. "Of course I do, idiot." But the words were said without any sting. "I was just waiting for you to wake up and notice. And if it takes a bird dying and me in grief to get your attention, well so be it."

Blaine didn't miss the playful edge to Kurt's smile. "You mean - ?"

"Sure, I'm a bit upset. But he's just a bird, Blaine. I've got more important things to think of."

And before Blaine could complain, Kurt pressed his lips against Blaine's again and any issues he had with his now-boyfriend died in that kiss.

* * *

**Short and sweet? I think so :) **

**Personally, I think Kurt's a much stronger person than to be **_**that**_** upset about a bird. Considering the lyrics of that song - "You were only waiting for this moment to be free, blackbird fly." - I'm pretty sure Kurt took his moment to shine and catch the attention of not just Blaine, but the rest of the Warblers. And it sure worked for him, he got a boyfriend and a duet!**

**Anyway, review and keep prompts coming! :)**


	6. Christmas

**This prompt is originally from **_**akatrixie **_**and similarly prompted by **_**Lolasatsuma, Full-Empty-Spirit, wynnie the pooh, Kat3418, littlemarsz **_**AND **_**radiogirl427 **_**(boy this one is popular!) and I kinda adore it: **_**Has anybody suggested that moment from Baby It's Cold Outside where their lips are so frisking close? I think Blaine was like "your lips look delicious" or something. **_

**Cause that is seriously a perfect moment for it to happen. I know fans across the world were screaming "Just kiss already!" like I was. So, let's make it happen! I considered a mid-song kiss but the song is too adorable to interrupt. I hope this makes up for it :) and with so many people wanting this story, I'm feeling the pressure to make this perfect! :S (and I keep getting prompts for this even when it's sitting in my document uploader waiting! I guess this is a sign I need to upload chapters faster or something...)**

**Happy reallifeGlee moment! I'm watching a news story right now and it mentioned something about Justin Bieber being on the list of Top 100 Influentual People so of course I had to look up and see what was going on. And right there was a picture of Chris Colfer! They're talking about all these influentual people for the WRONG reasons, then Chris comes on and I was thrilled!. Though the fact that the number one person was some guy called Rain .. :/ I guess it didn't say influentual for the right reasons... or reasons that mattered... otherwise Chris would totally be at the top! So says me anyway... ****(Apparently Justin Bieber thinks the most influentual person at the moment is Charlie Sheen... I guess, if you want to be influenced to be an idiot like him, sure)**

**Disclaimer: If I say I own Darren Criss, will that make me legally entitled to him? :D**

* * *

Christmas

Kurt loves sleeping. Because sleeping means having awesome dreams like these ones where Blaine is chasing him around the room, singing _Baby It's Cold Outside_ with him. And instead of stammering and looking like an idiot, Kurt actually manages to keep calm and respond to Blaine's flirting like he never could in reality.

Then Kurt stubs his toe on the side of the couch as he sits across from Blaine and suddenly realizes; _this isn't a dream. _Blaine is actually following him around the room and Kurt is so close to flipping out until he realizes it's his line.

"Say, what's in this drink?"

If Blaine notices the slight hesitancy in Kurt's voice, he doesn't pay any attention to it, delivering his rebuttal line. Luckily Kurt knows this song off by heart (and may or may not have daydreamed of singing this song with Blaine a couple of times), so he can continue to sing on autopilot while trying to work out if Blaine is just getting into the song or actually flirting with him until -

"Your eyes are like starlight, _wow_."

And it's that _wow_ that gets Kurt and suddenly, somehow, without any experience to rely on, he knows that Blaine is as interested in Kurt as Kurt is in Blaine. And now they're leaning against the back of the couch and Kurt is singing - "I ought to say no, no, no sir," - and Blaine is shuffling in closer to sing his line and Kurt knows he has to do something now. So as Blaine moves on in and leans his head against Kurt's, he finishes his line and quickly turns his head to kiss Blaine on the cheek.

Blaine freezes, missing his next line as the music plays on behind him, staring at Kurt incomprehensibly. Kurt could almost see his brain working away - _what did that mean? was he just in character? does he .. could he?_

Kurt gives him a wink and saunters off to the piano, singing, "I really can't stay - "

And now Blaine has come to his senses and seems to have realized the same thing as Kurt. He follows Kurt to where he has sat on the piano stool and leans over him as they sing their line together - ".. it's cold outside!"

And as Blaine leans over to play the notes on the piano, he turns his head and kisses Kurt on the cheek in return, slightly closer to the corner of his mouth. Both boys hold the steaming look that passes between them, then Kurt's mouth quirks upwards as he stands again and begins to lead the now very-real chase around the room.

"I've got to get home -" _Like hell I'm going anywhere. I'm staying right here._

Kurt feels Blaine's arm slip around his waist as he meets him at the fireplace and Kurt playfully shrugs him off, making sure to keep eye contact so Blaine knows that this is just an act. _The kiss however - definitely real._

And Blaine definitely feels the same way, judging by the look in his eye when he sings, "I thrill when you touch my hand," allowing his hand to brush softly against Kurt's. The smouldering look in his eyes makes a shiver run up Kurt's back because this is _Blaine_ singing these words about _him. Kurt._ He almost misses his next line, so caught up in the emotion and passion of the moment, but catches himself in time.

Now they're leaning across the couch towards one another and they're so close again and Kurt can't resist dropping another kiss on that perfect face, right on the edge of Blaine's mouth, causing him to slightly stumble over his line.

"I really can't stay - " "Get over that hold out!"

And now Blaine gestures towards the couch and Kurt quirks his head; _I will if you will._ Blaine agrees with a smile and _have we seriously been having these conversations with our eyes all this time and never noticed? _

Kurt drops next to Blaine, crossing his leg as they sing their final line, still in perfect time with the music.

"Oh but it's cold outside!"

The music comes to an end and all that can be heard in the room is the sound of the crackling fire and the breathing of two nervous teenage boys who are staring into one another's eyes, both searching to make sure what they saw during the song was still there and they weren't really mistaken. That their previously considered unrequited feelings are actually mirrored in the person sitting across from them.

Kurt raises an eyebrow and Blaine mirrors the action, giving the same head gesture as before; _I will if you will._

And then their lips finally meet.

Kurt had imagined this moment many times in the past but it was nothing like he could have dreamed of. Nothing like his kiss with Brittany who seemed to be trying to suck his face off, or his kiss with Karofsky - Kurt pushes that to the back of his mind because that isn't something to be thinking of while having the most amazing first kiss _ever_. This is - well, call him cliche, but - totally indescribable. Absolutely, completely perfect.

Kurt reluctantly pulls away, opening his eyes to see a visibly flustered Blaine doing the same thing. Their eyes meet once more, again looking for that confirmation which is easily read in both of their faces. Kurt rests his forehead against Blaine's, entwining his fingers with him and letting a soft giggle escape his lips. And it's testament to how well they know each other that Blaine doesn't ask what he's laughing at or if there's something in his teeth. He just gives a sigh of satisfaction and reaches up his other hand to stroke Kurt's face.

After a few moments, it's Blaine's turn to reluctantly pull away, running his hand down Kurt's face in a way that makes him shiver before letting go and clearing his throat.

"Well, you are definitely better than that girl's going to be."

Kurt smirks. "I sure hope so. And I hope you don't give her the _complete _performance."

Blaine winks in response. "Don't worry, baby, that one is reserved _all_ for you."

Kurt feels another shiver run down his back and he leans forward, pressing his lips to Blaine's again, feeling the taste of his boyfriend on his lips - _wait._

"Blaine," Kurt says quietly, pulling away just enough that he can talk with his lips still resting against Blaine's. "Does this make us boyfriends?"

And he can _feel_ Blaine laugh, the breath puffing gently over his lips. "Well, I don't kiss anyone like this, so I sure hope so." And with that, he presses his lips back against Kurt's, both of them smiling into the kiss because they've finally found someone to make them happy. And they could probably stay there forever until there's the sound of a door opening, then a gasp. Kurt breaks away and looks up to see the back of Mr Schuester's rapidly-disappearing head as he all but bolts out the door.

"You'd better go after him," Blaine says, reluctantly untangling himself from Kurt to let him go.

Kurt sighs, leaning in for one more quick kiss before standing up to find his old Glee teacher, leaving Blaine to do a silent victory dance around the room. Which he would completely deny if anybody happened to see it. Because Blaine Anderson is always in control.

He is also totally unaware of Kurt doing the same thing in the entrance hall and wondering how to contact the girl who's meant to be performing with Blaine and convincing her to stand down. Which he would completely deny if anybody happened to hear about it. Because Kurt Hummel is always sneaky.

But both boys have something in common. A rapidly growing feeling for their more-than-best-friend. And neither would give that up for the world.

* * *

**Another short one! Not as short, but still. I loved writing this though, it's been my favourite so far :) though I'm sitting in the room with my employers and I didn't know when the lines worked with the actions so I had to look up the lyrics and then sit there with the video on silent, lip-reading along to try and work out what to write. So I hope you appreciate it! **

**Please review of course :) **


	7. SpintheBottle

**This is the first of many prompts from **_**njferrell: BIOTA - when that bottle wants Blaine to kiss Rachel? Blaine goes in like he is going to... but, turns his head and kisses Kurt instead!**_

**Another drunk Blaine story! Though I've made him sober up a bit because it helps to make the story work. Plus, I don't think he could sing that amazing-ly if he was completely off his face, so yeah. I also couldn't be bothered to look up the actual video and was running low on battery so I made it up a little. Which I totally reserve the right to do ;)**

**Important Note! Guys, I live in NZ. Original Song has JUST aired here. Luckily I lived in Australia first so I saw it a few weeks ago. But I haven't seen A Night of Neglect or anything beyond Original Song. I'm getting prompts saying 'do this thing from this episode' and I'm getting spoilers I don't want. So please please please don't prompt anything beyond Original Song until I say I've seen the next episodes. I'll MegaVideo them ASAP but for now, no more please.**

**Also, a review from _zeroshiki-san_ about how Kurt made out with Brittany earlier in the season - yes, he sure did. I choose to ignore that. Besides, in Kurt's eyes, it really wouldn't count for anything, I reckon Brittany took the lead and did what she normally does and left it at that. Being kissed and kissing someone are way different - from my minuscule amounts of experience anyway. (In fact, I watched an interview on this particular kiss and Chris was saying that the director told him he was 'too good of a kisser' and he said he basically had to lie there and do nothing because that was the way the kiss was written)**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I don't want Drunk Blaine anyway, he's a bit stupid.**

* * *

Spin-the-Bottle

"Time for Spin-the-Bottle!"

Kurt groaned as a drunken Rachel grabbed a bottle and practically fell to the ground. The other teenagers cheered and followed her lead, making a kind of lopsided circle. Kurt sighed and sat next to Rachel, cheering up slightly when Blaine collapsed next to him, slumped slightly against Kurt's shoulder. He gave him a gorgeous lopsided grin, marred slightly by the fact that he was plastered, then delivered his attention to the game already in progress. Kurt reluctantly did the same. He took a moment to survey the rest of the circle of people, trying to figure out who he would actually be okay with kissing in this circle. The number was quickly reached: just one. Of course.

Of course, the whole night would have been better if Blaine hadn't headed straight for the alcohol the minute it was distributed. Coming back with a cup filled with something potent-smelling, he had caught Kurt's questioning look and shrugged sheepishly. "Dalton boys don't get much of a chance to party, so I kind of take any opportunity I get." Kurt raised an eyebrow, a question on his lips - _does that mean you can't hold your alcohol well? _- but Blaine was already engaged in conversation with Brittany who wanted to know if he was a dolphin as well. Kurt just sighed and decided to enjoy Blaine's company before he got completely smashed.

And smashed he got. Halfway through the party, Kurt found himself sitting alone, watching the adorable boy make his way through the crowd, swaying slightly and singing _Teenage Dream_ at the top of his lungs. Kurt smiled at that. Even though Blaine seemed to be a totally different person when he let his guard down and had fun, a lot of things never changed. Blaine caught his eye and winked suggestively before being caught up with a dancing Quinn. Kurt blinked. _That_ was unexpected. He smiled back at the already-distracted Blaine before sighing and dropping his head into his hands. The one night he and Blaine escaped the confinements of Dalton and Blaine was more interested in a bucket of alcohol than him. Lovely.

And now they were stuck playing the most cliche drunk-party game in existence. A cheer went up as Brittany locked lips with Sam. Kurt spared a comforting glance for a pissed-looking Santana before sneaking a look at the drunken boy next to him only to find him staring right back. Blaine was actually starting to look a bit less drunk, thankfully (Kurt wasn't looking forward to getting him home and was already figuring out how to get Blaine into Kurt's place without his dad knowing - he couldn't take Blaine to his own place like this) and gave him another Blaine-esque smile. "Having fun?" he asked, still slurring his words a bit.

"Not as much as you," Kurt said, raising an eyebrow at the state of his normally perfectly composed friend. Blaine sniggered a bit, then turned serious.

"Sorry about all that. I feel a bit more with it now, but I'm gonna have one hell of a hangover tomorrow. Keep me away from any more alcohol, please?"

"Gladly," Kurt quipped with his first genuine smile of the night, taking a small amount of delight in Blaine's smile in return.

"MY TURN!" A yell from Kurt's other side almost deafened him and he winced as Rachel leans over to spin the bottle. Rubbing his ear to try and get the feeling back, he wondered which unlucky victim would end up with a Berry-pash tonight. Perhaps Finn, and then they might finally stop moping around one another and Finn wouldn't stay up until all hours of the night killing things on that game thing of his -

"BLAINE!" came the resounding yell; the guys laughing and simultaneously looking sorry for the Warbler, the girls torn between sympathy for Blaine and sympathy for Kurt.

Kurt froze, knowing that most of the eyes in the room were on him. "Well, this is going to be - outstanding!" Kurt chirped, still staring at Blaine who also seemed to have frozen. And there was a look of panic in his eyes and Kurt took a small comfort from that - _he doesn't want to do this any more than Rachel does - _

"I'm gonna rock your world, Mr. Warbler!"

Okay, hopefully he wants to do this a lot _less_ than Rachel. Kurt couldn't bear to watch as Blaine leaned across him towards a waiting Rachel. He felt a hand on his shoulder but refused to open his eyes, assuming Blaine had just lost his balance on his way to lock lips with a _girl_.

_You're not here, _Kurt mentally willed himself, _you're just dreaming -_

And yes, he must be dreaming because now a hand was on his face and a pair of lips on his.

At first, Kurt decided that Rachel had forgotten which boy she was meant to kiss and his eyes flew open, expecting to have to push off the drunken girl. Instead, he saw a head of curls that was _so not_ _Rachel_.

_Blaine._ _Blaine's kissing you. _

Before Kurt could begin to try and work out what was going on, Blaine broke away and turned to a disappointed Rachel.

"I do apologize Rachel, but I couldn't in all good conscience kiss you when I have such strong feelings for my friend-but-hopefully-not-just-a-friend-anymore, here, Kurt. Thank you for the opportunity to finally share with him how I feel. Now we're going to go and hopefully make out in his car for awhile before he takes me home - that is if he feels the same, which we're going to go and find out. Goodbye all."

Kurt was still trying to process Blaine's impromptu speech - _Blaine liked him? _- before Blaine had taken his hand and was almost dragging him out the door. As Kurt and Blaine stepped out the door, they heard one final parting shot from Santana.

"Wanky! Get some, white boys!"

* * *

Stepping out into the cool night air was the shock to the system that both boys needed; Blaine seemed to lose the final edge of his drunkenness and everything that had happened that evening finally caught up with Kurt. He stopped a few steps from his car and turned to look at Blaine who was looking back at him nervously, almost wearing his heart in his eyes.

"So, that in there, that was your way of telling me you like me? You got drunk then kissed the wrong person in Spin-the-Bottle and announced to a whole group of people that you liked that person before even telling said person themself?"

Blaine appeared to shrink. "I'm so sorry, Kurt, I've been trying to figure out how to tell you but there was never the right time and -"

"Blaine, this is the complete opposite of what I would have expected from you." Kurt paused, watching Blaine's head drop. "And that's what makes it so awesome."

Kurt loved watching the confusion cross Blaine's face. "So - you're not mad?"

In response, Kurt pulled Blaine in and kissed him again. This one lasted longer than the Spin the Bottle moment and as Blaine began to deepen it, Kurt pulled away wrinkling his nose.

"As lovely as that is, you need mouthwash before we continue any of that. I detest the taste of alcohol, too many embarrassing memories. And then we're going to find ourselves somewhere more romantic than outside _Rachel Berry's_ house because I want more of your lips." Kurt realized the last words out of his mouth a second later and shook his head. _Did someone spike my drink tonight or something?_

Blaine opened the passenger seat of Kurt's car where he had kept his bag and pulled out a bottle of mouthwash. Unscrewing it, he caught Kurt's eye and smirked. "I figured I'd need it if I was going to get home without any questions asked." Kurt walked around to his side of the car as Blaine mouthwashed and put the keys in the ignition, waiting for Blaine to jump in. As he pulled out of Rachel's car, Blaine's hand snaked around his shoulders and Kurt smiled at the idiotic boy in the passenger seat.

_Perhaps alcohol isn't so evil_, he thought to himself, two seconds before Blaine started to gag and leant over to vomit out the window. Kurt sighed and pulled over, anticipating a lot of those stops during the ride home.

_Still, in all, not a bad night._

* * *

**Okay, not my favourite. But still fun to write. And now my laptop battery is on 10% so I'd better wrap this up and go find me a charger so I can work on many more prompts. Many, many more. Most of which focus around BIOTA :/ but beggars can't be choosers and I certainly beg a lot..**

**I love you guys. Please review and keep prompting :) **


	8. Clarity

**Wow, there's a LOT of prompts to get through! It seems like every time I post a chapter, I get two or three prompts to write! And thank you so much for all the awesome reviews :) it seriously makes my day to wake up in the morning and see 25 emails from people subscribing to me or my stories and reading all the reviews and messages (the perk of being in a different time zone where everybody else is reading while I'm sleeping). To anybody who's waiting on their prompt, I need to let you know that I've got 27 prompts in total that I've either posted, completed, am working on or haven't even started yet. And this is Chapter 8. So people who prompted recently, you'll be waiting awhile. But there's only been a few prompts that I've chosen not to do and they're usually ones where someone has sent me about 6 prompts in one hit and I've rejected one or two because they're very similar or I can't make it work and I usually let that person know. So I hope you're all waiting patiently and still enjoying what I'm writing (even if I do write horrid long authors notes like this one!)**

**This is prompted by**_** Happinessmachine **_**and also similarly prompted by **_**njferrell: After Rachel kisses Blaine in BIOTA and he realises he's definitely gay, he realises that he's in love with Kurt...**_

**My experiences with A Night of Neglect:**

**1. I miss the days when I could get online and watch all of Season 1 of Glee without any issues. I've gone through about ten different sites trying to watch A Night of Neglect and they all want me to pay money. Screw that. So I'll keep trying.**

**2. ARGH! I was halfway through A Night of Neglect and then it screwed up and wouldn't go back to where I was up to so now the whole thing is playing again in the background, waiting to get up to the part I was up to. Pain! I don't know what to think of it so far though, not enough Klaine for me yet :(**

**3. Done done done! Loved and hated at the same time, but I know the next episode is the one to hold out for. Anyway, I'm now accepting prompts up to A Night of Neglect and will let you know when I've seen Born This Way (ohmygosh, I've been dying for this one!). And as for the prompt I got for A Night of Neglect, I'm looking forward to writing it now. I just can't believe that Kurt and Blaine get ONE scene of their own and they each get about 5 lines. Sadface...**

**Disclaimer: I don't own. Do I have to write this on every chapter...? **

* * *

Clarity

"Yep, I'm gay. 100% gay. Thank you so much for clearing that up Rachel. Hey, can you hold my place in line for a second?"

Kurt stood stunned as Blaine turned to walk away, giving Kurt a _look_ as he went. This wasn't a, "let's talk and figure out what went wrong," look, nor a, "I'm sorry, let's be friends again," look. This was a, "get your butt over here and follow me _right now_," look.

Kurt offered some condolences to Rachel who quickly ran away to write her song, leaving Kurt free to follow Blaine to where he had walked outside and was leaning against his car. As he walked over, Kurt tried to work out what the look in Blaine's eyes had been. There had been a bit of annoyance (after all, they still hadn't made up from their argument), some repentence, but something else that Kurt couldn't put his finger on. If he didn't know better, he would say _ lust - _

"Kurt."

Kurt snapped back to reality and saw he had made it to Blaine's car.

"Um, hi."

Blaine surveyed him for a few seconds, then sighed and led him over to a bench.

"Look, I hate fighting with you so let's get it all out in the open. I'm sorry for being so defensive but I stand by what I said. Just because I was confused doesn't mean you're allowed to judge me for it. I get it was kind of silly, I mean, it was _Rachel Berry_ after all," Blaine cracked a smile and Kurt finally saw a glimpse of the old Blaine who he hadn't seen since before the party. "But still. It was one of those difficult times for me that I know you've had too and instead of fighting, I would have _loved_ to have had your support."

Kurt looked at the ground, blinking bak tears of shame. "Blaine, I'm so sorry. I can't say anything to explain myself and I've been trying to find the words ever since about half an hour after our fight when I got over my self righteous anger and realized what a mess I'd caused. You are allowed to be whoever you want to be and I should have supported you. I guess the thought of losing the only other openly gay person I know kinda s-shook me a bit and -" his voice broke and a tear slipped down his cheek, which he hastily wiped away.

Blaine saw though and wrapped an arm around Kurt, pulling him in close. "I know, and after I cooled off I saw it from your point of view. I can see why you flipped out. Let's just say we're both sorry, we both overreacted but it's all good now."

Kurt pushed the tears back and lifted his head to smile at Blaine. "Deal." He waited a second, then - "So, what was it like to kiss Rachel sober?"

Blaine instantly pulled a face and Kurt started to laugh. "Kurt, it was like she had thrown herself at me crying or something. The girl is so needy and it even comes through in her kissing -"

But Kurt felt a twinge when Blaine said needy and was now looking down again, biting his lip. Blaine looked at him and immediately rushed to reassure him. "Kurt, you're not needy. You're _not_," he repeated as another tear slipped down Kurt's face. "You're a wonderful sassy person who is so incredibly independent but sometimes needs someone to talk to. We all do."

And Kurt felt the sincerity and weight in those last few words and remembered back a few weeks when he had found Blaine lying in his room staring listlessly at the roof. After a few hours of silence where Kurt had just sat with Blaine silently, Blaine had started to talk and Kurt had found out that it was two years to the day that Blaine had been beaten up and locked in the janitor's closet for the entire weekend, the event that had prompted his transfer to Dalton. They had both cried, and after that day it was like they were on an even footing. No more mentor Blaine, no more victim Kurt. Just two boys who had both been through crap but now had each other as friends.

Kurt rested his arm on Blaine's, who smiled back. "No, Rachel is the kind to jump on any boy just to feel loved. You on the other hand - well, you're the kind of person who knows what he wants and goes for it. You're exactly who you are and you don't change that for anyone. And - god Kurt, you have no idea how much I wish I was like that."

And now it's Blaine's turn to blink back the tears that sprung to his eyes. Kurt wrapped an arm around him in return, rubbing soft circles on his back.

"I've always thought I knew who I was but as time went on and I couldn't even get myself a boyfriend, I couldn't find anybody who would look at me as more than just that guy who sings. And of course I began to doubt myself. And then Rachel came along and she was the first person to actually _want_ to kiss me and go on a date with me -" Kurt privately thought to himself how incredibly untrue that statement was but kept this thought to himself as Blaine continued venting. "- and I thought, well, maybe this can, I don't know, straighten me out or something?" Blaine gave a bitter laugh. "But that's stupid because I should be comfortable with who I am. I'm gay. And even if I'm gay alone, that still makes me gay."

"You're not alone, Blaine."

Blaine smiled. "I know that, Kurt. I'm not saying you're not a great friend -"

"No, Blaine. _You're not alone_."

And Kurt was looking at him with such intensity that Blaine would have to be _blind_ to miss it. Kurt still felt he had to explain himself, because Blaine had been oblivious in the past after all.

"If you think Rachel Berry is the only person who's ever wanted you, you're an idiot, Blaine. Apart from the fact that the first time you met Santana, she asked where her straight copy was, I've watched the way you charm the waitresses at Breadstix. And the barristar at Lima Bean is wrapped around your little finger."

"Kurt, they're all female."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Wonderful observation skills, Sherlock." he quipped, nudging Blaine gently in the ribs. "Yes, they all are. But what you also don't notice is the way the younger Warblers who are just coming to terms with their sexuality look up to you, and not just as a mentor. I've heard conversation dedicated to how dreamy you are, Blaine." Blaine's head snapped up at this, looking increduously at Kurt. "And I didn't just say that to see the look on your face, although it was pretty damn funny. That's the truth. I've also had many occasions where guys have nervously asked me things like your favourite colour, aspirations in life, coffee order, favourite book, middle name, favourite place, whether you and I were dating and, on one weird occasion, what position you like to sleep in."

"And what answers did you give?" Blaine tried to keep the blush from spreading across his face at the dating question.

"Blue, to compose songs for a theatre company while working as an independent lawyer, medium drip, _To Kill A Mockingbird_ even though you'll deny it a million times over, Darren, Italy, not yet and sprawled in a heap on your stomach, which is really bad for your skin."

"Wow.. you really know me well."

Kurt gave a smile and waited for the words to sink in.

_Not yet?_

Blaine raised stunned eyes to catch Kurt's knowing gaze.

"Like I said, Blaine, you're not alone. Neither of us are. And I really hope we're a lot less _alone_ from now on."

And the look on his face was just so _perfect_ that Kurt wanted to kiss him.

_Well, why don't you?_

So he did.

When he pulled away, slightly breathless, Blaine tangled his fingers in Kurt's hands and quietly murmured, "Silver, to be on Broadway, tall nonfat mocha, _Pride and Prejudice_, Matthew, Paris, yes we are and curled into a ball in that adorable way you like to sleep."

Kurt just smiled and pressed his forehead against his boyfriend's.

* * *

**I actually kind of loved this. I chose their favourite stuff from a list of my own favourites ;) **

**A little bit of a stretch of the imagination but as a Fanfiction writer I totally reserve the right to do that whenever I want :D I'm also struggling to keep my word count up for some reason, I guess cause I'm already adding to stuff that's happened and I don't have to write any foundation stuff. Which is fine, but I'm looking forward to getting back to some of my originals so I can natter on about whatever I want.**

**Right, I've written way too much in one sitting. I'm off to get some 2 minute noodles :D and then I'll be back to write another four or five prompts. **

**Hope you enjoyed and please review with more! :) **


	9. Bisexual

**100 reviews! You guys are wonderful, thank you so so much. The 100th review came in from _Canuckpagali_ who has been reviewing nearly every chapter and has a lot of prompts of their own coming up, so thank you for your lovely and very special review. I've checked the reader count and at the time of posting this chapter there have been close to 4,000 viewers of this story and over 10,000 hits! It's unbelievable and I am so happy to be writing this story for you guys :) so, let's get to it! BTW, my uploading schedule at present is morning and night my time (NZ), not always both, but usually. I can't resist!**

**Another prompt from **_**njferrell: BIOTA - Blaine agreed to Rachel's date request, having told Kurt about not dating/kissing and not knowing if he liked boys for sure. Maybe they still have that argument and Blaine walks away like on the show. SO, Kurt decides to help him with deciding? Girls got there[sic] shot with Rachel's kiss. Boys should get their chance.. well, Kurt should get his!**_

**Oh gosh, I feel like I just wrote this moment, just like two scenes later. Okay, now I have to try and find something original for it. **

**Okay. Short fic ahoy!**

**I'm backtracking through and catching up on all the random Glee episodes I missed here and there and I'm watching Grilled Cheesus for the first time. I never watched that episode and then refused to look it up because I knew I'd bawl my eyes out but, here we are. As a Christian, I was always a bit iffy about watching it but now that I have I completely respect the episode. I'm aware there's jokes that would offend some other Christians, but I'm glad that Glee covered what I think is a big issue - teenagers finding and falling out of religion. There was no general consensus on whether God is real or not; some believed, some didn't. And that's life. I believe, other's don't. That's just how it is and I'm glad Glee covered it. Oh, and yes, I bawled. But not when watching I Want To Hold Your Hand as I anticipated, but from when Sue was talking to her sister onwards though, I was a goner.**

**(Oh, and I have to comment. During that last song where they're all in white and leaning on each other, Kurt and Finn look like pimps. Just saying.)**

**Finally (finally!), a review from _Lady Halaia_ on my Nightmare story (but I know she reads here), asking me which one Thad was. Thad is played by Eddy Martin and he's the one who yells out, "You mock us, sir!" during Silly Love Songs. He's the one on the Warbler council with Wes and David. If that still doesn't ring a bell, go to glee dot wikia dot com and search for Thad. It's the site I use to get any info I don't already have.**

**Once again, authors note is almost, if not, longer than the story. Shutting up now.**

**Disclaimer: Not mine. I don't want to own BIOTA anymore, that's for sure.**

* * *

Bisexual

"I'd say 'bye,' but that might offend you."

Kurt stared as Blaine stormed away from the table, trying to work out what the hell had happened. Sure, he'd overreacted but so had Blaine. Couldn't Blaine see that Kurt wasn't trying to change him, he was just trying to make him see who he was?

Obviously not.

Kurt stared at the half-drunken coffee on the table, then made a decision. Clearly there was more to this than Blaine was letting on and Kurt would be damned if he was going to stand by and let his friend storm out. Grabbing his bag, he quickly stood and followed Blaine out the door. Expecting to have to chase him to his car, he stopped in his tracks when he saw Blaine slumped on a bench outside. He didn't look up as Kurt sat down to him, staring morosely out at the parking lot.

Kurt gave him a moment, then spoke up. "I guess we both overrreacted a bit, right?"

Blaine gave no indication of hearing him.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Are you seriously going to sit there and ignore me?"

No answer.

"Ugh!" Kurt ran a hand through his hair angrily. "Blaine, don't be like this! You're supposed to be my friend -"

"Yeah?" Now Blaine was on his feet, pointing an accusing finger at Kurt. "And you're supposed to be mine too! But all you did was tell me I had to _change_ who I was -"

"That is not what I said at all! Blaine, I just think you need to seriously _think _about this."

"What do you think I've been doing! It's not like I have much to go off, Kurt. I have one drunken kiss from a girl that felt _good_ and I don't exactly have anything to base that against. You _know_ I've never kissed a guy before, hell I've never kissed someone _sober_ before. All I know is that the other night, I kissed a girl and I liked it and if I weren't so pissed off I'd probably sing about it. And if it felt good, then what do I do now? I reckon I'm not the only gay guy who's gone through this, Kurt. So why is it a crime? If Wes or David decided _they_ thought they might be gay, we wouldn't be getting annoyed at them and telling them to hurry up and work it out or saying that because they both liked girls in the past then they can't like boys as well. We'd be helping them through and giving them time. And that's what I wanted from _you_. I want your support, I want you to tell me it'll be okay no matter what I decide, and I probably am gay Kurt. But I'm confused and I have no experience to go from and I don't know what the hell to do!"

By now Blaine was pacing across the sidewalk, running his hands through his hair. Kurt sat still, watching his obviously upset friend vent his feelings while his own thoughts ran away. At first he wanted to get up and scream at Blaine in return, saying he wasn't the only one struggling with things at the moment, but refrained as he looked at the visibly distressed boy walking in circles around the parking lot. Blaine needed something to sort his head out and Kurt had an idea. _Nothing to compare it to, huh? _

Kurt drew up all of his courage, stood and walked over to his still rambling friend. Stopping in front of Blaine, he grabbed his shoulders to stop him from walking.

"Kurt, what the hell do you want? Just leave me alone!"

"No," Kurt said simply, before leaning in to kiss Blaine.

After a few seconds of the most amazing feeling of his life, Kurt pulled away. _Better not to get too close, this is for experimental purposes after all._

"So, you've now had a sober kiss from a guy. I know you haven't had a sober kiss with a girl yet but - uh, well, maybe it can help you figure it out." Kurt swallowed, his confidence rapidly disappearing. "I don't know, maybe - I think - maybe I should just go -"

Blaine put a finger to Kurt's lips before replacing it with his own.

When they broke apart, Blaine raised his eyebrows. "Okay, I don't think I'm homosexual anymore."

Kurt felt his heart drop somewhere into the parking lot. (1)

"But I'm not heterosexual either, or bisexual."

And now Kurt's just waiting for the customary punchline because Blaine, despite his charm and dapper-ness, is such a goofball.

"I'm Kurt-sexual."

_Yep, there it is._

* * *

**(1) "I think I just dropped my heart somewhere between Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, so if anyone sees that, please give it back to me." Chris Colfer, I adore you. (If anybody hasn't seen his Golden Globe speech, go YouTube it now!)**

**I couldn't resist that last line, I know how cliche it is but whatever. I didn't actually like this one much, it's one of the prompts I was struggling to write but I hope I did okay with it anyway.**

**Oh my, this is short! **

**Please review :) and I feed off prompts so don't let me starve! :D like I would, I've got 30! **

**(I'm such a loser)**


	10. Fight

**Prompt #10! Congratulations to **_**Juliet Hummel-Anderson for being my tenth prompter and having the most adorable screen name: Hmm, I wish Blaine and Kurt would kiss whilst fighting. That's really romantic to me. ((:**_

**Sorta, kinda, nearly already done it before. But they weren't both fighting in that one, it was just Blaine that was angry. So I'll happily do this one too :) **

**Sigh.. I've got another ten prompts waiting on me and while working today, I got a really good idea for prompt #14 which I had to start writing and now it's calling my name and I have to wait another five prompts to write it and then like another ten chapters before it actually gets uploaded. And THEN I got the best idea for prompt #19... But I'll do this first. Cause this is very cute.**

**Man, watching Grilled Cheesus seems to have had an effect on me. Because I'm now writing my first multi-chaptered story based around it, and yes it will be Klaine, even though they are only meant to meet three episodes later. Curious? Let me know if you are, and stay posted cause it'll be up soonish. But for now, enjoy this!**

**Disclaimer: *checks* No, still not mine.**

* * *

Fight

It was all David's fault.

If asked, he would be torn between denying any involvement and taking all credit. After all, it was the occasion everybody had been waiting for since Kurt had shown up at Dalton. But - well, David was an idiot. A really really big one. And if anyone could cause Kurt and Blaine's happiest moment to be one of their worst at the same time, it would definitely be David.

* * *

"David, what the _hell_ are you doing?"

David froze, then plastered a fake smile on his face and turned to face an angry Kurt.

"Kurt! My buddy, what are you up to this glorious day? Because I was thinking -"

"David."

David gulped and snapped his mouth shut.

"I hear some rumors around Dalton that I would like to disprove. Very much. After all, a rumor at Dalton can never be trusted. There's always an element of truth, but people like to change things. So I thought, why not go to the source? So, I'm coming to you David. To ask you one particular question that I would very much like an answer for. _Are you placing bets on myself and Blaine getting into a relationship?_"

"No! Kurt, no! I would never do something so stupid."

Kurt furrowed his brow. "Really?"

"Really. After all, you and Blaine are already together, you just don't know it. I'm betting on when you finally get your acts together and kiss."

"You're _what?_"

Kurt and David both spun to see a befuddled Blaine who apparently had overheard their conversation.

"He's taking bets on when we kiss. Can you believe it?"

Blaine snorted. "David, seriously? Don't you have better things to do."

"How can you laugh at this, Blaine? This is a total invasion of our privacy!" David breathed a sigh of relief as Kurt's ire was temporarily directed at Blaine.

"Kurt, you've got to admit it's a bit funny -"

"_Funny?_ You think this is funny? I suppose the whole thing is a big joke to you, the idea of it even happening is just ludicrous isn't it?"

Now Blaine was beginning to lose his patience. "Kurt, I think David betting on us is funny. I don't think that the idea is a joke. I think it's a serious conversation that you and I need to have at some point -"

"So why haven't we yet, Blaine? What's taking so long?" Kurt stepped forward and poked his finger into Blaine's chest. "You know _damn well_ how I feel. What's the problem, too afraid to face up to your own feelings?"

"Maybe I wanted to wait until we were both _ready_, Kurt." Blaine's voice was rising to match Kurt's and people were beginning to look in their direction. David coughed nervously and attempted to shuffle away until Kurt grabbed his blazer and pulled him back.

"Oh no, you're not going _anywhere._ You're the one who caused this, you can damn well _stay._"

"Kurt, _seriously._ You're making this into a huge deal when it could all be very simple."

"Oh right, so now my feelings aren't allowed to be a big deal? I'm meant to sweep it all under the rug and put a mask on like you do?"

"That's a low blow, Hummel." Blaine said through gritted teeth.

"What's the matter, _Anderson_? Not going to let your emotions go where people could hear? Too _scared_ to -"

"Fine, Kurt. You want me to _let go. _I'll let go." And now Blaine was the one in Kurt's face. "You have _no idea_ how infuriating you are. Other people are entitled to have their opinions _matter_. My opinion matters, Kurt! I can laugh at what I want to laugh at, I can talk about what I want to talk about and I can take as long as I want to bloody work out my feelings! We've talked about this before and you _know_ I need time to work it out. And the way you're acting right now, I don't know if I could be in a relationship with you. I thought you were someone who _understood_ the pressure of trying to find yourself and be that person. I thought you were actually understanding. You say you care about me, I can't buy that right now!"

Kurt had taken a step back at Blaine's outburst but quickly recovered to yell back. "You know what, screw this! I don't need this! I thought you were someone different too, Blaine. I thought you actually cared about me, I had hoped for a bit there that you might feel the same way. I'm _crazy_ about you, Blaine. And David's right, we _have_ pretty much been together, _you're _the idiot that hasn't worked that out. You're the one who hasn't made the first move. You're staying firmly in Mentor Blaine role when I don't _need_ a mentor anymore. What I _want_ is a boyfriend and I want it to be _you_. You, Blaine Darren freaking Anderson. So do something about it already!"

"And why should I, Kurt?" Blaine had turned red and was clenching his fists as he glared daggers at Kurt. "Why is it that I should be the one to make all the first moves, huh? We're _both_ guys and even though you're more feminine than me, this isn't a conventional relationship. Did you ever think I might have been waiting for _you_ to make the first move? After what you've been through, I wanted things to happen in your own time! To be sure that _you_ were ready for it all. I don't have any experience to go off either, and you're _impossible_ to read most of the time, so I wanted _you_ to start the whole thing so we could _both_ be sure of where we stood and comfortable with the relationship. But if you need me to be the _man_, well fine!"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to trouble you." The sarcasm dripped off Kurt's words. By now a crowd had gathered around the two screaming boys but neither noticed. David stood by awkwardly, not sure whether to get a teacher before the punching started or take bets on the outcome.

"Then by all means, do something about this _problem_! Because I can't take another second fighting with someone as pig-headed as you!"

"Fine!" Kurt screamed, grabbing Blaine's face. "Consider it dealt with!"

And he pulled them together so their lips met.

The muttering in the room immediately ceased as everyone watched the two boys lock lips. After a few seconds, all the anger drained out of both of them and Blaine's arms wrapped around Kurt's waist while his hands tangled through Blaine's hair.

David coughed, then quietly began crowd control. By the time the lovebirds broke apart, most of the crowd was gone but neither noticed or cared. They did notice, however, when David groaned angrily and threw his notebook to the ground.

"What's the problem, David?" Blaine asked lazily, running his fingers through Kurt's hair.

"Wes just won $100. He bet that the two of you would never be able to admit your feelings like normal human beings and you'd end up having a screaming match before - well, before exactly that happened."

Kurt raised his eyebrows. "Well, that's Wes for you." He suddenly gasped as Blaine's lips found his jawbone. "Um - well, nice talking to you - um, David. We're - we're gonna g-go and.."

Without finishing his sentence (which David was immensely grateful for), Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and pulled him out of the room. David picked up his notebook and, without turning around, announced to the empty room, "Gee, I wonder how Kurt found out I was taking bets..."

A few seconds later a sheepish Wes entered the room. "Man, it's my girlfriend's birthday next week, you know I need the money. Besides, the sexual tension was so high, anything would've set them off. It just happened to be you."

And with a wink, Wes grabbed his money and strolled out.

David sighed.

* * *

**I enjoyed writing this too much. Like, wayyy too much. And another confession: I've never had a fight with someone like that before. Like, I've had little arguments here and there but never had a screaming, in-your-face kind of fight. In fact, I've never yelled at anyone. I'm extremely non-confrontational and if anybody goes to yell at me, I either freeze up or get out of there. So again, not my own experiences. **

**I'm up to 21 prompts! So I'm halfway through my 'workload' at the moment but I guarantee by the time this actually uploads (at the time of writing this, I have only just uploaded Chapter 5), I'll have plenty more. (EDIT: Oh yes, I now have 31) I seriously never thought this would make it past five or ten chapters if getting there at all so I'm so glad that people have actually liked it and wanted to read more. You guys make writing rewarding.**

**Please continue to review :) and prompt of course!**


	11. Alcove

**The first of many prompts from**_** Canuckpagali (**_**and I seriously squealed when I read the review with all of these because they're so so cute!**_**): Kissing soon after Teenage Dream, somewhere in a hidden alcove at Dalton.**_

**All I can say is yay! This is one of those ones that I'm a little bit iffy about because of the timing but I love the idea of hidden alcoves!**

**A quick note to _Canuckpagali_. While I would love to do your 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina' prompt, I can barely remember the episode and can't find a video of it and as such, I don't feel I can do the story justice. I'm really sorry, but I will happily do all of your other prompts, okay?**

**And I forgot to put it on my last story but a huge thank you to everyone who sent me links so I could watch the rest of the episodes, particularly _Born This Way_ which I have JUST finished watching (I went to watch it last night but the power boards went out in my room, which happens frequently, so I had to wait :( [also, every time I think of power going out, I think of Candles. Sad fangirl.]). I'm going to confess, I was actually really apprehensive about watching the rest of the season after _Original Song_ because I know how relationships go in Glee and I didn't want to see anything happen to Klaine. To me, they're the relationship that is actually properly formed, that didn't just happen one night or is on and off. It actually seems more real and I don't want to see that ruined because Kurt has dealt with so much crap that seeing him happy is important to me. So I watched this with trepidation and I'm really worried about the rest of the episodes which I know is kinda sad. **

**So, what did I think? First of all, spoiler alert for anybody who hasn't seen it, go straight to the story. Thank you! (there won't be spoilers in my stories for awhile yet and I'll make sure people know which ones those are)**

**Okay, my thoughts: Well, it started off with nose jobs and I cringed. I think I've given up on the rest of the drama, I just want to see the Klaine stuff. So I waited.. and waited... and boy did they deliver! The way Kurt handled the Karofsky situation really made me proud and my Glee life is now complete because I saw Blaine both playing and crying. That was so so so beautiful. And so required. And we know their relationship is still a go. And Kurt's solo! I just love his expressions when he's singing. And then they FLASHDANCE! :D (at this point the Royal Wedding started so I had to leave and go watch that until it got really boring) and man I was proud of Brittany in this one! And I've been waiting for Glee to cover 'Born This Way' ever since I first heard and fell in love with it. And they didn't meet my expectations but they didn't let me down either. I adore Kurt in this song and of course Rachel didn't get her nose job (we all knew she wouldn't) and everything ended up good except for Santana and Karofsky. A usual Glee ending. **

**And yes, this now means I'm taking prompts up to _Born This Way_. I know there's one reader in particular who's dying to prompt me, so go for it! :) I also got a review this morning saying "this is a prompt from Born This Way so don't read it until you've watched it." Thank you for alerting me to that but I had to spend ALL DAY knowing I had a prompt there and I couldn't look at it until I watched it.**

**Alright, I'm done rambling. **

**Disclaimer: Uh, duh.**

* * *

Alcove

"_Let's run away and don't ever come back, don't ever come back!"_

Kurt had never felt more like a teenage girl than in that moment. A handsome guy was singing a love song to him and he thought he actually might faint at any second. And there was no doubt that the song was being sung to him. So fair, Blaine hadn't broken eye contact with Kurt for more than a second, pointing straight at him when he sang; "_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream."_

Perhaps it was the fact that Kurt stuck out like a sore thumb as he had told Blaine moments earlier - although the boys who had discarded their blazers and were just wearing garishly red vests stuck out a whole lot more, Kurt noted - but he knew he had the undivided attention of a guy who he had only just met. _A guy of undetermined sexual preference, _his brain reminded him unhelpfully. _For all you know, this is just another Finn situation._

Kurt couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as Blaine broke into the bridge. His heart certainly was racing and _was that a wink?_ He knew he was the only one not getting into the music - and how was a glee club that popular? - but he didn't care. For him, the rest of the room ceased to matter or even exist. All that was there was him and Blaine.

"_Yeahhh!"_

_Woah._ Kurt couldn't hold back the grin that split his face and as Blaine caught his eye, a similar one spread across his own. As amazing as the song was, Kurt was ready for it to hurry up and end so he could talk to this guy and learn more about him

And as Blaine sang, "_Don't ever look back,"_ it was if his eyes penetrated straight into Kurt's soul and saw the pain he'd been going through. They seemed to say, _hey, I've been there too, but look at me now._ And without any idea of how, Kurt knew that Blaine had been through the same things.

"_Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans, be your teenage dream tonight."_

The Warblers finished to vibrant applause but Blaine and Kurt only had eyes for one another. Blaine broke the look first, reluctantly turning to congratulate the other Warblers and make his excuses before coming straight over to Kurt.

"Let's go talk, shall we?"

* * *

If Kurt hadn't felt like a teenage girl before, he certainly did now. He and Blaine were walking hand-in-hand down one of the Dalton hallways. As they had walked out of the choir room, both had instictively taken each other's hand, before sharing a slightly-flustered look. Neither one had let go though and now they were walking in a comfortable silence.

Kurt's thoughts were racing a mile a minute. _He must be gay, straight guys don't hold other guys hands like this. He could just be friendly though? Remember, Kurt, you're only used to the ignorant Neanderthals at McKinley, they seem a lot more understanding here. But if he is gay, there's no chance he wouldn't already have a boyfriend, he's so -_

"Here we go," said Blaine, snapping Kurt out of his thoughts. He looked up to see a small alcove with a window seat looking across the grounds of Dalton. Kurt sat next to Blaine and took a moment to stare at the expanses of grass and trees, turning back to Blaine a moment later to see him smiling at the awed look on his face.

"Sorry," Kurt said, blushing slightly. "I've just never seen anything like it."

"So, which school do you go to?"

"McKinley," replied Kurt before he could stop himself. "I mean, I used to -"

Blaine held up a hand, smirking. "Save it, 'new kid.' It's pretty obvious that you're here to spy."

Kurt ducked his head. "Not by choice. The guys in my glee club got a bit sick of me and told me to come and do something useful so - here I am. I'm sorry."

Kurt felt a pair of fingers under his chin, lifting him to meet Blaine's incredulous gaze. "They said that to you?"

Kurt nodded. "Our glee club is a family, and by that I mean we fight all the time and don't appreciate each other as much as we should. Rachel gets all of our solos, you might have seen her perform before," Blaine nodded. "And Finn always duets with her. The rest of us stand and sway even though we're just as talented. Mercedes occasionally gets to belt out a couple of notes to back up Rachel even though her own solos are amazing. And I've always wanted to see Puck and Santana do a kick-ass duet. But Mr Schue doesn't know how to change things up."

"And you?" Blaine asked.

"Well, I'm a countertenor -"

"Are you serious?" Blaine's eyebrows shot up. "And they don't showcase you? Dalton hasn't had a countertenor in three years, we're dying for one. Hell, if you were here, there'd be auditions for people to duet with _you_ instead of me."

"You don't even know if I'm any good." Kurt laughed.

"Well, sing something for me?"

And now it was Kurt's turn to raise his eyebrows. "Here?" he squeaked.

"Only if you want to." Blaine ran his thumb over the back of Kurt's hand absently and Kurt realized they had stayed holding hands the entire time. Something about that motion calmed Kurt and he looked Blaine square in the eyes as he began to sing.

_"One song glory, one song before I go_

_Glory, one song to leave behind"_

Kurt saw Blaine suck in a breath as he began to sing and the recognition in his eyes nearly made Kurt cry. Nobody at McKinley knew this song except Rachel and she would never suggest for Kurt to perform it. A small smile crossed his face as he continued.

_Find one song, one last refrain_

_Glory, from the pretty boy front man"_

Kurt winked at Blaine as he sang this line, causing a light blush to spread across the older boy's face. Kurt mentally painted the image to replay later.

_"Who wasted opportunity_

_One song, he had the world at his feet_

_Glory, in the eyes of a young girl_

_A young girl, find glory"_

Blaine's hand was still squeezing his tightly

_"Beyond the cheap colored lights_

_One song, before the sun sets_

_Glory, on another empty life_

_Time flies, time dies_

_Glory!" (1)_

Kurt belted out the line with everything he had, closing his eyes as it washed over him. As the last note drifted away, he opened them again to see Blaine staring at him, mouth agape. Kurt gave him a few seconds before waving a hand in front of his face. "Was it that bad?"

Blaine blinked. "Are you kidding?" he said, slightly hoarsely. "That was the most amazing thing I've ever heard. You have _so much_ talent, Kurt."

And now Kurt could feel the tears welling up. He blinked frantically to keep them at bay but Blaine noticed.

"You've never been told that before, have you?"

Kurt shook his head, a tear escaping before he could do anything about it. Blaine reached up a hand to brush it away before wrapping him in a hug. "Well you should have been," Blaine murmured. "You have an _amazing_ voice, Kurt, and by what I've seen, an amazing personality to match."

Kurt pulled away. "People aren't exactly so supportive of people like me at McKinley."

"Are you the only one out at your school?" Blaine immediately froze. "I'm so sorry, I shouldn't assume, I mean -"

Kurt laughed. "Yes, Blaine, I am gay. And yes, I'm the only one. People at McKinley don't like what they don't understand and they really don't understand me. Usually I'm dressed a bit more fashionably than this, though I shouldn't bother at the rate my outfits get ruined -"

"Ruined. How?" Kurt cringed at the oblivious look on Blaine's face. _Perhaps I was wrong about him having been through stuff like this._

"Dumpster tosses. Slushy facials. You know."

Blaine whistled. "Dumpster tosses, yes. My last school didn't have a slushy machine so I managed to avoid that particular evil, therefore most of my clothes came out unscathed."

"So you're -"

"I'm gay as well, yeah. But I haven't had to deal with any of that crap for a few years now. Dalton has a zero-tolerance bullying policy."

"Really?" Kurt's eyes widened. "And it's enforced?"

Blaine nodded. "But it hardly needs to be, the students are wonderful. My first week here, I was still walking around on eggshells waiting to get shoved into a locker or something. Wes - that's our head council member - tapped me on the shoulder to ask me something and I actually ran. When he and David found me, I was actually hiding out up here." Blaine took a moment to look out the window then turned his attention back to Kurt. "They took me under their wing and I'm still not sure whether that was a blessing or a curse. I came out to them a few weeks later and they used that knowledge to try and find out which one of them was hotter."

"Who is?" Kurt asked, a smile playing around his lips.

"Wes, by far. But I still haven't told them the answer. If they find out you're gay, expect the same question." Blaine laughed and Kurt's breath caught in his throat at the gorgeous sound. "But anyway, this place is great. I'd tell you to transfer, but tuition is steep and I know it's not an option for everyone."

Kurt nodded, his smile fading. "I wish I could. It'd be nice to have someone else around who understood me."

"Well I'm not going anywhere, Kurt. I'll give you my number and it's not far to Lima from here. We can meet up somewhere in between and go for coffee, if you'd like?"

"Blaine, are you asking me on a date?" Kurt put on his best half-joking expression, prepared for Blaine to laugh and joke in return, even though he would really _really_ not object to a date with Blaine -

"Maybe I am." Blaine was looking at him intently and Kurt felt his breath catch. "I've never met anybody like you Kurt, and - well, do you believe in love at first sight? Because I feel like an idiot right now but all I want to do is spend more time with you and, _oh hell_, I can't believe I just said that -"

"Blaine!" Kurt said, half laughing because he'd just been asked on a date. "I'd love to go on a date with you."

Blaine sighed in relief.

"As for love at first sight," Kurt saw a flicker of panic in Blaine's eyes and the pressure on his hand tighten almost imperceptibly. "Well, I've never known before now. All I know is when you sang that song to me - don't deny it," he added as Blaine began to interrupt, "I know you were. Anyway, I've never felt anything so strong for anybody before."

"I kind of want to -" Blaine paused, biting his lip.

"Kiss me?"

Blaine nodded, still staring into Kurt's eyes. Kurt drew up all of his courage as he ran his thumb over Blaine's hand.

"Then why don't you?"

And now he couldn't keep his eyes of Blaine's lips which were moving closer and -

_Oh. There you are. I've been looking for you._

Kurt ran a hand along Blaine's face before breaking the kiss reluctantly. "While that was positively amazing, we barely know each other. We need more time."

"Mm," Blaine nodded. "Well, while we're getting to know each other, would you consent to being my boyfriend?"

Kurt's heart leapt into his throat. "Gladly," he stammered out.

Blaine looked a bit choked up himself and for a moment the two boys just stared at each other, finding themselves in each other's eyes.

"Come on then," said Blaine, pulling himself together first and standing up, pulling Kurt with him. "I want to show off my lovely boyfriend to all of Dalton then take him out for coffee. That okay with you?"

"Very okay." Kurt smiled, already composing the text to Mercedes in his head. She wouldn't _believe_ this.

* * *

**(1) One Song Glory from RENT. I did search for the perfect song - took ages too! - and as soon as I found this, I kinda fell in love with it myself although I imagine Kurt would sing it so much better...**

**Still feels a bit rushed for a first encounter for me but I take things very slowly in my relationships, so I think this is plausible. I used the quote from the Original Song episode.. sort of. I found the original of that quote which is as follows: "And then my soul saw you and it kind of went, 'Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you.'" Which I think is adorable of course, so yeah.**

**Ugh. Drowning... in ... prompts... I love it! Enough rambling from me, gotta get through them all!**

**Please review :)**


	12. Lonely

**I woke up this morning to the end of _Somewhere Only We Know_ playing in my head and I knew I'd dreamt of Glee. **

**This one is from _Canuckpagali_ and _Kat3418_ You know that little look that Blaine and Kurt shared when they were standing side-by-side during the Warblers' rendition of Silly Love Songs at Breadstix? Was it a look of love? What happens when the performance is over and the evening is drawing to an end?**

**So was it a look of love? No it wasn't, but it certainly lead there. Curious? Read (past my rambles) to find out!**

**Oh my gosh, has anybody seen this live? Darren Criss did an interview with Regis and Kelly and he played and performed this song. My observations: #1. He is an amazing piano player. #2. He sounds so much better singing this song alone than with the Warblers. I feel like Darren on Glee is a robot compared to Darren in AVPM/S. He puts so much of himself into those shows (and I will be doing a few of these fics dedicated to bubbly Blaine, just not this one. I do manage to put quite a few quotes from these shows into random fics though) #3. He's so bubbly! #4. Someone actually said they didn't feel like he puts enough passion into his songs... seriously, no. I can't see how someone could believe that while watching this. So, in conclusion, go and find it. If you YouTube "Darren Criss performs 'Silly Love Songs,'" you should find it, either the short version or the full interview. Both are wonderful. (And out comes the reason I'm drowning in prompts - I look up the videos of the scenes I'm writing then get distracted by interviews and sai swords and AVPM. Sigh)**

**(And for anyone else who loves AVPM and bemoans the fact that he lost the gorgeous hair, he showed a picture of the curly hair and the 'Glee hair,' and said "This is me (pointing to photo of curly hair), I have big hair, that's who I really am. (pointing to Glee hair) This is a lie." That's what I want to hear!)**

**Alright, enough out of me! Read and enjoy :)**

**Disclaimer: If it were mine, it'd look a lot more like this and a lot less like... well, that.**

* * *

Lonely

Even though the last performance the Warblers had done was a complete failure on Blaine's part, he was quite liking this idea of performing for the general public. People certainly seemed to be getting into the song - the couples were cuddling up while the single people were just enjoying the company of other people. _We'll have to thank Kurt for this later_, Blaine decided, chancing a look at Kurt to see how he was enjoying things. What he saw nearly caused him to miss his next line.

Kurt was staring back at him with a look of pain in his eyes. For the second that their eyes locked, Blaine could see he was holding back tears long enough to get through the performance. And suddenly everything from their conversation that afternoon clicked into Blaine's mind.

_He likes you, dimwit. Now the question is, why does him being upset make you this upset?_

And the warm feeling Blaine had been experiencing every time Kurt had looked at him the past few weeks finally seemed to make sense. What he thought he had felt for Jeremiah was nothing more than a crush; a figment of his imagination in comparison to what he felt for Kurt. Blaine had simply ignored it, continuing to think of himself as Kurt's mentor and forcing his feelings to act that way. If he really stopped to think about it, the signs were obvious. The way his heart skipped a beat when Kurt's hand brushed up against his during rehearsal. How he would argue with anybody else about radio stations until he was blue in the face but easily let Kurt listen to whatever he liked. And whenever Kurt was upset - like now - Blaine would jump through hoops to make him smile again. He had fallen for the boy he was meant to be a mentor for.

_Kurt doesn't need a mentor anymore,_ the voice niggled at him again. _You told Jeremiah how you felt, why not tell Kurt._

Yes, Blaine decided as the song drew into its final lines. As soon as they had finished up and gotten everything packed up, he would get Kurt alone and tell him everything.

The song finished to thunderous applause and Blaine turned to congratulate the other Warblers as per usual after a performance. Clapping Wes on the shoulder, he turned to Kurt to see him rapidly disappearing through the other Warblers towards the door. As he passed the New Directions table, Mercedes half-rose out of her seat to try and intercept him but he quickly shrugged her off and walked out, the door swinging behind him.

Blaine muttered to Wes that he'd be back in a moment then headed off after Kurt.

"Hold it right there, Mr Anderson."

Blaine froze as Mercedes intercepted his path.

"I swear to you, Blaine, if you've hurt my boy, I won't hesitate to cut you. What happened to him?"

"I don't know for sure, Mercedes, but I think I know how to fix it. Please let me go? If I hurt him, you're more than welcome to come after me."

Mercedes examined his face for a second. "You really are serious about him, aren't you?" Blaine nodded and her face broke out into a huge smile. "Well, what are you doing here? Go tell my boy that!"

She sat back down next to Rachel who gave Blaine a thumbs up. _At least I have their support,_ Blaine thought to himself as he pushed open the door, looking around for Kurt.

He didn't have to look far. Stepping off the path, he walked over to the tree that Kurt was sitting under, his legs drawn up under his chin. Blaine hesitantly sat down next to Kurt, not sure whether he wanted to be alone. _But even if he did, you wouldn't leave him here would you?_ Mentally telling himself to shut up, Blaine chanced a glance across to Kurt who was staring across the car park vacantly. _Should I say something or just leave him to his thoughts or -_

"You can talk, you know."

Blaine started and turned back to Kurt who was now looking at him. And now his breath caught in his throat because Kurt's eyes were red and his face was blotchy. _He looks so vulnerable when he's been crying, _Blaine thought to himself, before mentally slapping himself. _Kurt's been __crying__, idiot. Do something!_

"Are you alright?" Blaine knew he sounded stupid but he couldn't think of anything else to say. _Pull it together, Blaine! Where's that dapper-ness when you need it?_

Kurt chuckled miserably. "Yeah, I'm alright." He sniffed and wiped at his eyes.

"Tell me about it?" Blaine asked.

Kurt sighed. "I guess I'm just a bit sick of Singles Awareness Day. And after everything that's happened the past few days, well, I'm feeling a bit -"

"Lonely?"

"Mm." Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, I guess you've still got the Jeremiah thing on your mind." Blaine went to tell Kurt that was _not_ at all the case but Kurt kept talking. "It just kinda sucks to see all the happy couples from New Directions sitting there and I always knew I'd never find anyone at McKinley but I kinda had my hopes up about Dalton, you know? It's an all guy school with a zero tolerance bullying policy and the first guy I met who went there is gay. So I thought, maybe I'll actually find someone here and not be alone. But, of course, here's another Valentine's Day single." Kurt sighed again. "Gosh, you must think I'm an idiot."

"No, Kurt, not at all." Blaine gently placed his arm around Kurt's shoulders, pulling him in closer. "I'm the one who's an idiot. And it's about time I figured it out."

Kurt twisted to look at Blaine again and now their heads were a lot closer. "What do you mean?" Kurt asked and Blaine nearly melted at how breathy his voice was and how _close_ his lips were and - no. He shook his head.

Of course, Kurt misinterpreted the action. "If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"Oh no, I do. I just - ugh, sorry. Anyway." Blaine ran a hand down his face, ignoring Kurt's chuckling.

"I've never seen you so flustered, Blaine."

Blaine mock-glared. "Oh hush you. Here I am trying to be romantic and you're mocking me."

"Romantic?" Kurt squeaked, the smile sliding off his face.

"I really suck at this." Blaine groaned. "Okay, I'd ask you to pretend the last few minutes never happened but of course you'll want to hold this against me forever so let's just move forward." Shuffling back a little, he removed his arm from Kurt's shoulders and took both Kurt's hands in his own.

"Kurt Hummel, I've been a huge idiot. I've spent all this time chasing what I thought was romance, when it's been in front of me all this time." He took a deep breath, staring into Kurt's eyes which were beginning to well up, hopefully for the right reason this time. "I've been at Dalton for two years now and for most of my time there, I felt safe and that was about it. The Warblers accept me and that's awesome. Nobody bullies me and that's totally awesome. I've been ... comfortable. It's been easy. And I certainly wouldn't change schools. But something was always missing."

Kurt's breath caught and Blaine could feel his fingers trembling.

"And then you arrived. And everything changed. I had someone I could spend hours talking about RENT and Wicked with. I could finally suggest Disney movies for our movie nights and have at least one person guaranteed to back me up. And when Wes and David finally gave in and admitted that they like _Wizards of Waverly Place,_ I could talk about how dreamy David Henrie is with someone who doesn't just want to talk about Selena Gomez."

"But on top of that, I had someone I could call my best friend. Someone who understood what it was like to still flinch when a locker door slams." Kurt made a small murmur and began to run his thumb along the back of Blaine's hand. "You were the one to hold me and tell me it would all be okay on the second anniversary of my transfer to Dalton when I didn't want to get out of bed. In all of my time at Dalton, only one person has ever seen me cry and that's you, Kurt, and you comforted me and made me feel like it was okay to show my emotions sometimes."

"You do the same for me, Blaine. And you're probably going to have to do that in a few minutes." Kurt chuckled as a tear slid down his cheek. Blaine smiled and wiped it away gently.

"Gladly, though I hope in a few minutes you won't want to be crying. Because I came to a few realizations in there and I should probably share them before I explode."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "We wouldn't want that," he quipped. "So, what's the big news."

Blaine had been searching his brain for the last ten minutes for the perfect way to tell Kurt, but all his elaborate words failed as he looked at the beautiful boy across from him.

"Kurt.. I think I kinda love you."

And all the romantic lines and sayings could go to hell because nothing could possibly make Kurt's eyes light up any more. Still, Blaine knew Kurt was into romance and he wanted to make it as perfect as possible.

"I guess I finally realized that everything about you is everything I've been looking for and -"

Oh. Okay. Skipping the romance was totally fine if _this_ was the result. Kurt's lips were against his and his hands in Blaine's hair and, _oh, wow, Kurt's lips are really soft and... soft ... and -" _Blaine's brain gave up all coherent thought as his arms snaked around Kurt's waist.

After nowhere near long enough, Kurt pulled away and detangled his hands from Blaine's hair, wrapping them around his neck. Blaine's disappointment was short lived as Kurt leaned back in, nuzzling his head into Blaine's neck and sighing contentedly. Blaine tightened his hold and dropped a kiss on top of Kurt's head.

FLASH!

"Rachel, I told you to turn the flash off!"

Kurt raised his head as Blaine blinked rapidly, trying to clear the black dots out of his vision. They both turned in unision to see a sheepish Rachel, irritated Mercedes and a suggestively-winking Santana. The rest of the New Directions group were hovering around in the background, pretending to be interested in other things like the sky or trees, except for Brittany who was genuinely interested in the blades of grass she was sitting on.

"Uhm, hi guys?" Mercedes elbowed Rachel as Santana grabbed the camera, complaining that the photo wasn't even good quality.

"Hello everybody." Kurt had his best bitch-face on and the girls took a step back. Rachel began to mutter about the Oscars being on in half an hour and she'd better get home, grabbing her camera back of Santana and beating a hasty retreat. Lauren dragged a grinning Puck away - Blaine decided he didn't want to know what was happening there - and the rest of the crew made their excuses and filed out, leaving Mercedes and Santana (and Brittany, still talking to the grass).

"Sorry, white boy. We didn't want to invade your privacy. I was just coming to check if I needed to cut a bitch," Blaine flinched, "and then Rachel decided she wanted a photo and the rest just followed. Hope we didn't ruin your moment too much."

"You did." Kurt leveled Mercedes with his glare, then softened. "But it's okay, I still love you."

Mercedes smiled. "I'm happy for you two. Look after my boy, Anderson."

And now only Santana remained. "Just thought you guys should know you're hot. Like, real hot." Her gaze dropped to Brittany who was humming under her breath, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers. "And - we'll talk later, Hummel."

"Can do." Kurt smiled. "Now you two get out of here and leave me and my boyfriend in peace."

Santana winked and hauled Brittany to her feet, linking pinkies with her and walking to the car. And finally Kurt and Blaine were left alone again, Kurt immediately snuggling back into Blaine's chest. Blaine began to stroke his hair, humming _Teenage Dream_ lightly. Kurt chuckled.

"I think that's our song now. Oh, and by the way, I love you too."

* * *

**I'm leaving it there. This is definitely up there in the favourites :) and it's longer! I've written two chapters today and it's 9:39pm and I know if I start another I'll be up until midnight or something. So... yeah, I'm going to head on to the next chapter, of course ;)**

**Thanks guys! Please review :)**


	13. Football

**In a matter of three chapters, this story received nearly another hundred reviews! Thank you all for being such loving fans :) todays prompt comes from _Canuckpagali, Broken Gold_ and _Silverlily909:_ _Kurt and Blaine are at the football stadium during the Thriller episode. _**_**McKinley has won. They hug each other in joy... and realize they really don't ****want to let go of each other. What happens next?**_

**What does happen next? Well, I could've taken the easy route and made them kiss right there and then and have everything lovely from that point on. I didn't - well, not exactly. Sorry all but that would've been like a 300 word chapter and a bit boring TBH. Plus, I hadn't done a chapter like this yet and really wanted to - it can't all be 'oh, we kissed, everything's great now.' Hope you enjoy it anyway, I sure did!**

**Okay, so in a previous chapter I mentioned that kid Blaine who came to visit? Yeah, well tonight was Crusaders vs. Highlanders (Highlanders won!) and we had their family come over for dinner before everyone (minus me) left to go see the game. Their mum walks in the door and goes, "Blaine's face is painted, come in and show them Blaine!" and for a second there I'm just waiting for Darren Criss to walk in with his face painted ready to go watch the game. Which just lead me to have to write this now even though there's five other prompts in queue before this one..**

**Okay readers, a quick few notes that apply to pretty much EVERYONE, so please read:**

**1. First, to the people who give me prompts: I love getting prompts. They make my day. What I hate is when people prompt me and and say 'it's a stupid idea but if you want to...' or something like that. Don't put yourselves down like that, please. If you prompt an idea, you obviously think enough of the idea to send it to me (and I seriously feel priviledged that you guys like my writing enough to have me write them) so please feel good about them! I have only rejected one or two prompts so far and it's either because they're too close to things I've already done, I can't get the footage, the prompt doesn't make sense or I just don't think I can make it work. Okay? Believe in yourselves, guys!**

**2. Okay, I've been prompted from _Born This Way_ (don't read if you don't want spoilers!) to do the scene where Blaine sings "Somewhere Only We Know" and their first kiss happens there. So I wrote it up, looked at it and actually felt bad. In my opinion, the scene in Glee was so freaking perfect that I can't justify putting up a scene that I feel is worse. While I would've liked to have seen them kiss, I appreciate that they didn't and I think it worked equally as well with that heart-wrenching hug goodbye. So, this is what's going to happen. I won't upload it. BUT, I know there are at least two people who have prompted it. So what I want you to do is leave a review saying "I want to read the Born This Way scene" and don't leave it anonymously because I'll inbox you the story. That way you can read it and I don't feel bad for my writing. Cool? Awesome :) P.S. The other Born This Way scene that others have asked for, right at the end after the song, is still a go! Just wait patiently :) really patiently, it's near the back of the queue.**

**Thanks for bearing with me and enjoy the story! (I would've put this on the previous authors note but it was busy enough back there)**

**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah.**

* * *

Football

"McKinley wins!"

Kurt screamed, jumping up and down in the bleachers and clapping his hands together in delight. Burt was yelling at the top of his lungs and Carol was crying as her son was submerged in a group hug with the rest of the team, the New Directions girls running towards them. On the other side, Blaine was also cheering and punching a fist in the air.

Kurt turned towards Blaine and he was quickly engulfed in a hug. Blaine barely knew the team but the excitement was contagious and if it made Kurt this excited, he wanted to be a part of it too. Kurt pulled back and before Blaine knew what he was doing, he kissed him.

Blaine felt Kurt's breath stutter against his lips before the younger boy relaxed into the touch, kissing Blaine back. Aware of where they were, Blaine pulled away slightly to look Kurt in the eyes and what he saw there scared and exhilirated him at the same time. He could see Kurt swallow and duck his head to lean in again, and -

- a yell came from the stands behind them and something wet was dripping down his face.

Blaine stood frozen trying to work out what was going on. Kurt immediately pulled away from him and turned to locate the culprit, a hockey player sitting a few seats behind them. "What is your _problem?_" he screamed, pointing a finger at him. "You've already driven me out, can't you let me have _one second_ of happiness?" Blaine looked to Burt to see what was going on only to find him heading out of the stands and up to confront the hockey punk and his father. Carol was crying again and fumbling in her bag for something - Blaine couldn't tell what.

It was only when Kurt turned back to him and Blaine finally saw the purple ice dripping down his face when he realized. They'd been slushied.

* * *

"Blaine, I'm so sorry."

Kurt hadn't spoken a word in the past ten minutes. They'd quickly left the stands under the watchful eyes of McKinley High and made their way to the nearest bathroom. Under the harsh fluorescent light, Kurt had helped Blaine first, washing the slushy gently out of his eyes and hair before turning his attention to his own state. Blaine helped as best as he could but Kurt was an expert at this - something that broke Blaine's heart.

Hell, when Kurt had mentioned being slushied, Blaine had imagined being a bit cold and uncomfortable. This was freaking _painful_. His eyes burned from whatever was in the putrid drink, his clothes were probably completely ruined (honestly, how did Kurt stand this with his expensive wardrobe?) and he smelt terrible. But the worst thing was seeing Kurt looking so _ashamed_, like he was the one to cause this.

"Kurt, this is not your fault."

"Yes it is!" Kurt yelled, slamming a hand down on the ceramic bench top. "I should have known better than to bring you here! Those idiots have it out for me and any guy I happen to be with at the time is going to get it too. I was so naive to think that they might just ignore me being there, but of course not -"

"Kurt," Blaine interrupted gently, placing a slightly sticky hand on Kurt's shoulder. "I knew about the risk of coming here, even if you hadn't thought about it. And I decided that the risk was worth it. I spend my life hiding behind the walls of Dalton and someday it will be gone and I'll be vulnerable to the world. I can't stay there, unprepared. Stuff like this is going to happen in real life and if I ever want to have a boyfriend," both boys blushed at this before Blaine continued, "I need to be ready for it. And it was worth it. The game was fantastic and I love spending time with you and your family. So don't be sorry, okay?"

Kurt nodded and pulled away, wrinking his nose up when he took in the state of Blaine's shirt. "You really need to get that washed before it stains any more."

"So do you," Blaine said, gesturing to Kurt's outfit.

Kurt looked down and nearly had a coronary. "Ohmygod, this is Ralph Lauren!" he screamed, pulling his scarf from around his neck and immediately dousing it in cold water. "Those neanderthals are going to pay! When I get out of here -"

Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt until the boy stopped shaking, the anger lessening. "I don't want you going anywhere near those idiots. Besides, your dad was headed in their direction, I think he's got it under control." He stepped back so Kurt could continue to wash his scarf and pulled his ruined shirt off, examining the stains across it.

"Does this stuff actually come out?" he asked.

Kurt looked up. "Sometimes but probably not ... out of ... that."

Blaine raised an eyebrow and was about to question Kurt when he saw the younger boy's gaze had dropped to his now-exposed chest. Feeling somewhat self-conscious, Blaine crossed his arms across his chest.

"Don't do that!" Kurt squeaked before clapping a hand over his mouth.

Blaine smirked at the rapidly-reddening Kurt before cutting him some slack and beginning to wash out his shirt. The two worked in silence for some time before Blaine turned to Kurt.

"So, Kurt, how often -"

But the question died on his lips because Kurt was gripping the edge of the sink, tears streaming down his face. Blaine dropped the shirt back into the sink with a wet _plop_ before reaching out and pulling Kurt into his arms. Kurt began to sob against his shoulder and Blaine gently rubbed his hand across his back, rocking the two of them slightly. After a few minutes there was a slight knock on the door and Kurt pulled away, wiping his eyes.

Burt's head poked around the door before he caught sight of his son. He immediately stepped into the room and embraced Kurt, muttering into his ear. Blaine turned his attention to getting the stains out of Kurt's scarf (to hell with his shirt, it was ruined), giving the two a moment alone and trying to ignore the fact that Kurt's father had just caught his son in the arms of a half-naked, gay teenage boy.

After a few minutes, Burt cleared his throat and Blaine determined it was safe to turn around. "So I had a _talk_ to that young man and his father. It just so happens that your old principal was in the stands behind us and took them away for a proper chat, something about determining the future of the boy at McKinley. Though before he could get to us, I happened to mention something about him not surviving high school wherever he went if he ever messed with my son again. So - uh, you won't have to worry about him."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Dad, you didn't have to threaten him with bodily harm. I've dealt with it before." But the look on his face told Burt how much he truly appreciated the care.

Burt cleared his throat again. "Yeah, well. Do you need us to help with anything kiddo, or -"

"No, we've got it, Dad. Thanks. How about you and Carol head on home? Blaine and I will just head back to Dalton soon, we're nearly done here."

Burt nodded, wrapping an arm around his son again before turning towards Blaine. Before Blaine had time to cringe, Burt was clapping a hand on his shoulder and muttering a quick, "Look after my son." Blaine nodded and murmured, "Always."

As Burt left the room, Kurt gave Blaine an incomprehensible look before taking the scarf and examining the damage. "Well, that's the best we're going to get here. I can run it through the wash when we get back to Dalton anyway. How's your shirt?"

"Ruined."

Kurt sighed. "I'll buy you a new one."

Blaine shook his head. "No you won't, idiot. It's just a shirt." And before Kurt could argue back, he quickly changed the subject. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"About your shirt?" Kurt gave a slightly nervous laugh. "Not really, except to say you need to stop buying cheap polyester blends, I've told you a million times -"

"Not about my shirt."

Kurt sighed. "Not in here. Besides, we need to get back before curfew." Grabbing their stuff, the two boys headed out to Blaine's car which was thankfully still in once piece and hadn't been vandalized or keyed. The drive back to Dalton was mostly silent, Blaine's music softly playing in the background. Kurt stared out the window and Blaine left him to his thoughts, knowing Kurt would talk when he was ready.

As they pulled into the student parking lot, Kurt pulled a spare jacket out of the backseat and handed it to Blaine. At the questioning look on his friends face, Kurt explained, "Do you really want to explain to any teachers why we're getting back just before curfew and you don't have a shirt? Or Wes and David for that matter?"

"Fair point," said Blaine, slipping the jacket on and grabbing his and Kurt's wet clothes from the backseat before the two boys headed into Dalton. Without any discussion, they headed for Kurt's room, knowing Wes would throw a tantrum until he got answers then pitch a fit at the explanation given.

As soon as they got in the door, Kurt grabbed his scarf and went into his bathroom, presumably to set up some overnight stain remover or something. Blaine looked at his shirt before sighing and chucking it in the bin. He unzipped Kurt's jacket and hung it up, then sat on the edge of the bed and waited.

"I think that should do it." Kurt walked out of the bathroom and stopped short at the sight of Blaine. "Oh. You're shirtless again."

Blaine winked, then patted the bed next to him for Kurt to sit.

"Are you okay?"

Normally, Kurt could shrug this question off with a standard response. Looking at Blaine though, he knew that he had to tell the truth.

"Not really. I had hoped that the hatred was over. That the fact that I was gone would be enough to stop them from trying to hurt me more every chance they got. But I can't do anything about what's happened, I just have to keep moving forward. Courage and all that." Kurt gave a small but genuine smile.

"Spoken like a true warrior," Blaine quipped, pulling Kurt in close and kissing the top of his head. A second later, both boys froze. _Oh right, _Blaine thought, _we kissed back there. We should probably talk about that..._

Kurt pulled away and turned so they were eye-to-eye.

"I really appreciate you being there tonight."

"I wouldn't have been anywhere else."

Blaine looked contemplatively at Kurt's lips for a moment before deciding. _To hell with talking._

Oh yes, Kurt's lips were delicious. And judging by the way Kurt looked when Blaine pulled away, so were Blaine's. Except -

"You still taste like grape slushy."

Kurt laughed. "Yes, that goes away in a couple of hours. But I'm sure we won't notice it after awhile." And now it was his turn to wink at Blaine.

Blaine smirked. "I like your thinking, Mr Hummel."

* * *

**Happy? I hope you are, I am. Original authors note on the day of finishing writing the story: 'It's**** 11:54pm on the evening before Easter and the family that I work for will probably be up at 5 or some other horrid hour, pulling me out of bed to find all the easter eggs that I hid about an hour ago. Sigh. ****At least I get chocolate!' (I'm a bit ahead in writing my prompts, but there's still so many!)**

**And that line about Kurt's lips being delicious? Taken out of the original BICO song, but they skipped that line which I was sad about. Though I think it would've been something on Blaine's mind since that song ;) by the way, this is my absolute favourite chapter... so far. Though there's another chapter a few back in the queue that might just top it ;) keep posted for that one, it's full of fluff. And songs!**

**Please review and prompt! :)**


	14. Due To Popular Demand

**Okay, so last chapter (posted just over 12 hours ago) I told readers if they wanted to see my Born This Way chapter to review or message me. In that 12 hours, I've gotten 14 people tell me they want to read it. I sent the chapter to two of them but then they started flooding in so quickly that I decided I'd just upload it now to save my inbox! Also, I wrote that message saying first to 50 prompts and 250 reviews would get a story? Yeah, we're really close already :D I won't say how close (you can find out for the reviews anyway yourselves but not the prompts) but someone will be getting a story soon.**

**So, here's the Born This Way chapter. If you haven't seen the episode and don't want spoilers, don't read any further than this paragraph. You can always come back to it later. Also, if you're like me and want to leave the episode as it was, then don't feel obligated to read. Next chapter will go up tonight (my time, so in 10 or so hours) as usual so you can wait until then if you like :) also, I'm not counting this on my prompt count, it's sort of an extra chapter if you will. **

**So here's the prompt, originally from **_**nicksgirl24: This next Glee episode Kurt leaves Dalton and returns to Mckinley. Blaine goes there and sings Somewhere Only We Know by Keane to Kurt. Imagine they haven't kissed yet and Kurt is so moved and awashed with tears of happiness, and then Blaine kisses him. In the Mckinley court yard, in front of everyone! I know you could make it a beautiful moment and I'd love for you to write it!**_

* * *

Born This Way

Kurt bolted down the stairs into the arms of Mercedes, laughing with delight. Finally, he was _home_. He greeted the rest of the Glee club, feeling a slight twang as he had all day whenever he thought about leaving the Warblers - or more specifically leaving _Blaine. _Kurt pushed that to the back of his mind and looked around excitedly at his family.

"Let's get ready for Nationals!"

"Not yet." Kurt raised his eyebrows at Mercedes who had her smug diva smile on. Of course she had planned something, he should've known. "Because there is a reason we're meeting here today. There are some people who want to say goodbye to you, Kurt." She looked slightly over his head and Kurt's head spun so fast he swore his neck cracked. There, walking towards him, was Blaine.

_Blaine._

Kurt's heart leapt at the sight of his boyfriend and he couldn't stop the smile crossing his face as he stopped a couple of feet from him. To everybody else there, Blaine was all business and formality. But Kurt could see the smile that Blaine reserved especially for him, and his eyes read so much more. His happiness that Kurt was finally home, but how he truly was upset that he was losing Kurt. And the resignation that he would now only see his boyfriend on weekends, but that was okay. They would make this work and Kurt knew he had the same expression on his face as he tried to hold his emotions in check.

"Kurt, Dalton's gonna miss you. You were a great addition to the Warblers and you made us a better team. I'm sad to see you go but we all know that's something you really want. And I'll get you after school and on the weekends," Kurt smiled, knowing full well that Blaine would be at his house that afternoon waiting for him, "but these guys won't, so they wanted to say goodbye."

"And thank you, Kurt." Wes chipped in unexpectedly from beside Blaine. Kurt smiled at the boy who had made his life so incredibly strange but was almost as much a part of Dalton to him as Blaine. David was on the other side in usual Warbler formation.

"_I walked across the empty land, _

_I knew the pathway like the back of my hand,"_

Kurt sucked in a breath because _nobody_ else there had any idea of the significance of that song. He and Blaine had been hanging out in his room a few nights after Blaine had confessed his feelings and he had finally revealed his past and the events that had prompted him to come to Dalton. Kurt had allowed Blaine to cry on his shoulder, then took him by the hand and silently led him to the staircase where they had first met. Standing in the same positions, Kurt had begun to sing the same song.

"_I felt the earth beneath my feet,_

_Sat by the river and it made me complete,_

_Oh simple thing, where have you gone?_

_I'm getting old and I need something to rely on,"_

As the band broke in behind them (to Kurt's amazement, he had never heard the Warblers sing with accompaniment before), Kurt noticed the way Blaine's eyes were crinkling up and knew he was fighting not to cry just as much as Kurt was.

"_So tell me when you're gonna let me in,_

_I'm getting tired and I need somewhere to begin."_

Kurt stared in amazement as Blaine rushed down the stairs and took over at the piano, the joy spreading over both of their faces because this was something Kurt _loved_ to see Blaine do and Blaine knew it.

"_And if you have a minute, why don't we go_

_Talk about it, somewhere only we know,"_

To anybody else watching, it would seem like Kurt was simply enjoying the song, but he was using every piece of strength he had in him not to bawl his eyes out.

"_This could be the end of everything,_

_So why don't we go somewhere only we know?_

_Somewhere only we know,"_

And now Blaine had abandoned the piano and come straight to Kurt, taking his hands and Kurt could see the tears welling up in his eyes and he didn't _care_ about all the homophobic jerks at McKinley, this was his boyfriend and he was going to show that off to the world. As the Warblers faded out their harmony, Kurt received many claps on the shoulder. And then they were gone and Finn was right in front of him with his arms outstretched and Kurt fell into them, knowing the worst was yet to come. He still had to say goodbye to Blaine. He gave a quick hug to Mercedes before turning to face his boyfriend again.

"_Somewhere only we know,"_

Kurt saw the way Blaine was shaking and just wanted to pull him into his arms and never let him go. He ducked his head, trying to avoid the tears that he knew were coming, no matter what.

"_Somewhere only we know." (1)_

And now a tear was running down Blaine's cheek and before Kurt knew what he was doing, he reached in and gently wiped it away, letting his hand rest on Blaine's cheek for a moment before pulling him into a hug. "I'll never say goodbye to you," he whispered before pulling away, still holding Blaine's arms.

Blaine's lips were trembling and all Kurt wanted to do was make the pain go away and give Blaine something to remember him with.

Looking straight into Blaine's eyes, Kurt whispered, "I love you." Then he leant in and gently kissed him.

There was nothing passionate about it at all, this was a kiss of two people who knew their love was close to forbidden but loved each other anyway. This was two people who had found each other for such a short time and were now feeling like they were being ripped apart again. And this was two people discovering for the first time how it felt to kiss someone they loved, to have a kiss that mattered.

Blaine broke away first, staring into Kurt's eyes as if trying to memorize them. "I love you too," he whispered, running a hand down Kurt's face. "So, so much."

"See you this afternoon?" _Which is too far away. And then you'll have to leave. _

"Of course, baby." Blaine smiled before leaning in to kiss him softly one more time. Breaking away, he gave Kurt one last look before turning away. Kurt watched him go, feeling the tears running down his cheeks before Mercedes grabbed him in a hug again and he brought his thoughts back to New Directions.

_Home._

* * *

**(1) Transcribed (ish?) from Born This Way to this point**

**You all know my feelings on this. So I hope those of you who prompted it did enjoy it. It's not that I hate the story, its that I feel bad about degrading the already so beautiful scene. **

**Anyway, review, prompt and send love :) I love love 3**


	15. Billsx3

_**Lots of love for Canuckpagali with wonderful prompts like this: All the Warblers have left the room after Bills Bills Bills. Kurt and **__**Blaine stay behind to gather all the papers that have scattered on the floor. **__**What happens next?**_

**This prompt was so wide open that anything could have happened. So I just started writing and let the words flow and .. well, yeah. Just a few notes; I don't believe Kurt would ever do cleaning by choice. And David does epic backflips.**

**So, you guys who review and prompt are just lovely. And as such, I want to reward you :D I'm currently up to 228 reviews and 45 (I think?) prompts. So this is what I'm gonna do. To the review who posts the 250th comment and the prompter who posts the 50th prompt, you'll get a sneak peek. Either you can pick a currently unpublished chapter or I can pick one for you, and you'll get to read it before it gets published on here. What I don't want, however, is people spamming reviews until they get to be #250. If my 250th review is something I don't think is genuine, I'll just go to the next proper review. ****Cool? Cool. (I just realized I messaged someone talking about this and I hadn't posted the chapter yet. So to that person [I've forgotten who], I'm very sorry and it should make sense now)**

**Enjoy the results of my mind. **

**Disclaimer: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _**

* * *

Billsx3

"Guys, I'd say we're ready for Regionals."

The rest of the Warblers cheered, crowding around Blaine and slapping him on the back, chattering excitedly about the upcoming performance. David and Wes were the first out the door, mentioning something about tweaking the setlist to perfection (and David commenting on how awesome Blaine's solo would look with backflips in the background to a dismayed-looking Wes). The rest of the Warblers dispersed in huddles until only a few were left. Thad and Nick took a look at the floor, then at Blaine and Kurt still talking and beat a hasty retreat.

"You looked like you were getting into it, Kurt." Blaine straightened out his blazer and smiled at the newest Warbler.

"Well, it's no New Directions but there is a certain charm about being a ukelele." Kurt smirked, then seemed to realize they were alone. "Of course, some things never change."

Blaine looked around at the papers strewn across the room and the rapidly disappearing Nick and Thad. The door slammed shut and he sighed. "They always do this. Except last time it was streamers. Millions and millions of streamers. And just me."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I would never imagine a Warblers number requiring streamers."

"It was David's birthday party. And his request was for us to perform _Boom Boom Pow._"

"You're kidding, right?" Kurt looked incredulous. "You guys are talented but surely you couldn't just pull that out of nowhere?"

"No, for birthday parties, we get the recipient to request a song a week in advance. David requested, and I quote: '_Boom Boom Pow_, with someone _other_ than Blaine leading, and streamers.'"

"Who sung lead then? For that matter, who sung Fergie's part?"

"Thad was Will, Nick rapped and ... well, Fergie wasn't considered a lead so -"

Kurt began to laugh. "That's classic! I never thought your range would be high enough."

Blaine sighed. "You do one performance as a girl and nobody lets you live it down -"

"Blaine. Look who you're talking to. I perform female parts way more than male. Hell, I belted it out on Lady Gaga and sounded better than all of those girls. I don't care what gender you sing, I just wouldn't have believed that you could sing that high. You'll have to show me some time ... when we're not stuck cleaning up the mess."

Blaine became aware that the papers hadn't gotten up and walked out as he had been willing them to and sighed again. "Okay, let's get to it."

* * *

After awhile minutes of cleaning up papers in a comfortable silence, Kurt let out a gasp from the other side of the room. "Blaine Anderson, you're in trouble!"

Blaine dropped the papers he was holding onto the table and hurried over. "Oh, crap."

Kurt was standing next to the couch that he had been sitting on at the start of the number. The same couch that Blaine had walked across the back of, which now held his footprints.

"That's vintage." Blaine stammered out.

"I'll go get some cleaning stuff. You stay here and get these papers tidied up and do _not_ let anybody else come in here and see that."

Kurt hurried off and Blaine rushed to pick up the rest of the papers, stacking them neatly on the table. He vaguely noted that a few pages were Wes' History essay and set those aside, the rest of his mind preoccupied with if his family could afford to buy a new vintage couch for Dalton and whether they could get it in and the old one out without the faculty noticing -

"Okay!" Kurt skidded into the room, panting. "Leather stain remover, this should do it."

"You do it, I think I'll ruin it more."

Kurt rolled his eyes but uncapped the bottle and gently worked it into the couch. Blaine shut his eyes, afraid of the outcome.

"You can look."

Blaine hesitantly cracked open an eyelid, then sighed and collapsed into the couch. "You're amazing. Thank you."

"Let me just put this back." Blaine heard the sound of Kurt's disappearing footsteps, keeping his eyes shut and allowing himself to drift into thought. As had been happening the past few days, his mind went straight to thinking about Kurt. After their performance of _Baby It's Cold Outside,_ something had changed between himself and Kurt and Blaine was yet to put his finger on it. It wasn't a bad thing, especially since it meant Kurt was now wanting to spend more time with him, something that Blaine exceptionally enjoyed.

Two nights ago, Kurt had shown up at Blaine's door, taken his textbook from his desk and replaced it with popcorn, _Beauty and the Beast, Tangled _and _The Little Mermaid_ - a secret favourite of both boys. They had stretched out on Blaine's bed and sung along, ignoring Wes and David knocking at the door wanting to come in and watch too. Blaine had woken up the next morning and found himself tangled in Kurt's arms, using his chest as a pillow. After calming his rapidly beating heart, he had removed himself from Kurt's arms and was in the bathroom by the time Kurt woke.

_Why did you run away? _Blaine asked himself for what felt like the millionth time. _You've woken up like that with David before, you guys just laughed it off. So why was it different for you and Kurt? _

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Blaine jumped, his eyes shooting open to see Kurt standing in front of him. He clutched a hand to his chest as Kurt sniggered. "Don't _do_ that to me, Kurt!"

"Sorry," said Kurt, not looking at all sorry. He flopped onto the couch next to Blaine, sitting a little closer than they normally would. Blaine took note of this and the way Kurt's hand lay loosely beside his leg, just waiting to be held...

"So," Blaine broke the silence hurriedly, searching for a topic.

"Mm?" Kurt looked at him, then laughed. "I'm not used to seeing you lost for words. What's up?"

"Just - I don't know." Blaine sighed, then stood abruptly and began to pace.

"Blaine? What's wrong?" Kurt stood as well and was hovering by the couch anxiously, not knowing whether to follow or not.

Blaine stopped as quickly as he had started, staring out the window across the grounds.

"I don't know what I'm doing, Kurt."

He heard Kurt walking over and then an arm wrapped around him. Kurt didn't say anything, he simply stared out the window and waited for Blaine to talk.

"I'm a mess." Blaine said finally. "When I'm up there with the Warblers, I come across as the most collected, in-control guy. I know I do, everybody tells me I do. But as soon as I'm away from the spotlights, I'm not Blaine the Lead Warbler anymore. I'm Blaine who can't talk about his feelings and does things like put stains on vintage furniture then freaks out over it. I'm Blaine who sings along to Disney when I work out and takes close to an hour to do his hair every morning but doesn't admit that to anybody ... except now. Crap."

Kurt laughed as Blaine cringed. "Any more embarrassing secrets?"

"I'm sure I could think of a few." Blaine sighed. "One of those being that I ramble when I'm nervous. Like now."

Kurt continued to chuckle as he pulled Blaine closer to him. "Hi, Blaine-Who-Rambles, my name is Kurt. Mostly known as Kurt the Sarcastic New Kid," Blaine sniggered as he remembered Wes dubbing Kurt with that title during his second week at Dalton, "but to my friends I'm Kurt who talks way too _much_ about his feelings and more so about clothes. I'm Kurt who calls his Dad every second night just to hear his voice, and if you think an hour on hair is bad, well this Kurt spends _over_ an hour on his moisturizing routine every morning and really doesn't admit that one, except now because he trusts Blaine-Who-Rambles. You're not a mess, Blaine, you're human."

And now Blaine was choking up a little because nobody had ever understood him quite as much as Kurt. "I - I don't know what to say, Kurt."

Kurt gently steered him to the nearest couch and sat him down, keeping his arm around him. "You're allowed to be yourself. People may admire and respect Lead Warbler Blaine, but people like _you_ for who you are, Blaine. Why do you think Wes and David rile you up until you lose your cool? They know they're seeing the real you, and while I disagree with their methods, I think what they're doing is good. You need to know that you can be yourself and people will like you for that. I met Warbler Blaine when I first came to spy, but the Blaine who comforted me after the Karofsky incident and took me out for lunch, that was the real Blaine."

Blaine grimaced at the memory. He had managed to get the two of them lost, driving in circles until they finally gave up and went through the nearest drive-thru then ate in the car park. Blaine had been apologizing all afternoon until Kurt simply told him to shut up.

"For anybody else, that wouldn't have been a big deal, but you acted like the world was ending or you'd broken my dryer or something."(1) Blaine raised an eyebrow at this analogy but stayed silent as Kurt continued.

"I want you to know that it's okay to be yourself and people like real Blaine. I certainly do. In fact -" Blaine saw Kurt gulp and mouth something that looked suspiciously like _courage_. "I kind of love real Blaine."

_Love. Love? He - what? _

Apparently Blaine was taking too long to understand as Kurt sighed. Next thing Blaine knew, a pair of hands were gently gripping his face and a pair of lips were on his.

_Oh. Love. Right._

Kurt pulled away and Blaine opened his eyes. "Hey, wait, where are you going? More of that..."

Kurt gave that delightful laugh of his as Blaine's words caught up with him and he blushed. "That's the Blaine I like to see," he murmured, pressing his lips back against Blaine's before he could complain. Blaine just shrugged.

_If it's out of control Blaine he wants, that's what he'll get. _He nibbled a little on Kurt's lip and relished in the moan it elicited. _Being human sure has its perks._

* * *

**(1) I did this today. I was working through a huge load of laundry for my employer who's gone away and as I was pulling open the door, it snapped off. I flipped out. I glued it back on (yes, that's right, I glued the door) and it seems okay, for now. I just don't get how a dryer breaks like that...**

**Okay, I admit it. I'm obsessed with imperfect Blaine - otherwise known as Darren Criss. I'm a StarKid girl as I may have mentioned before, I absolutely adore him in AVPM/S and I want to see that Darren on Glee. He's got amazing talent with his instruments too and they never showcase that. So I pay him tribute by making him a bit more human in my stories. Cause I've seen him do interviews and he's either jumping all over the place and talking way too much or tripping over his words. Which is freaking adorable. So goodbye Blaine the robot! :D also, Darren Criss wrote a song called Human which talks about different flaws and stuff and ends up saying "well that just makes me a dumb human like you." Love!**

**Please review :) and thank you for reading. It's a pleasure to write for you guys when I post a chapter and get a review within minutes. Even when I don't, it's still wonderful to know that people are reading. And if you don't like a chapter, don't hesitate to tell me! Unless you're just saying, 'I don't like this cause I don't,' in which case you're more than entitled to keep that to yourself :) **


	16. Pips

**Well, we got to 250 reviews! Thank you so much guys, it really does mean a lot to me. The 250th reviewer was _yayasforreal_ and as a reward she got to read Chapter 20 early, which I think she liked. Still waiting on that 50th prompt (by the way, it's the 50th prompt that is an original prompt that I'm actually going to write), but I imagine it'll be here soon :)**

_**This prompt is from Canuckpagali **_**and similarly prompted by**_** Botherer 1337: Blaine thinks it's unbelievably hot when Kurt tells it like it is with his "Blaine and the Pips" comment after Misery. He feels he must act on his feelings immediately. What does he do and how does it happen? Alternatively, Kurt feels so relieved and confident after being honest with Blaine that he decides he's on a roll. He takes a risk and tells Blaine what's in his heart. One thing leads to another and..**_

**I really like these "one things lead to another" or "what happened next?" prompts cause it totally leaves it open to me what happens from there. And I thought it was time for Wes and David to make an appearance again so, well, one thing leads to another... ;) (and that ended up being suggestive in a total wrong way. NOTHING happens involving Wes and David that could be considered at all sexual. Nothing. Sorry to those of you out there who ship Klainesvid [that is an AWESOME name! I totally just made that up there])**

**Consider my story disclaimed. **

* * *

Pips

"Can I be honest with you?"

Blaine blinks, trying to work out why Kurt even needs to ask that question. Kurt knows he can always be honest with him, right? But Kurt doesn't look nervous this time, instead there's a determination in his eyes that Blaine hasn't seen in a long time.

"Because it comes from a place of caring. Been there, done that. Look, Blaine, your solos are _breathtaking_." Blaine catches the flash of emotion at that word and mentally files it away to work out the meaning later. "They're also numerous."

"You know the council chooses who does the solos, Kurt. And do I detect a little _jealousy?_" Blaine wishes he could grab Kurt by the shoulders and tell him that if he had the choice, he would override the whole damn council and put Kurt up there in the spotlight but he _can't._ In fact, he's just about to do that when Kurt pipes up again.

"No, you detect a _lot_ of jealousy. Look, Blaine," and here Kurt sighs. "Sometimes I don't feel like we're the Warblers. I feel like we're Blaine and the Pips." (1)

Blaine snorts, he can't help himself. "That's the most terrible name ever and I would refuse to be a part of a group who wanted that name attached to them."

Kurt raises an eyebrow. "Blaine, what happens when people are introduced to the Warblers around here? We get 'These are our Warblers and this is our lead soloist, Blaine.' Do you think anybody knows the names of _anybody_ else in this group? We stand in the background and pretend to be various instruments while you belt it out in front of us. And yes, it's hot," Blaine blinks. _Did he just call me hot?_ "And yes, it helps us win, but the rest of us don't exactly feel _important_ in the grand scheme of things. I sure don't. I may not have gotten the solos at McKinley but I got _something_. A line, a dance move, something that helped people see that I wasn't just another blazer in a line of - well, blazers. I'm _Kurt._ I'm a person. I saw the look on New Directions faces last time at Regionals, Rachel was having to prompt me to smile and Mr Schue looked disappointed - at first I thought he was amazed at how awesome we were and that we'd be a threat to them - which we are, but after awhile I realized he was disappointed that I was just swaying along, he wanted something better for me. And so did I, Blaine. The rest of the Warblers might be more used to it than me but I don't think they should be. Everybody deserves a chance to let their skills be seen and used." Kurt collapses into the couch, panting slightly from his speech.

Blaine just stares at him. Sure, he knew Kurt wasn't meshing as well as the other Warblers, and he never expected him to, but he didn't realize it meant this much to him. And - and that speech. That was so - _hot._ Kurt never got fired up about things anymore and Blaine was seeing the Kurt that he had known that time they went to McKinley and faced off Karofsky. The Kurt that belted out _Don't Cry For Me Argentina_ regardless of how much it made him stand out. Kurt _stands out. _And Blaine loves him for it.

Woah. _What?_

But the more Blaine thinks about it, the more it makes sense. All the looks, the conversations - pieces that were disengaged before fall into place and every thought he's ever had about Kurt is now meshing in his brain to create a big picture that he was too blind to see before.

_I'm in love with Kurt Hummel._

Blaine smiles, still looking down at the younger boy. _Now I just need to tell him and - oh crap. How do I do that?_

All Blaine knows is that he has to tell Kurt. Today. Right now. Because he might just go crazy if these thoughts stay in his head for too much longer. Trying to put together the perfect words, he opens his mouth to speak.

"Kurt -"

"Blaine -"

And then they both laugh. "You first," says Blaine, sitting down on the floor in front of Kurt and ignoring the surprised look in the younger boy's eyes, because usually Blaine would be sitting on a chair like a normal person. But Blaine doesn't care because he's _happy_ now.

Kurt slides off the couch to join him on the floor and now they're sitting so close their knees are touching - Kurt cross-legged as usual, Blaine kneeling.

"Blaine, I meant everything I said before, but I probably shouldn't have been so harsh with you about it. Like you said, it's not your choice and I can't begrudge you your solos because your voice truly is amazing." And there's that flicker of emotion again and Blaine's heart begins to race. _Could Kurt feel the same way?_

"I guess I just want a bit of that spotlight too. But if the Warblers truly think you're the best, then that's okay. I think you're the best too."

Blaine raises an eyebrow because there's so much more meaning behind that word, and the light blush staining Kurt's face proves that he's caught him out.

"Oh, am I now?" he says slowly, catching Kurt's gaze.

Kurt's face is now a bright red but he continues to look into Blaine's eyes and something unspoken passes between them.

"Yes, you are." And now the look in Kurt's eyes seems to double in intensity and Blaine has to swallow a lump in his throat. "So, what were you wanting to say before?"

But Blaine can't tear himself from those eyes or that face or those - lips.. "I - uh -"

And before he knows what he's doing, he's leaning in, one hand on Kurt's arm and the other reaching for his face. He sees the look in Kurt's eyes and they both _know_ what's about to happen -

"Hey, Blaine, I - oh _crap!_ Sorry guys!"

Blaine growls low in his throat and grudgingly moves away from a startled Kurt, turning to see Wes standing in the doorway with his hands over his mouth. He can hear David in the corridor; "Wes, what's wrong? Isn't Blaine in there - oh, did you walk in on Thad and his girlfriend again?" Wes holds up a hand in David's direction, still staring at the two irritated boys.

"I swear, Blaine, I had no idea, I just -"

"Wesley. You have until three. One -"

And Wes is gone, slamming the door behind him. Blaine can hear him muttering something, then the sound of David's laughter, thankfully receding down the hallway. He swears under his breath then turns back to Kurt who looks like someone just took away his _Vogue_ collection. "He's going to get it," Kurt mutters, before his face softens as he looks at Blaine.

"Yes, he is." Blaine smiles and traces his hand along Kurt's jaw, watching all the anger drain out of his face as he shivers. "But right now, well - where were we?"

Kurt smirks at the cheesy line. "Right here, I believe." And without allowing for any more possibly interruptions, Kurt leans in and kisses him.

_Hey, I was going to do that!_ Blaine mentally shuts himself up, focusing instead on the fact that Kurt is _kissing him..._

But as _amazing_ as their first kiss is, Blaine just can't help himself.

Pulling away, Blaine looks sternly at a disappointed Kurt. "I think you should know that I had an entire _speech_ planned out in my head, admitting my feelings and telling you how amazing you are, and now you won't get to hear it."

Now Kurt really does look disappointed. "You can say it anyway?" he offers.

Blaine smirks. "Nah, this is more fun." He kisses Kurt again, who happily concedes.

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from 'Original Song' up to this point**

**I don't quite know how this one ended up in the present tense. My stories just happen really and whatever tense they're easiest to write in comes out. I'll often have to go back through and try and work out the best tense cause I've done three or four tense changes and I'll edit it one way only to change my mind and edit it all back. And if I do that on one of my longer ones, it's really irritating. **

**Anyway, enough rambling from me. Hope you enjoyed. I'm currently watching **_**Vampires Suck**_** .. which kinda sucks. So I'm taking the opportunity to work on a whole lot of prompts. (It's also really awkward cause I'm at my dad's and he keeps wandering in the house and he still sees me as his little girl so he'd probably tell me to turn the movie off if he saw it... but I hired it so I'll watch ... erm, play it through until the end anyway.)**

**Please review :)**


	17. Wedding

**50 Prompts! Well over 50 actually. I was up to 47 or so when I got a review from _wynnie the pooh _which had TEN prompts in it! Not doing them all, but that certainly pushed it over the 50 mark. She got to read Chapter 22 which was one of her prompts and took 5 messages to send! And her response was something along the lines of "AWWWWWWWWWWW that was soooooo cute! eeeeeeepppppp :D " Which made my day, big time. **

**So, I'll do that again, with 75 prompts and 350 reviews :D I anticipate it happening somewhere around Chapter 20 at the rate I get sent stuff at the moment which is incredibly exciting for me as a writer, so keep your eyes peeled for that one :) onto the story!**

**This one is from**_** Lolasatsuma: Maybe you could do one where Blaine is at the Carole/Burt Wedding and they dance and have fluffy talks and they while of ND and the newly weds are watching (except for Mercedes) like 'Who is that guy?' and then they kiss.**_

**I love you so much. This was an absolute pleasure to write. I have made it so the parents and Finn (sort of) know who Blaine is just because I prefer it that way, but the rest of New Directions can be pretty well oblivious. Oh and warning, this is going to be loooong! And fluffy! And this is the one I was raving about in previous chapters. And .. okay, let's just get into it. I won't even bore you with a disclaimer! Just this:**** http: / www . polyvore . com / listen _ to _ blaine _ kurt / set ? id = 25843077 (obviously with the spaces taken out)** because it made my day. 

* * *

Wedding

Kurt smiled as he surveyed the building full of people. Many of the guests were sitting at the tables, chatting happily and watching Rachel and Mercedes belt out _What Is This Feeling_. Opening up the mic to New Directions was probably the best idea as it saved more money for the honeymoon and allowed the club to practice for Regionals at the same time. The rest of New Directions were dancing with the other guests or getting ready to perform their own numbers.

Kurt's gaze moved to the happy couple still dancing in the middle of the floor and his smile grew wider. He couldn't remember the last time his father had looked so happy and Carol was positively glowing as her new husband spun her around gently. Apart from a few breaks to talk to guests and one where Burt mysteriously disappeared for a few minutes while Kurt danced with Carol, the couple had stayed on the dance floor for the rest of the night, something Kurt thought he would never see. Teaching his dad to dance, while painful and exhausting, had certainly paid off for the newlyweds. Kurt clapped along with the rest of the audience as the two divas finished their number and curtsied, vacating the stage for the next group. Kurt knew his turn was coming up soon and mentally began to prepare his number in his head, trying his hardest not to think about the fact that he didn't have that special someone to sing it to. _Your family and friends are enough, _he told himself firmly, reminding himself of the song Finn had sung earlier.

As Santana and Brittany took the stage, they began to sing _Come Away With Me_. Like a magnet, everybody began to pair up for the slow dance. Kurt sighed, his smile slipping as he watched all the couples swaying on the dance floor. This was the way it had always been when it came to couple things for New Directions. Kurt would always be on the outside, watching people pair up respectively and having nobody to share the moment with. Usually he and Mercedes would make the best of the situation by hanging out together but she was distracted by one of Finn's cousins who currently had his arms around her waist and was spinning her slowly around the floor. Rachel was in Finn's arms and as they moved near Kurt, she looked above his head then caught his eye and gave him a wink before they moved away. Kurt blinked, then decided she was just happy and went back to his morose thoughts.

But before Kurt's internal pity party could go on any longer, a pair of slightly calloused hands dropped over his eyes. Kurt emitted a squeak as a voice laughed. "Guess who?"

Kurt froze. _No, it can't be -_

"Blaine?"

The hands were removed and Kurt spun to see the Dalton boy standing behind him. "Blaine! What are you -" Kurt froze again as he actually took in his friend.

Blaine had finally ditched the blazer and was dressed in a suit with a silver tie. _Of course he is, it's a wedding, _Kurt told himself but that didn't stop his friend looking _damn good._ Of course, a lot of that was to do with - Kurt's eyes moved upwards to Blaine's hair which, instead of being gelled back, was - _curly._ Not messy curly, but - oh, _wow_.

"Kurt?" Blaine self-consciously reached up to touch his hair. "Is it bad?"

Kurt shook himself out of his stupor. "No, no! Not at all, it's -" he searched for a word that wouldn't make him sound like a lovesick teenage girl then gave up. "Incredible. You look amazing, Blaine."

Blaine blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks. So do you, Kurt." His eyes lingered on Kurt for a second longer as if taking him in, then he caught Kurt's eye again and smiled. "So, this was all your work." He gestured around the reception.

"Well, New Directions helped actually putting it together, but yeah, I planned it. You like?"

Blaine took his hand and squeezed it, replying, "I love it. You did a wonderful job."

Kurt's heart jumped as Blaine took his hand and he fought frantically to keep the blush off his face. By the look of amusement on Blaine's, he had obviously failed. "So, what are you doing here?" he managed to stammer out.

"Mercedes sent me a text yesterday telling me I should come and check out all the hard work you'd put into this thing. And I wanted to see you of course." Blaine smiled and Kurt knew that his face was rivaling a tomato but he didn't care. Blaine came to see _him_.

"Anyway, I would've come earlier but we had an emergency Warbler meeting - apparently one of our songs was copyright so we couldn't rearrange it and Wes flipped his nut before we pulled out the backup list and managed to calm him down some. So then I got here and Finn told me I couldn't come in -"

"He _what?_" Kurt spun to glare at his step-brother, the effect ruined by the fact that Finn had his back to him, dancing with Sam and Puck as Artie sang _Don't Blame It On The Boogie_, accompanied by Mike's dance moves. He was distracted for a second as Mike did a backflip off the stage to resounding applause, then returned to the matter at hand.

Blaine chuckled. "It wasn't his fault. You've never introduced me to him after all and I didn't have an invitation to show to the guy at the door, so he grabbed Finn when I said I knew the family and Finn said he didn't have a clue who I was. I told him we were friends and he kinda hesitated for a bit - I think he wanted to make sure nobody got in who would ruin the day -" Kurt silently thanked his brother for looking out for him and Blaine for his tact. "But then your dad came out and recognized me so he let me in and - well, here I am." He shrugged and Kurt realized their hands were still linked.

"Well I'm glad you got in. You should've just sent me a text or something."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I did."

Kurt fumbled for his phone with his free hand, sliding it open to see _1 Missed Call: Blaine. 1 New Message: Blaine. _Opening the message, he read aloud, "_Outside the wedding, big security guard threatening to chuck me out. Come rescue me?"_ Kurt raised sheepish eyes to Blaine. "Sorry."

Blaine chuckled. "No harm done. It was more fun to surprise you anyway." He hesitated for a moment, looking around the room, then back to Kurt. "So, do you -"

"Kurt!" Mercedes came rushing over to them. "Sorry to interrupt guys - hi, Blaine - but Artie's almost done and you're up."

Kurt's eyes widened. "Sorry, Blaine, I'll be back in a minute. Mercedes, keep him company?" Without waiting for an answer he reluctantly released Blaine's hand and quickly made his way to the microphone as Artie finished to applause from the crowd. It was getting later and the crowd had started to thin out but there were still quite a few people listening to the music.

"Hi everybody!" Kurt said, taking center stage and putting the microphone back on its stand as Artie wheeled off the stage. "Hope you're all having a wonderful time, especially the happy couple who haven't left the dance floor all night - and I'm not talking about Sam and Quinn." Everybody who knew the Glee club laughed. "But seriously, to Dad and Carol, I hope it's been a magical evening for you both. Since it's my turn to hog the microphone - and we've managed to drag it out of Rachel's grasp," another laugh from the assembled crowd, "I'd like to sing a song dedicated to my new family and all of my friends here tonight." Kurt's eyes flickered over to Blaine who was standing with Mercedes, smiling. He gave him a quick but heartfelt smile back, then gestured to the band who began to play.

"_Three little birds, sat on my window._

_And they told me I don't need to worry._

_Summer came like cinnamon, so sweet,_

_Little girls double-dutch on the concrete."_

Kurt looked down at Burt and Carol who were smiling back at him, a tear running down Carol's cheek. He smiled and blew her a kiss, knowing it was one of her favourites, before continuing.

"_Maybe sometimes, we've got it wrong, but it's alright_

_The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same_

_Oh, don't you hesitate."_

And now his gaze was on Blaine who was staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face. There was a soft smile playing at his lips and Kurt felt like he had never seen this boy before, or anyone like him.

"_Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song_

_You go ahead, let your hair down_

_Sapphire and faded jeans, I hope you get your dreams,_

_Just go ahead, let your hair down."_

The rest of New Directions were grouped together, swaying slightly and watching Kurt perform. He could see the respect in Rachel's eyes and knew, for all of their bickering, their mutual respect for each other's talent was sky high.

"_Maybe sometimes, we've got it wrong, but it's alright_

_The more things seem to change, the more they stay the same_

_Oh, don't you hesitate."_

Kurt's eyes kept invariably finding Blaine's throughout the whole song and as he poured his heart into the song, he did his best to sing with his eyes, to show Blaine how much he meant what he was singing and he meant it for _him_. It wasn't a love song, but he hoped Blaine caught the meaning behind it anyway. _You'll never have the guts to tell him otherwise, _Kurt told himself as he belted out the last few lines of the song.

"_Oh, you're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow."_

As he sang the final word, the whole room burst into applause. Kurt blushed and gave a slight bow before laughing. "Okay, Tina, get your butt up here!" He quickly left the stage, accepting hugs from the rest of the group before making his way back over to Blaine and Mercedes. The girl quickly wrapped him in a hug, whispering to him, "He seems great, Kurt. Good luck!" She then headed back over to the rest of New Directions who were dancing together in a group to Tina's rendition of _I'm Yours_.

Kurt watched the group for a second before turning back to Blaine. Before he knew what was happening, he was caught up in a hug. "That was incredible, Kurt," Blaine murmured into his ear, causing a shiver to run down his spine, before releasing him. Kurt knew he was blushing and sat quickly to avoid the shaking in his legs becoming noticeable. Blaine sat with him and for some time they just chatted, watching the people dance around them.

* * *

"Kurt, Blaine."

Kurt looked up to see his dad and Carol standing in front of them. He stood quickly to give them both a hug before turning to Blaine who had stood with him.

"Blaine, you've met my dad. This is his wife, Carol. Carol, this is Blaine, my friend from Dalton."

"Lovely to meet you, Blaine." Carol was beaming as she shook his hand and Kurt knew it was mostly from being called Burt's wife. Blaine smiled, shaking her hand in return.

"We just came to thank you, Kurt. This wedding has been so wonderful for both of us. Your dad and I are very proud of what you've done."

Kurt felt himself choke up as his dad nodded. "Yeah, Kurt, you've done a bang up job here today. Means a lot to us."

"You're welcome," Kurt managed to whisper. Blaine's hand found his again and he squeezed it, fighting to stop the tears. Carol seemed to notice and turned to Burt again, holding out her hand for another dance which he happily agreed to.

As soon as they were gone, Blaine wrapped an arm around Kurt and pulled him into a hug, allowing the younger boy a moment to get his emotions under control. Kurt pulled away a minute later, his eyes bright."

"Thank you," he whispered, noticing that Quinn and Sam were taking the stage, Quinn telling everyone to pair up for a slow dance.

"Kurt, would you like to dance?" Kurt looked at Blaine who was looking nervously at him but holding out his hand determinedly. He smiled.

"I'd love to," he replied, accepting the hand and making his way onto the dance floor. They found a spot to themselves out of the eyes of the general public as Quinn began to sing. Kurt hadn't even registered what the song was yet, he only knew that his arms were around Blaine's neck and Blaine's around his waist and they were together. Their eyes hadn't left each other's yet and Kurt was lost in Blaine's beautiful eyes.

The words slowly began to filter into his brain as Sam and Quinn sang the chorus together.

"_It's your love_

_It just does somethin' to me_

_It sends a shock right through me_

_I can't get enough,"_

Blaine licked his lips unconsciously and Kurt couldn't supress a shudder at this action. He saw Blaine's eyes darken and he gulped before leaning closer -

"_And if you wonder_

_About the spell I'm under_

_It's your love"_

Blaine met him halfway, whispering the last line a second before their lips met.

There was no cheering or commenting. Sam and Quinn were lost in each other onstage and everybody else was either watching them or their respective other, so Blaine and Kurt could have their perfect uninterrupted moment together. And it truly was perfect, Kurt thought to himself as his hands moved into Blaine's hair, curling the strands into his fingers gently.

The applause at the end of the song broke into their moment, however, causing them to pull away. Kurt sighed, untangling his hands and joining in the applause reluctantly, Blaine following suit before taking his hand and pulling him to a table. Kurt sat across from him, refusing to let go of his hand which was now holding his across the table.

Blaine took a deep breath. "Kurt, would you -" He paused.

"Yes."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I'm sorry?"

"Well, I was presuming you were asking me to be your boyfriend. Because I don't let anybody but my boyfriend kiss me like that so we'd better make it official quick before I get labelled as some kind of scarlet woman."

Blaine began to laugh, reaching out his other hand to hold Kurt's. "Well then, consider it official."

Kurt wasn't sure if his smile could get any wider as he and his _boyfriend_ broke into more casual conversation. Here he was, sitting at his Dad's wedding in the company of all of his friends and family, and now his boyfriend. Could this day get any better?

* * *

"Okay, we're going to open up the mic now!" Rachel had taken the stage after a few more songs, having chosen to emcee the night for them. "So if there's anybody that wants to sing a song to the happy couple or to someone from their own happy couple, this is your chance."

Blaine let go of Kurt's hands and stood up. "Go join your friends," he said simply, walking towards Rachel. Kurt raised an eyebrow but obediently stood and walked over to New Directions.

"Kurt!" Finn clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Haven't seen you much tonight, how's it going?"

"Great job here, man." Puck held his fist up and Kurt bumped it.

"Thanks everybody, it has been a wonderful night, hasn't it?" Kurt was aware that he sounded way too chirpy and the rest of the group caught on pretty quickly.

"What's the deal, Hummel?" Santana asked, pinkies linked with Brittany. "I get you're meant to be cheerful at a wedding, but that's strange. You look like -" She cut herself off, staring at him. Kurt begged with his eyes for her to stay quiet and mercifully she did, giving him a quick wink.

"What's she -"

"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to present our first open mic singer for the night!" Rachel handed the microphone to Blaine as the crowd clapped politely.

"Who's that dude?" Artie asked as Finn's eyes widened.

"He's a friend of Kurt's apparently. I let him in about an hour ago."

And now all the eyes were on Kurt again who simply shushed them, eyes on the stage.

"Hi, everyone. My name is Blaine Anderson, and I'd just like to start by congratulating the couple in question. Burt and Carol Hummel, I wish you all the best for your future and your family, Finn and Kurt." Kurt noted the emphasis on his name and smiled, vaguely aware of Mercedes sidling up to him and elbowing him in the ribs. He offered her a quick smile and saw her eyes widen as she realized what was going on. Meanwhile, Blaine had walked over to the band and taken a guitar from one of them.

"Anyway, this song is called _Not Alone_ and I'd like to dedicate it to someone very special; my boyfriend." Finn spun so quickly he almost fell over but Kurt wasn't looking at him, choosing to keep his eyes on Blaine. "This is for you, Kurt."

The murmuring of New Directions was drowned out as Blaine began to play. Kurt's eyes widened. _Blaine plays?_

"_I've been alone, surrounded by darkness_

_And I've seen how heartless the world can be,"_

Kurt furrowed his brow trying to work out who Blaine was covering, before coming to the realization. _Blaine __wrote__ this?_

"_And I've seen you crying, you felt like it's hopeless,_

_I'll always do my best, to make you see,_

_Cause baby, you're not alone_

_Cause you're here with me_

_And nothing's ever gonna bring us down,_

_Cause nothing can keep me from loving you,"_

Kurt felt the tears spring to his eyes as Blaine looked directly at him, singing his heart out. He had _never_ felt so special in his life.

"_And you know it's true_

_It don't matter what'll come to be_

_Our love is all we need to make it through,"_

As Blaine sang, Kurt felt the tears start to roll down his face but couldn't care less. There was someone up there singing a song _for him._ They were two boys who just wanted a chance to be happy together and anywhere else, they would be looked down on and hated for who they were. But in here, all Kurt knew was that Blaine cared about him and he cared about Blaine and that was that.

"_I still have trouble_

_I still trip and stumble_

_Trying to make sense of things sometimes_

_I look for reasons_

_But I don't need 'em_

_All I need is to look in your eyes_

_And I realize,"_

And as Blaine hit that note, the crowd were on their feet applauding, Kurt the loudest of them all. That was _his_ boyfriend up there.

"_It don't matter what'll come to be_

_You know our love is all we need_

_To make it .. through."_

The applause was thunderous as Blaine handed back the guitar, wiping a tear from his own cheek subtly and thanking the crowd quietly as he made his way back down to Kurt's side, who was still in tears. Before Blaine could say anything, Kurt took his face in his hands and kissed him, not caring who was watching. Blaine broke away first, gently wiping the tears from Kurt's face with his thumbs.

"Can we meet your boyfriend now?" Rachel, as usual had to interrupt. Kurt just laughed and stepped aside, letting New Directions interrogate Blaine. He knew Rachel was about to pitch a fit when she found out he was a Warbler, it was only Mercedes intervening and shooting her a warning look that caused her to back off.

In all the chaos, Finn slipped over to his side and put a hand on his shoulder. Kurt turned to his step-brother, worried about what he was going to say, but the smile on his face put his fears to rest. "I'm happy for you," he said, clapping his shoulder before moving away. Kurt smiled which faded quickly when he saw his dad and Carol watching from the other side of the room. Carol was beaming at him, but it was Burt that Kurt was worried about. He stood waiting for what seemed like a year, until Burt nodded. Kurt broke into a huge smile and mouthed _we'll talk later._

Finally, the New Directions members broke away as Rachel remembered one of them was meant to be singing and took the microphone, beginning to belt out _All I Know of Love_, prompting the rest of the group to begin dancing and leaving Kurt and Blaine to themselves.

"Kurt, there's something I need to say."

Kurt raised an eyebrow but gestured to the table and they sat down again, Blaine taking his hand.

"I don't want to say I'm in love with you yet because I want to know that when I say it, I completely mean it. I want that to be further down the track when we're celebrating anniversaries because I want this relationship to _last_. We're each other's first boyfriend and I know I care about you way too much to ever want to hurt you. So I don't want to say I'm _in_ love with you, but I want you to know that I'm pretty sure I'm beginning to love you."

And Kurt could feel the tears welling up again as he choked out, "Me too, Blaine." Then he chuckled at himself. "Would you stop making me cry already?"

"Only because you asked so nicely." Blaine winked then looked up as Finn and Puck took to the stage.

"Okay, we're wrapping up for the night everybody so the lovely couple can get home and get their -"

"Okay, Puck!" Finn took the microphone from his friend hurridly. "What my doofus friend was saying is that this is our last song for the night and we'd like our New Directions friends - and their extras - to come down the front here and join us." Finn gave Kurt a quick look and gestured to them as the rest of the group made their way down. The two boys rose and headed to the front with the rest of them, Kurt smiling at the fact that Finn had included Blaine.

"So we hope you've had a great night, and my girlfriend would like me to mention that we like doing this kind of stuff so if you ever need free entertainment, give us a call." Finn looked awkward for a second then gestured to the band to begin playing for the last time.

"_Please wait for me, for I shall return,_

_My love for you will forever burn,_

_Though we must part_

_There's no reason to cry_

_Just say so long_

_Because lovers never say goodbye."_

Kurt laughed at the ridiculous song choice before joining in with the rest of the group as Finn and Puck abandoned their microphones and left the stage. Kurt found his arms wrapped around Mercedes and Blaine as the group formed a big swaying line and belted out the last verse.

"_Just kiss me dear, and hold me tight_

_For you know this is not our last night_

_Though we must part_

_There's no reason to cry_

_Just say so long_

_Because lovers never say goodbye."_

Kurt smiled at the perfect ending to an absolutely perfect night.

* * *

**Over 5,000 words! Just. This is my second longest story, and it's just a chapter! Phew! But I just let myself get carried away with this one and I guess writing in songs makes it longer too. I hope this is liked :)**

**Last story I was watching **_**Vampires Suck. **_**Now I'm watching **_**The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader**_** which is infinitely better. Yes, it's the same day.**

**Songs: **

**Rachel and Mercedes: _What Is This Feeling - Wicked_**

**Brittany and Santana: _Come Away With Me - Norah Jones_**

**Artie (with Mike dancing): _Don't Blame It On The Boogie - Michael Jackson_**

**Kurt: _Put Your Records On - Corinne Bailey Rae_**

**Tina: _I'm Yours - Jason Mraz_**

**Quinn and Sam: _It's Your Love - Tim McGraw ft. Faith Hill_**

**Blaine: _Not Alone - Darren Criss [AKA Himself :) ]_**

**Rachel: _All I Know of Love - Barbara Streisand _**

**Finn and Puck: _Lovers Never Say Goodbye - The Flamingos_**

**I made everyone sing because I figured that was fair. Except Mike of course because I don't think he can sing (and by his own admission can't), but he gets to dance so that's cool. **

**Anyway, now my hands are tired and so is my brain. So please review :) **

**(I've been in bed sick all day so reviews would make me happy. I don't like being sick. I had to turn the brightness of my screen down to nearly black because my head hurt so much)**


	18. Cooking

_**This one comes from IssyRedbird: Cooking XD**_

**This wins for shortest prompt so far. I'll try not to make it my shortest story ;) but perhaps shortest author note? Established Klaineness :) and you guys are getting this early today because I'm going out to my Dad's tonight and NOT taking my laptop - shock horror! I figured I'd take the night off and just relax :) so enjoy.**

* * *

Cooking 

Blaine hummed as he bustled around his room, getting ready for the day. Across the room, Wes groaned, burying his head under the blankets.

"Blaine, I'm glad you're happy. I'm glad you and Kurt got your acts together. I _really_ am. Just - can you be happy at a _normal_ time of day? Not at - what time is it anyway?"

"Seven," Blaine answered cheerfully.

"On a _Saturday?_" Wes poked his head out, appalled. "Wow, he's got you wrapped around his finger. You never emerge before ten. Neither do I. We're _normal_ people."

Blaine just winked and began to run a comb through his curly hair. Wes watched him for a second, then froze when, instead of pulling out the gel, Blaine simply put down the comb and walked away. "What the hell?"

"Oh, Kurt likes it curly." Blaine smirked at the look on Wes' face before grabbing his bag. "Better head off. Have a _wonderful_ day Wes." He laughed at the muttering emerging from the huddle before walking out the door.

As soon as he left his room (slamming the door to spite Wes), his phone rang. Blaine checked the caller ID and smiled when _Kurt_ appeared on his screen. "Hey, Kurt. Just on my way to meet you actually."

"Actually, about that. Finn cancelled."

Blaine stopped in the hallway. "Oh, what happened?" He and Kurt were planning to go on a double date with Finn and Rachel to see an amateur production of RENT at the local performing arts centre - nothing special but it had sounded like a fun way to spend a Saturday nonetheless.

"They had another fight." Blaine could hear the exasperation in Kurt's voice as he shared the news of the latest fight between his step-brother and overdramatic girlfriend.

"I don't even want to know what it was this time. So, are we still going or should we do something else?" Blaine continued the walk to Kurt's room.

"Well, I've got an idea. Meet me in the front entrance?"

"Sure thing." Blaine changed direction, heading down a flight of stairs. "See you in a few minutes."

"Okay." Kurt hung up and Blaine put his phone away, wondering what his boyfriend was up to. This was only their second date and so far both hadn't turned out as planned. Their first date was meant to be a movie and some shopping but as soon as they got to the mall they ran into a panicked Quinn who begged Kurt to help her find a prom dress. Blaine and Sam were dragged along reluctantly as the two breezed through every shop in the mall before finally finding Quinn's dress. By then, the movie was half finished and everybody was exhausted so Kurt and Blaine had headed back to Dalton and put some Disney movies on. Blaine had been hoping for a proper date this time but since Kurt was waiting for him in the entrance, Blaine hoped that he had a backup plan.

Because Blaine had a bit of an ulterior motive. He loved spending time just hanging out with Kurt, but he wanted the perfect moment for their first kiss. He knew Kurt was an incredible romantic and, after Kurt's experiences so far, he wanted to make sure it was something he could look back on happily. He'd do anything for Kurt. Speaking of which -

And sure enough, there was Kurt, looking immaculate as usual. Blaine jumped down the last few stairs and embraced his boyfriend, kissing the top of his head. "Hey you," he whispered, smiling when Kurt shivered in his grasp.

"Hi," said Kurt, pulling away and kissing him on the cheek. "Ready to go?"

"Sure am." Blaine linked arms with Kurt and headed towards the door.

Kurt laughed and tugged his arm, turning him around. "Not quite, Mr. Anderson," he said, pulling Blaine towards a door that Blaine had never gone through. They entered a hallway that looked a bit less fancy than the rest of Dalton and Blaine furrowed his brow. "Kurt, where are we going?"

"You'll see." Kurt continued leading him down the hallway and, a flight of stairs later, they were in front of a door with a sign reading STAFF ONLY: NO STUDENTS ALLOWED. Blaine cleared his throat nervously and pointed at the sign.

"Kurt, I have a perfect behavior record so far and if anything like this goes on it, I lose my Warbler position." Kurt just laughed again and pushed open the door, pulling a resisting Blaine through it.

"Hi, Maria!" Kurt waved at the sole occupant of the room, a Filipino cook who was sitting on a chair, apparently waiting for them.

"Hello boys. Now Kurt, you're going to take care of my kitchen, yes?"

"I always do, Maria." Kurt walked over and kissed her on the cheek, causing her to blush. "Now clear out and leave me and my boyfriend in peace. It's your day off, remember?"

Maria laughed, grabbing her bag. She walked past a stupefied Blaine, giving him a smile before heading out the door, closing it behind her. Kurt turned back to Blaine to see him standing by the door and, with an exasperated sigh, walked over and grabbed his hand.

"Come on, it won't bite." Kurt led him over to the counter decorated with different kitchen tools that Blaine barely recognized. The only times he had ever set foot in a kitchen was Home Ec classes at his last school and at home when he wanted something out of the fridge. He couldn't for the life of him work out why he was in a _kitchen_ when he should be on a date with his boyfriend. Kurt had clearly caught the expression on his face and sighed. "We're going to cook, Blaine."

"We - what - _why?_"

Kurt laughed again (he seemed to be doing that a lot at Blaine's expense, he realized) and walked over to the fridge. "Because it's _fun_," he said as if that explained everything. "And I like having fun. Don't you like having fun, Blaine?"

"I like having _fun_, Kurt. Fun means - I don't know, going to a movie. Going to a restaurant. Going to a theme park, hey that would be fun, let's do that next time!" Blaine stared off into the distance for a moment before returning to the conversation. "Fun doesn't mean cooking."

"Well it does for me, Blaine. Give it a try? For me?"

"Oh no you don't, mister! No puppy dog eyes." Blaine shut his eyes quickly, but couldn't resist peeking after a few seconds of silence. Kurt was standing in front of him and - those _eyes_..

"Fine!" Blaine sighed. "But next time, we're writing a song."

* * *

"Kurt, where are the eggs?"

"In the fridge, Blaine."

"I can't see them!"

Kurt sighed and walked over to Blaine who was rummaging in the fridge. He reached an arm in and pulled out the egg box, handing them to a sheepish Blaine before returning to his mixing bowl. This left Blaine with the next problem: how to crack an egg. He stood staring at the egg box for about a minute until Kurt turned around.

"Blaine, I need those eggs - oh for goodness sake!" Kurt grabbed the egg box off him and opened it, deftly cracking three eggs into a bowl. Blaine just stared as his boyfriend quickly whisked them up before pouring them into his bowl.

"How about you go and get the flour out of the cupboard then? It should be in a bag that says flour, that too difficult for you?" Kurt smirked over his shoulder then continued to mix as Blaine growled playfully.

"You're just lucky you're cute." Blaine strode to the cupboard and found the flour with the bag slightly open. He looked at the white powder and suddenly got an evil idea.

"Oh, it's nothing to do with luck, this cute persona takes a lot of - AHH! BLAINE ANDERSON!"

Blaine chuckled as Kurt frantically attempted to flick the flour out of his hair and off the back of his neck. He put down the bag on the bench and pulled his boyfriend into a hug. "Now that's fun," he said, gently kissing Kurt on the cheek.

"Mm. I guess. I think I'll have to test that out for myself." And before Blaine could realize what was going on, there was a handful of flour in his own hair and down his face.

"You little -!" Blaine pushed a giggling Kurt away from him and scooped up another handful of flour. "You are so dead!" Kurt took a look at his hand and bolted, Blaine chasing him with flour spilling out of his hand. He cornered Kurt in between two of the benches and held the flour threateningly over his head. "Now, if you ask me very nicely, I might spare you the indignity." He noticed a smudge of flour on Kurt's cheek and thought it was quite easily the most adorable his boyfriend had ever looked.

"Perhaps this will change your mind." Kurt grabbed an egg off the counter and cracked it over Blaine's head.

Blaine froze, feeling the yolk drip down his face and back of his neck. Kurt also stopped, his face going pale. "Blaine, I'm so sorry, that was way too far -" Kurt shut up as he felt the egg dripping in his own hair, going even paler as he thought of the damage to his hair.

Blaine let him go and stepped away, raising his hands. "Okay, we're even now. No need to - KURT HUMMEL, PUT THE MILK DOWN!" He bolted, trailing egg yolk and flour as Kurt chased him with a carton of milk, accidentally spilling it everywhere. As Blaine ran back across the room, he slipped on a puddle of milk and landed hard on the ground, feeling the wind knocked out of him.

"Blaine!" There was a thud, then Kurt was next to him having abandoned the milk carton on the floor. "Ohmygod, Blaine, are you okay?"

Blaine nodded and gestured to his chest, trying to get his breath back while Kurt apologized repeatedly. As soon as he could talk, Blaine attempted to cut Kurt off but Kurt was having none of it.

"Oh crap, what if you hit your head? Did you hit your head? And your back, you could be injured, can you breathe? Does it hurt to breathe? Are any of your limbs tingling? Do -"

"Kurt!" Blaine yelled, finally shutting his boyfriend up. "I'm fine. Nothing hurts too much and it's okay."

Kurt sighed in relief. "Okay. In that case, your hair looks terrible."

Blaine wasn't paying attention. His eyes were still on that smudge on Kurt's cheek, right next to his mouth. _Stuff romance, _the little voice in his head niggled, _he's there, he's beautiful, he's yours, just do it!_

"Kurt," and Blaine could hear that his voice has gone low and rough. "I'm lying on the floor in a kitchen next to my gorgeous boyfriend who has a smudge of flour on his cheek right _here_ -" Blaine touched a finger to the spot, watching Kurt's eyes flutter closed. "- and we're wasting time _talking?_" Kurt's eyes were still closed and Blaine leant up on his elbows to kiss the spot of flour. He felt the sharp intake of breath _right next to his mouth_ and Kurt was trembling beside him and then suddenly he was back down on the ground and Kurt was practically _on top_ of Blaine and - oh wow. _Wow._

It took Blaine a few moments to get his voice back after Kurt had pulled away, leaning his head on Blaine's chest. "That was - wow." His voice cracked a little and he flushed.

"Mm." Kurt agreed, tracing patterns on Blaine's chest and feeling the shivers it produced. "Blaine, we've got to finish the muffins then get this kitchen cleaned up before Maria comes back and murders me and never lets me back in here again, and _then_ - well, we can go back to your room for awhile. That okay with you?"

"If we can't skip all of the other stuff, then I _guess -_"

Kurt laughed, standing up and holding out a hand to help Blaine. "Come on, you told me chocolate was your favourite!"

Blaine smiled, pulling his boyfriend in for a quick kiss. "You had me at chocolate."

* * *

**That last line is in tribute to the fabulous hat scene in Grilled Cheesus. **

**Okay, that was three stories in one day. And one of those stories was over 4000 words so no wonder I'm feeling exhausted! But considering I want to write for a living, this is probably good practice. **

**This isn't my favourite and I feel like I didn't give the prompt justice so I'm really sorry about that. I still like it though! I hope the next chapter makes up for it though because that one is my absolute favourite :D (well, it was when I wrote the story. Now I have a new favourite, but next chapter is still one of my babies!)**

**Please review :) **


	19. Fair

**So, I ended up spending another night at my Dad's place and therefore, I couldn't write all day. It was actually nice, but I'm looking forward to getting back to my writing - not that I'll get much done for the next two days. Anyway, it's a good thing I was so far ahead and had 12 chapters already written and uploaded waiting to be published. So you guys get your chapter! Hopefully the formatting is the same, it looks different on here. F****rom the mind of **_**randomawesomeness12: Kurt and Blaine are at the Mall or Zoo or something and they take pictures in a photo-booth and they like take goofy ones at first but then they look at eachh other and spontaniously[sic] kiss**_

**Okay, I'm going with the 'or something' option on this one because I went to a fair today (obviously not today today) and I practically wrote the whole story in my head on the way home. I adore fairs, and I particularly love the one I went to today except I had children to look after so it wasn't as good as the other times I've been (except for the fact that I could ride the ferris wheel without having to look weird. FERRIS WHEEL!). So I can see this as the perfect scene for Kurt and Blaine. I'm also taking some inspiration from my **_**Rockstars**_** story where Dalton is basically filthy rich, the Warbler choir room has a jaccuzi and all that other stuff. So I reckon if they ever held a fair or fete or something, it would be incredible. I also made it at Dalton instead of anywhere else because I didn't want to have to write any more homophobia. This had to be a 'perfect day' story :)**

**This is my long awaited (by me) tribute to AVPM style Darren Criss. Not quite as hyperactive but I thought after eighteen chapters it was time to introduce the wonder of Red Vines - which I've never actually had, they don't sell them here. I just have to rely on the love in AVPM/S being right.**

**Klaine is established but they haven't kissed yet. Clearly. Otherwise I wouldn't be writing this story. **

**Disclaimer.**

* * *

Photo

"Kurt, you look fine."

Blaine ducked to avoid a shirt being thrown his way. "Seriously, it's just down on the field. It's not like we're going anywhere particularly fancy."

Kurt's head poked out of his closet door. "It's a fair, Blaine. Which means I need to find the perfect outfit which is a combination of hey-I'm-here-to-have-fun and I'm-too-old-for-this-I'm-just-getting-dragged-here-by-my-overexcitable-boyfriend."

"It's a fair, Kurt. A fair! You so want to be there just as much as I do."

Kurt, finally dressed, appeared out of his wardrobe. "Well.. yeah." He gave his classic Kurt-smirk before grabbing his bag from the bed, totally ignoring the piles of clothes everywhere.

Blaine held out his arm. "Shall we, good sir?"

"You're lame," Kurt replied, rolling his eyes but taking Blaine's hand in his.

Blaine leant over to give him a quick kiss on the check. "I aim to please."

Kurt couldn't stop the light blush from crossing his face at the close contact and Blaine smiled at how adorable he looked. He and Kurt had only been official for a week now and so far that was the closest they had gotten to kissing. Instead of jumping straight into it, the two had sat down and discussed how they felt about the physical side of things. They had come to the agreement that because they were both novices, they would take it slow and Kurt would call the shots for the most part because of his past. Other than that, they'd just be a normal teenage couple.

As they walked, Blaine idly began to hum. "What's that?" Kurt asked. Instead of replying, Blaine began to sing:

"_Baby, let's cruise,"_

Kurt immediately chimed in; "_Away from here,"_

"_Don't be confused," _

"_The way is clear."_

The two boys shot each other a smile before singing together, the harmony perfect as usual.

"_And if you want it, you got it forever,_

_This is not a one night stand, baby."_

A shiver ran down Blaine's back as Kurt sang the last word, squeezing his hand a bit tighter.

"_Yeah, so let the music take your mind_

_Just release and you will find,_

_You're gonna fly away, glad you're goin my way,_

_I love it when we're cruisin' together -"_

"And these would be two of our Dalton Academy Warblers right now!"

Kurt and Blaine froze, staring at their principal and three official looking men who had just turned the corner towards them. Mr Matherson was beaming and the men were somewhere between bemused and confused.

"This is Blaine Anderson, our lead soloist and tenor, and Kurt Hummel, our newest Warbler and first countertenor in three years. Gentlemen, this is Misters Criss, Colfer and Hamilton, from the board of directors."

"It's wonderful to meet you, sirs." As usual, Blaine was Mr. Polite, releasing Kurt's hand to shake hands with the three men, Kurt following suit.

"The two of you have lovely voices, and that song is a particular favourite of mine, a wonderful choice." One of the men spoke up, smiling at the boys.

"Thank you sir," Kurt replied, clutching Blaine's hand again.

"Well, we should let you boys get down to the fair! Don't want to make you miss any of the excitement!" The two groups said their goodbyes and Kurt and Blaine headed down the hallway towards the front door. As soon as they were out of earshot, Kurt began to chuckle. "It's always us, isn't it?"

Blaine smirked. "We're just that amazing."

* * *

The fair was just like the rest of Dalton - huge. Kurt stared with wide eyes at the seemingly millions of rides and stalls. "I never even realized the field was this big!"

"Well of course not, you refuse to come out here to do any kind of sport." Blaine elbowed him jokingly in the ribs. "Where do you want to start; rides or stalls?"

"Better do rides first, I'll be hours at the stalls, you know that."

"Can I call in a replacement to do the shopping thing with you?"

Kurt simply raised an eyebrow. "Not unless you want that replacement to be permanent. Come on, there's bumper cars over there. I know how much you like to smash things."

Soon enough the boys had worked their way around all of the rides. Blaine had pulverized Kurt in the bumper cars twice before Kurt had managed to convince him to try a new ride. After that, they'd gone on the swing chairs, done all the arcade games - Kurt was the semi-proud owner of a stuffed frog while Blaine, to his delight (and Kurt's dismay), had won a Nerf gun - and were now headed to the Ferris Wheel.

"You are _not_ allowed to rock it, okay Blaine?"

Blaine didn't answer until the bar had been latched over them. "Not a chance. The only way this ride is fun is if you rock it."

Kurt turned to stare at his boyfriend, mouth agape. "You're kidding, right? Look at the bar on this thing, rock it too hard and it could snap!"

"Babe, you have nothing to worry about." And this seemed to mollify Kurt, though Blaine suspected this was mostly because it was the first time Blaine had called him by a term of endearment and Kurt was replaying it in his head.

That was, until the ride began to move.

"Get me off this thing!" Kurt whimpered. "I don't feel safe and - BLAINE ANDERSON DO NOT ROCK IT!"

Blaine just grinned and wrapped an arm around his boyfriend, continuing to rock their seat. "But it's fun! And anyway, you know I'll keep you safe, Kurt."

"You're the one causing me to feel unsafe, stop _doing that!_"

"It's not going to break."

"It's squeaking! And - why are we stopping?"

"So we can let other people on." Blaine took a moment to enjoy the view across the field and see who he could spot.

"I don't like it up here, Blaine."

Blaine turned to see his boyfriend with his eyes clenched shut. "Kurt, please open your eyes. It's an amazing view and I promise I won't rock it anymore. You're safe with me."

Kurt cracked open an eye and squeaked when he realized how high up they were. Before Blaine could reassure him, he had curled himself into Blaine, hiding his head against his chest.

Blaine chuckled and smoothed his hair down. "Okay, you don't have to look. We'll be off in a few minutes, then you can go shopping, alright?"

Kurt nodded but refused to move until the ride had stopped for them to get off. As they climbed out, Kurt turned and fixed Blaine with a glare. "You are _not_ allowed to tell any of the Warblers about this. Otherwise I'll tell them about what you were saying about each and every one of them when you were drunk after Rachel's party."

"Deal." Blaine said quickly. "Lunch?"

"Is there a stand for low fat and grease-free food?"

"Um... let's go find out."

Kurt's options for grease-free were ice-cream and dry popcorn, to his horror. "Come on Kurt, live a little!" Blaine laughed, taking a bite from his hot-dog. "It's just food after all and - IS THAT A RED VINES STAND?"

Before Kurt could ask what the fascination was, his boyfriend was racing across the field towards an overcrowded stand. Kurt pushed his way through the crowds, finally catching up with his boyfriend who was jumping up and down like a small child. "Kurt, Red Vines!"

"What's the big deal about Red Vines? I've never actually had one."

Blaine froze. "Okay, I'm officially not talking to you." He turned his back on a bemused Kurt, pushing past other excited Dalton students to pick up a couple of boxes of Red Vines and pulling out his wallet. After paying for his candy, he turned to walk away, totally ignoring the younger boy.

"Blaine, are you seriously ignoring me over _candy?_"

"I can't hear anybody talking to me but if anybody was happening to be questioning me about the amazingness of Red Vines, I would be telling them that Red Vines are the most amazing candy to exist and the only way I would be listening to anybody right now was if they were trying a Red Vine and telling me how awesome it is." With that, Blaine held one of the packets of Red Vines in Kurt's general direction. Kurt sighed and pulled one out of the packet.

"I hope you know I'm breaking my 'no candy' rule for - oh wow!"

Blaine smirked, turning back to face his amazed boyfriend. "Great, huh?"

Kurt nodded, distracted with chewing the candy. Blaine smiled, linking his arm with his boyfriend and led him towards the stalls, bracing himself for a long afternoon.

* * *

Three hours, four scarves, a hat, a bouquet of flowers (presented to a blushing Kurt by a dramatically posing Blaine), a couple of bottles of hair care products ("This one is for you, Blaine. We'll wean you off that gel if it's the last thing we do.") and other miscellaneous items that Blaine had lost track of, they were finally finished with the stalls and Kurt was starting to slow down.

"Want to sit for awhile?" Blaine asked, hefting a couple of Kurt's bags onto his arm so he could hold Kurt's other hand. Kurt gave him a smile of thanks.

"Sure. But the seats are all the way over there." Kurt groaned, looking across the field to the food area where people were sitting. Most of the crowds had dispersed as the day went on, leaving mostly Dalton boys and their families to enjoy the quiet. "I don't want to walk - is that rain?"

Blaine looked up as rain drops began to fall. "Looks like it."

"I can't get my hair wet!" Kurt attempted to shield his hair with the bags but failed as the rain began to drizzle steadily on the two boys. Blaine laughed, dropping his bags and spinning in circles. "Come on Kurt, it's fun!"

Kurt reluctantly placed his bags down next to the ones Blaine had dropped and grabbed his boyfriend's hand. Blaine spun him around, both of them laughing as they nearly fell. Blaine grabbed Kurt around the waist to hold him up and as Kurt grabbed his shoulders, he found himself face-to-face with his boyfriend. The laughter died on Blaine's lips as he watched Kurt lick his own unconsciously, before -

"Ahh!" Kurt squealed as the rain suddenly began to pelt down, drenching the two boys instantly.

"Come on," Blaine yelled above the noise, grabbing Kurt's hand and dragging him across the field, even as he complained about leaving the shopping bags behind. He'd seen something that he'd wanted to do earlier which would now serve as the perfect shelter. Pulling Kurt in, he shut the door behind him.

"A photo booth?" Kurt looked around the cramped space as Blaine plonked himself on the small bench. "I've never done this before."

"Neither, but I've always wanted to. Come sit down."

"Um... Blaine, there's - uh, there's no room."

Blaine smiled at the blush forming across his boyfriend's face. "Yes there is," he said, patting his lap and smirking as the blush grew even more pronounced. Seeing that Kurt wasn't moving, he grabbed his boyfriend around the waist and pulled him down. Kurt squeaked and wrapped an arm around Blaine's neck in return.

"There we go, nice and comfortable." Blaine winked as the colour slowly faded from Kurt's face.

"So, how do we do this thing?" Blaine tried to ignore the accidental double entendre as he leant over and pressed START on the screen.

"Oh cool, so we pick backgrounds and stuff and then they'll print out there. And we can both get copies."

"We're so doing the film strip one!" Kurt fiddled with the options on the screen, going for the old-style sepia film strip. Their faces came up on the screen and neither boy could help the smile that crossed their faces as they looked at the two of them together.

"Face it, we're just adorable." Blaine winked and dropped a kiss on Kurt's head, watching as digital Blaine mirrored his actions.

"Okay, so it'll take snapshots on a timer, so we just have to - um, what are we going to do, Blaine?"

"I don't know, be cute?" Blaine took a quick look at the timer, then kissed Kurt's forehead as the camera snapped a photo. Kurt blushed again and playfully pushed his boyfriend away. _Snap_

"You really are adorable, you know that?" Blaine looked up at his boyfriend, the height difference more pronounced by the fact that Kurt was still in his lap. Kurt looked down, tracing a finger across Blaine's jaw. _Snap_

"So are you." Kurt leaned down, pressing a kiss to Blaine's nose and Blaine shut his eyes at the contact. _Snap_

And now they were so close together, just staring into each other's eyes. The noise of the camera - and the fact that it was even there - was completely forgotten. "Hi," whispered Kurt. Blaine felt a shiver run down his back as his Kurt's breath brushed over his lips. "Hi," he whispered back, relishing in the responding shiver that ran through Kurt.

Blaine could read the unspoken question in Kurt's eyes and smiled, absently noticing the camera still clicking away sporadically in the background. "I told you it was up to you, baby. You decide. No pressure," he breathed. _But please, please, choose what I want you to choose..._

And it seemed his mental wishes were being answered as Kurt was moving closer and his lips were _right there_ and - oh, _wow._ Blaine's mind couldn't even comprehend the amazing feeling, so it simply shut down and let his lips do the talking.

After a few moments of bliss, Blaine broke away, pressing his forehead against his boyfriends. He knew the same goofy smile that was on Kurt's face was definitely mirrored on his.

"Uh, wow?" Kurt stammered out after a second, still smiling.

"Yeah. Wow." Blaine echoed, bringing a hand up to stroke his boyfriend's face.

They could have stayed there all day and were almost planning to until a chime rang out from the screen, telling them their photos were done. Kurt chuckled and moved away, leaning over to pick out the two film strips. "I actually forgot about -" He froze.

"Kurt?" Blaine asked, craning his neck to try and see the photos. Kurt leant back in and held them so Blaine could see, speechless.

The first few photos were the boys mucking around being cute and Blaine chuckled. His gaze moved lower and suddenly he realized what had made his boyfriend speechless. The next few photos were Kurt and Blaine face-to-face, staring at each other intently. The following one was them kissing, with the last few of them leaning together smiling. He raised his eyes to look at Kurt incredulously.

"Our first kiss.." he breathed.

"Now we really can remember it forever." Kurt blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the flood of emotion. Blaine was doing the same as he wrapped his arms back around his boyfriend, nuzzling into Kurt's neck.

"I love you, you know?" Kurt whispered into his ear, causing a shiver to run down Blaine's spine, both from the contact and the words.

"I love you too." Blaine lifted his head to kiss his boyfriend again.

Kurt sighed when they broke apart before reluctantly standing up. "I think the rain's stopped and we need to go get my shopping before it's totally ruined."

Blaine groaned playfully as they stepped out of the booth, picking up the bags and heading back in to Dalton. They were both clutching their copies of the photos, Kurt wondering how quickly he could upload and email them to Mercedes, Blaine trying to work out the perfect hiding spot where Wes couldn't find them, before another thought occurred to him.

"Oh, Kurt? There's a fair in the town over next weekend. I think we should go there too."

* * *

**Wow, this one went long! But I loved writing it. Like, love love loved. I want a Blaine now! This ties for favourite with **_**Wedding**_

**Please review and prompt more stuff like this!**


	20. Video

**Everybody, please read the following authors note**

**Thank you :) I know a lot of people just like to skip the authors notes and go on to the story so I'll be quick. In regards to prompts, yes I'm still accepting them, but from this chapter on if you post a prompt, you will have a two month wait until you see your story. Yes, I'm that damn popular ;) but seriously, I've gotten a lot of propmts and I'm still sticking to uploading one chapter a day - which is fast by Fanfiction standards anyway, I often find myself waiting a month for a new chapter on one of my favourites - so at the moment, if I got no more prompts (which I'm not saying to do, please keep prompting if you have them!), I would have this story finished and uploaded in two months time. A lot of prompt writers I've seen do a cut-off then write the rest of their stories and they usually do it at about the stage I'm at (yes, I'm only up to Chapter 19/20 here but I've written up to Chapter 30 and have many more to do) but I'm not doing that. I figure as long as you guys have prompts that I think are awesome (which I think 99% of the prompts I get are!) and I can write, I will keep writing them.**

**In regards to rejecting prompts, I do this very rarely but when I have to, this is what happens: If you've sent me one prompt and I'm rejecting it or you've sent me multiples and I'm rejecting them all (hasn't happened to date), I'll either PM you unless you have it deactivated, then I'll mention you in the authors note. If you've sent me a couple and I'm only rejecting one or two or still doing at least one, I'll just go ahead and do the ones I'm doing. So when your prompts are published, I'll do all the prompts from one person before moving on. Therefore, when your prompts stop coming up, that's all I'm doing from that lot. The exception to this is when you've sent separate reviews with different prompts. And if you've prompted something that someone else has, you'll see your name mentioned in the prompt as well, just like today's story. For example, _ArtisanBleu_ sent me two prompts: this one and another which is prompt 70-something, but I won't be posting the other one from them until I get to it. So I hope all of that makes sense, sorry it was long winded but I don't want people thinking I've forgotten about them or am just rejecting their prompts without telling them. **

**Finally (sorry!), we got to review #350 which was, to my absolute delight, was _ChroniclesofNarniaGoTandSJA._ I say delight because we have already determined we are soul mates. So I'm waiting back on her to see what chapter she wants. As for prompts, I'm fairly sure we've made it to 75 but since I don't have my laptop, I can't check. So bear with me another day :) like you've done so well bearing with my authors note, thank you very much if you made it to the end! Let's go onto the story!**

**This one comes from **_**majorbookluver **_**and similarly prompted (I think?) by**_** Syaoran-Lover **_**and _ArtisanBleu_**_**: Can you do one set after Sexy where Kurt rants to Mercedes that Blane[sic] doesn't think he's sexy, so she shows Blaine either 4 minutes, push it, le jazz hot, or all of them. hmm... possibly posted to ****facebook? Pleeeeeeaaaaassseeeeee?**_

**Well, only because you asked so nicely ;)**

* * *

Video

_Please tell me you're free for an emergency shopping trip - Kurt_

Kurt hit SEND and waited, staring at the screen. Sure enough, a reply buzzed in a few seconds later.

_Meet you there in ten white boy. Special occasion? ;) - M_

_Therapeutic. See you then - Kurt_

Grabbing his bag, Kurt left his room and went down the stairs. "Going out for a bit, Dad." There was a muffled reply from the living room as he opened the door and made his way to his Navigator. Just as he was about to pull out of the driveway, his phone buzzed.

_Mercedes better not be bailing on me_, he thought as he unlocked the screen. _1 New Message: Blaine. _Kurt's heart jumped into his throat as he opened the message.

_Whenever you're ready to talk, I'm here. I'm sorry if I pushed things too far. - Blaine_

Kurt tossed his phone next to him on the seat and focused on driving. _Don't think about Blaine, don't think about the disaster, don't think..._

Kurt sighed. Of course he was thinking. He hadn't stopped since Blaine had left his room an hour ago on his way home for the weekend. Kurt hadn't moved from his chair for awhile, staring into space and thinking about what a fool he'd made of himself the past few days. No matter what Blaine had said or done, Kurt had brought this on himself.

_Of course you're not sexy. You never will be._

* * *

"Okay, Kurt. We've been shopping for two hours and I've never seen you buy this much stuff before. We're going to sit down and have coffee before you blow your credit card, and we're going to talk about what's got you so upset. Okay?"

Trust Mercedes. "Yes, Ma'am," Kurt replied as she steered him into Starbucks, pushing him into a seat and going to the counter to make their order. Not for the first time that day, he forced his mind away from Blaine as Mercedes sat down across from him.

"Spill."

Kurt fought for about a second, then gave in. "I made a fool of myself, 'Cedes. We did a sexy number and I screwed it up and then Blaine tried to give me lessons -"

"He _what?_ Seriously, white boy, shouldn't you be over the moon right now? I wish I had a guy to give me sexy lessons.."

"_No_, Mercedes. He tried to teach me how to be sexy, facial expressions and stuff. And I totally failed, I can't believe I even tried. I reckon he's probably laughing at me now."

Kurt looked up from the table to see the mystified expression on Mercedes face. "But Kurt.. you are sexy. Why would he think you aren't?"

"Look, you're my best friend. I trust your opinion most of the time, especially when it comes to fashion - and I love those high tops on you, just saying. But... just not on this. I tried, Mercedes! I made the faces, I did the actions, I just _can't_."

Mercedes shook her head and gently hit him on the shoulder. "You can't _try_, white boy. Tell me, was Blaine sexy?" _Hell yes. _Kurt knew the answer was written across his face as Mercedes groaned. "Okay, dreamy face, I'll take that as a yes. So, what was he doing?"

Kurt struggled to find his words. "He - just - he was - I don't know! He just _was_."

"And that's the answer, Kurt. He didn't try." Mercedes smiled and took his hand. "You can't try to be sexy, you just are. _You_ are, Kurt, when you're not trying."

Kurt shook his head and now he could feel himself choking up. "Thanks 'Cedes but I can't buy it. I - I'd better go." Grabbing his bags, he stood up and all but bolted out of the store as Mercedes tried to stop him.

If he had of looked back, he would've seen Mercedes whipping out her phone looking ready to kill.

* * *

Blaine lay on his bed idly staring at the roof, his history assignment forgotten beside him as he replayed the past few days in his head. He had pitched the sexy idea because he had wanted to win Regionals, but he also wanted to give Kurt a chance to shine. Kurt had the most amazing voice Blaine had ever heard and he wanted to see if that voice could do sexy. After all - well, Kurt was gorgeous, adorable, handsome, beautiful... Blaine shook his head and tried to focus on the matter at hand. Kurt could sing almost anything, if he could do sexy then they would kill Regionals.

And as soon as they had started their number, Blaine had smiled because Kurt's voice was _sexy_. He'd felt his head rush as his voice washed over him and had turned around to see - _what?_

Blaine sighed and threw his pillow at the roof. He couldn't understand why Kurt had put on those cringe-worthy faces, but had continued the number trying to avoid it. And then - Blaine groaned - he had tried to _teach_ Kurt how to be sexy?

"Seriously, Blaine?" He sat up, kicking his legs over the side of the bed. "What made you think you were an expert? And now you've probably made Kurt hate you and -"

He stopped his beration of himself as his phone began to ring. _Kurt?_ Grabbing it quickly, his heart dropped as he saw the name. _Mercedes. _Of course Kurt would've told her...

"Hello?"

"White boy, I'm meeting you at McKinley in two hours."

The line went dead. Blaine stared at his phone for a second before sighing. _Might as well make it a quick death after all._

* * *

Blaine pulled into the familiar parking lot and saw that Mercedes' car was already there. Whipping out his phone to call her, he saw that a text had arrived from her.

_Choir room. _

He briefly wondered how she knew he knew where to go before remembering that was where he had met her the day he had come in to help Kurt. Grabbing his bag, he jumped out of his car and headed in, trying not to think about the fact that it was a Saturday and most schools had security. He was also trying not to think about how Mercedes had probably set up some kind of elaborate torture device for messing with her 'white boy.' And then he ended up thinking about Kurt. Of course. He turned down the corridor to the choir room and saw Mercedes waiting outside for him.

"Anderson."

Blaine just nodded, not trusting his voice.

"Follow me." Mercedes started walking away from the choir room and Blaine followed, unsure of what was happening. _Did she hire some jocks to deal with me? Or perhaps she'll lock me somewhere. Or -_

"Blaine." He realized that he had almost walked past the door that Mercedes had entered and quickly followed her in, looking around at the trophies.

"Is this your cheer coach's room?"

"Yeah. Of course nobody from Glee is meant to be in here but nothing's locked on weekend except the main doors - and as a performing arts student I can request entry - so we can get in. And, thanks to Kurt's sleuthing," Blaine's heart leapt at the other boys name and he tried to keep his face neutral, "we also have access to her computer." Mercedes turned to the laptop on the desk and spun it around so it was facing them, pulling up a file labelled 'Cheer Competitions - Porcelain'

"Porcelain? I thought they were the Cheerios?"

"They are." Mercedes gave him a quick look and Blaine noticed that the initial anger she had harboured in the hallway had given way to something that looked like - humor? "Porcelain is her nickname for Kurt." Before Blaine could try and work out why she had a video of Kurt in _cheer competitions_, Mercedes had clicked on the first video and the image jumped to the screen of a band in full swing, playing - _4 Minutes_? A couple of cheerleaders danced across the screen - Blaine rolled his eyes - before a voice began singing that Blaine recognized as Mercedes. Then the cheerleaders parted and Blaine's heart caught in his throat.

Because that was Kurt. In a _cheer uniform_. And he looked - _hot_. Blaine cleared his throat nervously as Kurt walked towards the camera, the confidence shining in his eyes. And then his mouth ran dry because - _wow_. Kurt was a _cheerleader?_ And that _voice..._

Blaine's mind was a blur as he watched the rest of the number, still staring at the screen after Kurt had danced the final steps and the crowd had finished cheering. Mercedes coughed gently to get his attention and he snapped his head towards her.

"That - that was - I -"

"Yep, that's what I thought, Anderson. Admit it, he was sexy."

Blaine nodded, still not trusting his words to make any sense. Mercedes must have taken it as a reluctance to admit the truth as she sighed. "Do I need to show you the rest of the videos?"

"Yes! I mean, no, you don't need to. I just - _wow_."

Because Mercedes had opened the folder again and clicked on 'Football - Single Ladies' and Blaine couldn't form a coherent thought. He simply stared because _what kind of guy could move his hips like **that?**_

Mercedes smirked and Blaine knew he was blushing. "So, you going to go tell my boy you're sorry?"

"I don't think he wants to see me right now, Mercedes - OW!"

Mercedes removed her hand from the back of his head. "You really are an idiot, Blaine Anderson. Besides, you have no choice. That's him right now."

"Mercedes?" Kurt's voice drifted down the hallway, coming towards the office and Blaine glared at Mercedes.

"We're in here, Kurt."

"We?" Kurt walked in the door, looking down at his phone and Blaine's heart leapt as he saw Kurt's hair was messy and... _sexy_. "You didn't say you were bringing anybody - oh."

And Blaine hated the look in Kurt's slightly red eyes and the way his face dropped when he saw Blaine, though he attempted to recover quickly. "Hi, Blaine. What are you guys doing in -" He froze.

Mercedes had stepped aside to reveal the laptop, still playing _Single Ladies_ and Kurt went pale. Blaine immediately stepped forward and took his arm as he whispered, "Why, Mercedes?"

"Because I had a point to prove. I know you hate me now, white boy, but we'll talk later and I hope we'll be okay. Look after him, Anderson." With one last meaningful look at Blaine, Mercedes wandered out of the office, humming _4 Minutes_ to herself.

There was a flurry of movement and Kurt had shut the lid of the laptop, cutting off the rest of the song. He looked at Blaine defiantly for a moment before all of the fight went out of him. "Okay, you've seen it. Go ahead, laugh at me. Tell me I'll never be sexy and I shouldn't have tried. Tell me I made a fool of myself. Go on."

But Blaine couldn't move, couldn't speak, because _was he serious? _Did Kurt actually believe that? Blaine knew all the words in the world wouldn't convince Kurt he was wrong, so Blaine did the only thing he could. He strode across the room, lifted Kurt's chin and pressed his lips against Kurt's.

At first, Blaine was hesitant about how much passion he put into it, aware of Kurt's past experiences. But as Kurt melted into the kiss, bringing his hands to Blaine's face, he reached his hands up and tangled them in that gorgeous hair. Blaine deepened the kiss and couldn't help a slight moan escaping his lips as Kurt's hands ran down his jawline. As much as he wanted to stay there forever, Blaine knew Kurt deserved an explanation and reluctantly broke away.

"Kurt, you are _so_ sexy. You have no idea, and I can't believe I didn't see it before. But now that I have, I could tell you a million ways you're sexy. Your eyes, your hair - especially when it's like _that_, your _voice_, everything about you. And you still manage to be beautiful and adorable and everything and, Kurt, you're just amazing and I'm so sorry I -"

He was cut off from his ramblings by the wonderful sensation of Kurt's lips against his.

When they finally broke apart, Kurt rested his forehead against Blaine's and looked him straight in the eye. "If you just said that to get some action, you've got another thing coming mister."

But the look on his face told Blaine he was just joking and Blaine allowed a teasing smile to cross his face. "Darn! I'm sprung!"

Kurt laughed that gorgeous, _sexy_ laugh and pulled Blaine in for another kiss, before breaking it off quickly.

"I'm sorry Blaine, but we can't do this."

Blaine felt his heart drop before Kurt continued.

"We're making out in the room of my old cheer coach. This just isn't right. My house?"

Blaine just stared at him for a second before grabbing his hand and almost dragging him out the door.

* * *

**Just watching a re-run of the Royal balcony kiss (written the night after the wedding, I'm not so sad as to be watching it weeks later or anything). It was too short for my liking I'm afraid but I guess as royals they need to be .. discreet. Still, a cute couple.**

**:)**


	21. Stage

**Hi all. I know I posted a Read me authors note last time but this is just a quick note for my readers anyway. So most of you know that I work as an au pair, live in? Well today I just got fired. It was no fault of mine, the employer knew I didn't have proper training but decided a month in that she wanted someone who had. Now, I've picked up and come over from Australia, leaving behind all of my friends, paid for my own flights and everything. Luckily my Dad lives here and he came to pick me up and now I'm living with him while I decide what to do next. Now, the reason I'm posting this is because if I find another job, I'll most likely be working full-time and it won't be anything like the last job where I had all day free to write. At the moment, it won't affect my uploading pace because I've got ten or so chapters pre-written. But down the track, I may have to cut back on how quickly I publish chapters. This is just a warning to you guys now. I don't want to have to cut back on it, but if I run out of time to write stories then I have no choice. However, in the time I have now when I don't have a job, I'll be writing like crazy :D (and job hunting of course)**

**If there are any AVPM/S fans here, stay posted in the next ten minutes for a crazy obsessive fangirl story (separate oneshot to this) :)**

**So, onward! This one originally came from _Broken Gold_ and is similarly prompted by _Jg Rox _and _Lolasatsuma : How about onstage at Regionals? Like curtains close and they're all excited _**_**about there[sic] duet and they go to hug and one of them is just like, "BAM! Kiss!" ****and the other is just like, "Yeah. Okay, that'll work too."**_

**I'm seriously making this so short because I think it'll work well that way. And I kinda love the wording in the prompt. **

* * *

Stage

"_So come on and raise your glass, for me!"_

Blaine lowered his head and smiled as the audience burst into applause. He stayed in position until the curtain lowered as per tradition, letting his mind wander as he waited.

He knew _Misery _and _Raise Your Glass_ were crowd pleasers, but the number that would make it or break it was definitely _Candles_. The Warblers had discussed the risk of singing such a number in a male-male duet considering the judges, but had gone ahead with it anyway. There was certainly chemistry between the two of them and the judges would quite possibly come to the conclusion that he and Kurt were dating.

_So, why aren't you?_

The smile faded off Blaine's face as he thought back to the previous week. Asking Kurt to do the duet with him, he had almost been shaking but was so determined to say the words that had been on his mind since he had watched Kurt perform _Blackbird_.

And then when Kurt had asked that fateful question - "Why did you choose me to do that duet with?" - Blaine felt all of his courage fail him and he muttered something about their voices being perfect together, trying to ignore the look in Kurt's eyes when he had said that. It had only lasted a second, Kurt pulling himself together quickly afterwards, but Blaine had felt about as bad as he would if he had kicked a puppy. Probably worse. _Definitely _worse. Because Kurt meant a lot more to him than a puppy.

As the curtain began to lower, Blaine made a decision. _Once all of this is over and you've all done the customary hug, you'll go find Kurt and get him alone and tell him the truth. Tell him why you did the duet. _

The curtain hit the floor and the Warblers erupted into their usual post-performance chaos. Blaine felt two cannonballs hit his back and turned to face a laughing Wes and David, wrapping an arm around each of them. "Great performance, guys," he said, smiling at the other Warblers who came to congratulate him and making sure they all received their own praise. But the whole time, Blaine was scanning the group for Kurt.

When he finally found him, Blaine couldn't help but smile. Kurt was surrounded by his own group of Warblers and Blaine hadn't seen him look that happy in quite some time. He let his gaze linger for just a second too long and Kurt looked up, straight into his eyes.

The moment that passed between them was electric. Blaine couldn't move, couldn't think. All he saw was Kurt and he knew what had to happen.

Pushing past Wes and David, Blaine walked straight towards Kurt who was making his way through the various Warblers milling between them. Meeting center stage, they stared at each other for another second until Kurt reached out a trembling hand and touched Blaine's face.

The touch shocked both of them back to reality and before Blaine could find the words, Kurt had leaned in and kissed him.

They weren't aware of the other Warblers going silent around them. They didn't notice New Directions walking onstage to prepare and stopping in their tracks. They only knew each other, and one thought: _finally_.

Blaine broke away first, bringing a hand to Kurt's face to mirror the action of the younger boy. Kurt was still shaking but the look in his eyes was so perfect that Blaine wanted to cry. He looked into those beautiful eyes and whispered the words he had been waiting to say.

"You move me, Kurt. And that duet was just an excuse to spend more time with you."

* * *

**I did enjoy writing this. I did consider writing the reactions of the Warblers and New Directions but I figured if I drew it out any more, it would lose its touch. **


	22. Stairs

**It's been exactly a month since I published my first story, _Masks, _and I was so excited because I got two reviews in one day! This morning I woke up to 52 emails from Fanfiction. So I'm getting up there! :D For anybody who doesn't write, those who haven't turned off their email alerts get emails for reviews, private messages and if people favourite their story, follow their story, favourite them as an author or follow them as an author. In the month I've been here, I've received 1,538 emails and thousands and thousands of hits on my stories. This is totally unreal to me and I want to thank you guys so much for the love :)**

**I watched Rumors! Spoilers ahead, so skip down to the next paragraph if you haven't seen it yet. Okay, my thoughts while watching: Sue's outfits are amazing; Will seems to need someone telling him what to do every week now; I squeal every time I see Kurt and remember he's back in ND; I felt so bad for Artie until he used the S word... but I loved the guitarists following him and his voice is intoxicating :) ; SAM AND KURT! I knew it wasn't already.. but still!; Brad always has been 'just furniture'; "Oh how I've missed your insanity." Oh how I've missed you in those halls, Kurt. And his attitude towards the gossip is gorgeous; Quinn and Finn is in self-destruct. Finally; And... oh Sam... I nearly cried when he did.. and his siblings are so cute!; And of course, the perfect Glee-ending where everybody helps Sam out and they sing a happy song ... though if my guitar had just been given back to me then someone took it from around my neck, I'd probably flip. That said, I don't have a guitar... anyway, there's my thoughts! I'm now taking prompts up to but not beyond _Rumors_ (I already got two before I'd seen it and they confused the hell out of me but now I can't wait to write them)**

**Another popular one! From **_**xSavannahxx**_** and similarly prompted by _KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek,_ _hermionemallark, __Captain Holly Short of the LEP, _ _EternalTearsOfBlood_,**_**Rhessa-chan, Chasing Aspirations **_**and**_** Darkieta**_**: **_**The very first time I really thought they should kiss was when Kurt tells Blaine he's never been kissed, on the stairs on Mckinley High, and they sit next to each other. (I think it ended up being more popular than BICO! Far out, pressure's on!)**_

**Again, I feel like this is way too soon for my liking. I guess it's later than Teenage Dream but still, Kurt's **_**just**_** been kissed by an in-the-closet bully. I can make it work but this isn't something I approve of in their relationship. I love the fact that their relationship took a long time to form and instead of being all over each other, they've kissed once on screen as of **_**Born This Way **_**which, although the rest of us fans are kinda screaming for more, is a welcome relief from the usual PDA that Glee produces. ****So I will write it (clearly, it's right here) because it's not a bad prompt and it's a popular one and I love to write, but personally it's not something I would've preferred to have seen on Glee.**

* * *

Stairs

"Well, he's not coming out any time soon."

Blaine watches the jock making his way down the stairs, trying to calm his breathing so Kurt doesn't notice how scared he actually had been. For a second, memories flash past his eyes of his old school and - _no, Blaine. Not now. _

Blaine turns to see Kurt sitting on the stairs looking like his heart was breaking and Blaine can't bear it. "What's going on?" he asked, sitting next to him and trying to catch his eye. "Why are you so upset?"

The next second, Blaine mentally kicks himself. _Of course Kurt is allowed to be upset_, he tells himself, _the idiot forced himself on him then completely denied it. You try going through that without being upset._ Yet, there seems to be so much more to it than what Kurt has been letting on.

Kurt looks up at him with tears spilling down his cheeks and Blaine just wants to pull him into a huge hug, but hesitates, unsure whether Kurt would respond positively to the contact. "Because up until now, I had never been kissed. Or at least - not one that counted." (1)

Blaine bites his lip, mentally weighing up his options. He could take Kurt somewhere for lunch and they'd do their best to forget about the whole situation and he could start trying to heal. Or Blaine could do the right thing and actually talk it through with Kurt(2), even though that would mean opening himself up to a boy he had only just met. Could he do that?

_Courage, Blaine._

The voice echoes in his head for a second, but it's enough.

"Kurt, you still haven't."

Kurt freezes in the act of wiping his eyes, looking back at Blaine. "Blaine, I didn't lie you know. He might be in denial but I thought you would believe me."

"Kurt, I believe you. I know he kissed you. What I'm saying is that it didn't count." Blaine sighs and runs a hand over his hair before plucking up his nerve and resting it gently on Kurt's. When Kurt doesn't pull away, Blaine takes it as a sign of encouragement and continues to talk. "Who have you kissed before?"

"Brittany." Blaine raises an eyebrow as Kurt hastily explains. "She's a girl in our Glee club and one of the cheerleaders. I was trying to convince my dad that I was straight so he would spend more time with me and Brittany wanted a perfect record. So we kissed where my dad would walk in, which naturally led to a strange and awkward moment. Needless to say, my dad now knows I'm 100% gay. Not something I ever want to experience again." Kurt mutters something about rootbeer under his breath, a grossed-out expression on his face.

_I love getting to know this guy._ Blaine can't help the smile at the image of this clearly gay boy sitting next to him kissing a girl. "So, why didn't that count?"

"I don't know. Because she's a girl? Because it didn't mean anything?"

"Because it didn't mean anything. Kurt, a kiss is only a true kiss when both people give it freely." Blaine stares into Kurt's eyes, hoping he'll understand, even though his heart is doing backflips at the proximity of his eyes .. and lips.. _Focus, Blaine!_

"Karofsky kissed you." Kurt flinches and squeezes his hand as Blaine begins to run circles over it with his thumb soothingly. "And that's going to hurt for awhile, I know. But what he did there was try to force something from you. And you didn't give it to him. You didn't give him your heart or your soul. You didn't give him your permission."

Kurt looks hesitantly hopeful, so Blaine continues to talk about things that he himself has dreamt of. "One day, you will share that moment with someone. You might kiss them or they might kiss you. It doesn't matter. Either way, when you kiss and you've both chosen to, it will be _amazing_, Kurt. When you kiss someone, you give a part of yourself to them - only small, yes. But you still do. And when they give a part of them to you in return, that's what makes it so special. It's not about the action, it's what's behind it. _That _will be the kiss that counts. I can't wait for that moment either -"

"Wait." Kurt interrupts, looking adorably puzzled. "You've never been kissed either?"

Blaine smiles. "Not one that counts. I've played my games of spin-the-bottle, after all." He continues to look into Kurt's eyes and sees something shift there, like a storm cloud slowly passing away. "But when I do -"

_Courage._

"When I do, I hope it's with someone as wonderful and amazing as you, Kurt."

And now the hope is shining so bright in his eyes that Blaine can barely stand to look at them but can't draw away. He knows Kurt wants this just as much as he does, but still hesitates. _This is it for both of you. Cross this line and you're not going back. Can you live with that?_

Blaine takes another glance down at Kurt's lips, slightly parted as if inviting him.

_Hell yes._

Leaning in slowly - to give Kurt plenty of time to back out - Blaine closes the gap and presses their lips together.

The moment is very quick. Blaine is painfully aware that they are sitting in a public high school and any second a bunch of jocks could come around the corner. So he pulls away after a few seconds, watching as Kurt's eyes flutter open, a look of amazement on his face.

"So that's how it's meant to feel," he breathes and Blaine just wants to kiss him again because he looks so _beautiful_ when he's happy. He settles for wrapping an arm around him and kissing him on the cheek.

Blaine knows this isn't going to be a happily-ever-after ending. They're in Ohio after all. And he still has to ask Kurt if he even wants a relationship and they'll probably take things slow for a very long time, and they're at different schools and everything and - Blaine stops, looking down at the gorgeous boy who has now rested his head on his shoulder.

_Forget the bad, Blaine, and give it everything you've got to make him happy. _

"Come on," Blaine says, standing up and offering a hand to Kurt. "I'll buy you lunch."

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from Never Been Kissed to this point**

**(2) Yes, that's a dig at Blaine. Seriously, he's crying, he's opened his heart up, and Blaine says he'll buy him lunch? Maybe they talk about it at lunch, but right then Kurt needs _something_. A hug, some comfort, anything. **

**Yeah okay, I'll admit I'm smiling. Now that I've written it I can see the potential, but I'm still happy that they took ages to kiss because of all the lovely moments we got like BICO, SLS and, of course, all of Original Song. **

**Anyway, please review :) **


	23. RoadTrip

**Okay, I've gotten too many reviews to ignore this. Everybody's telling me that I got Kurt's middle name wrong and it's actually Elizabeth. Now, I had to search this to figure out which episode it actually came from and I got a very good answer on one of the forums (I never realized there were so many just dedicated to Kurt!): ...if you check out Kurt's voting slip at the end of 'Duets', he writes his name in as 'Kurt Elizabeth Hummel'. Though it's not known whether that's his real full name, a _Springtime For Hitler_ reference, or him inserting Dame Julie Elizabeth Andrews as his virtual duet partner... **

**I cannot believe that Burt Hummel would have allowed his son's middle name to be Elizabeth. I mean, he wasn't noticeably gay the second he was born (I really doubt) or anything. Some people say he does it as tribute to his mother, I personally love that thought. But for legal purposes, he would have another middle name, or none at all. So, because it's never been said on the show if his middle name really is Elizabeth, I'm choosing to go with it not being that. I'm sure in one of my other stories, this idea of his middle name being Elizabeth will come up and I'll have Kurt talk about it (my interpretation of course) but for now, thank you everyone who wanted to make sure my stories were accurate, but for me it's a non-issue. **

**One of many awesome ones from _wynnie the pooh: In a car._**

**This felt like the perfect opportunity to bring out my Wes and David love. **_**Hyperactive**_** Wes and David love for that matter. This is also for _The Dark Queen of Insanity_ who thinks Wes and David should be featured more. And of course, for me, cause I love them. And ROAD TRIP! Rotating POV because I enjoy it and because people sleep and other people watch them sleep. I fear I was a bit hyperactive writing this myself but I love letting my inner Wes and David come out to play in my stories.**

**Warning: Set aside plenty of time to read. You'll need it.**

* * *

RoadTrip

"Come on, come on, come on!" Wes jumped up and down in the doorway of the room he and Blaine shared.

"Wes, calm down!" Blaine finally lost his temper. "I can almost guarantee that Kurt isn't going to be ready by the time we get out of here and David is still downstairs organizing the final details. We have plenty of time, and for that matter, we're not going anywhere! We're not going to be late for anything. We're packing to sit in a car for _two days._ We can just _relax._"

Wes froze at Blaine's outburst before sitting on his bed sulkily as Blaine continued to pack. When David had suggested a road trip over the weekend, Wes had jumped at the opportunity and immediately invited Blaine along, who reluctantly agreed knowing that refusing to go would be more painful than actually going. This seemed to be a yearly ritual for the two boys and they loved including Blaine in their group, which always meant the two of them sitting in the front talking about various girls and how hot they were while Blaine tried to sleep in the backseat.

But this year, when he was complaining to Kurt about it, he got a wonderful shock when Kurt said, "Why don't you invite someone to come with you to keep you sane?"

Blaine had blinked a couple of times, then a smile had crossed his face as he stared at Kurt. As soon as Kurt realized, he tried to backtrack. "I mean, I'm sure Thad or Nick would be willing to come along -"

"Kurt. Please?"

Blaine knew he had killer puppy dog eyes. Everybody told him so. And as such, he usually felt guilty for using them so they were reserved for special occasions like these. He had literally watched Kurt melt before agreeing - still reluctantly of course.

"Blaine, you're not even packing!" Wes had decided to pipe up again, dragging Blaine out of his thoughts. He shot him a dirty look before chucking a final few items of clothing into his bag and heading towards the bathroom.

"Hold on, Blaine. There's a condition this year."

Blaine froze. He _hated_ Wes' conditions.

"We're all going without something we feel like we normally need. You may have noticed I didn't pack my gavel," Blaine offered up a silent prayer of thanks at this small miracle, "David has left behind his _Selena Gomez _CD with the pictures in it." Another miracle. "You and Kurt are going without your hair products."

"_What?"_

Blaine whirled around on the spot, pinning Wes with a death glare. "You can't be serious!"

"Oh yes, I am. You can go a day without hair gel. In fact, you don't have a choice because I've hidden it. So nyahh!" Wes stuck out his tongue and Blaine rolled his eyes before realizing what he had said. He turned back into the bathroom, pulling open his usual cupboard to find it empty. Blaine took a deep breath and pushed his anger back, saving it for later in the trip when they were stuck together and Wes had no choice but to deal with it. He grabbed his toothbrush and chucked it in his bag before re-entering the room.

"Well, in that case, I'm ready." Wes eyed him suspiciously but jumped up from the bed, grabbing Blaine's bag.

"Grab your guitar and let's go!" Blaine smiled at the overexcitable boy before grabbing his guitar case and following him out of the room and down the main staircase. As soon as he spotted David, he cringed knowing what was coming next.

"WESLEY!"

"DAVID!"

The two boys rushed towards each other, meeting in the middle of the foyer in a hug that made everyone present question the sexuality of the council members. Blaine just smirked, knowing this was a tradition of the Annual Road Trip. Then he smiled because Kurt was coming towards him, carrying a bag and eyeing the two boys with a mix of trepidation and humor.

"Don't even ask. They're so far in the closet that they still think they like _girls_." Blaine looked at Kurt with feigned horror.

"How terrible. At least they'll have us along to educate them this weekend." Kurt smirked before Blaine wrapped an arm around him in a quick hug.

"So, I hear they deprived you too?"

Kurt glared at David. "The most I managed to get out of him was that one of the other Warblers has our stuff, one of the ones that went home for the weekend. I don't believe him but I didn't want to throttle him without you."

"Guys, let's go!"

Blaine cringed at the yell echoing through the foyer and he and Kurt quickly walked over to where David and Wes were standing impatiently by the door. Just before they got there, Blaine remembered tradition and leaned over to Kurt. "Block your ears," he whispered, quickly sticking his fingers in his own. Kurt shot him a curious glance but did the same. Just in time.

"GOOOOOOODBYE DALTON!"

The rest of the students cringed as the two boys bolted out the door, Kurt and Blaine following at a much more sedate pace. "How on earth did those two make it on the Warbler Council?" Kurt asked, staring at the boys fighting over who would drive first.

Blaine shrugged. "Because they're crazy enough to be scary?"

* * *

"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with ... um... R!"

"Road."

"Damnit, Kurt, you're too good at this game!"

"Wes, we've been playing I Spy for half an hour now. You've said road three times, tree five and I _know_ you didn't see a turtle back there. Let's just give it up." Kurt sighed, trying to stretch out in the confines of the car. They were two hours into their road trip and he already had a headache from Wes and David. David had won the battle to drive first and thereby pick the CD (currently blasting out _Backstreet Boys_, David's guilty secret), leaving Wes to sulk and try to play car games with the uninterested boys in the backseat.

Kurt sighed, staring across at Blaine who had fallen asleep about an hour ago. He envied the boy for being able to sleep in this kind of surrounding and escape the insanity. He watched for a moment as Blaine's chest rose and fell evenly, his mouth slightly open. One arm was hanging across the seat and his head was leaning against the window and he looked so peaceful and -

"I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with O!"

"Wesley, I swear if it's orange _again_ -"

"Obvious. And oblivious come to think of it."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the boy who had turned around to look at him. "Even though I really don't want to ask, just tell me. What's obvious?"

"That you like Blaine."

Kurt gulped and tried to think of a cover story. _You were just making sure he was sleeping and not dead... you were looking out the window on his side... you -_

"It's okay, we've known for awhile now." David chipped in, not taking his eyes off the road. "And we haven't said anything to him."

"Or to anybody else," Wes added, looking surprisingly serious. "And ... well, if you ever wanted to tell him, you'd probably be pretty happy with the result. We're just saying."

With that, Wes turned back around and started talking to David about some actress named Bonnie Gruesen and how gorgeous she was and Kurt turned to look at Blaine again. Could they mean that Blaine - no. He couldn't get his hopes up. It was Wes and David after all.

As Kurt internally debated, he almost missed Blaine's eyes opening. "Hey, Kurt. How long was I asleep?"

"Oh, um... about an hour. I think."

Blaine stretched slightly and rubbed his eyes. "Mkay. Hey, you alright?" Kurt knew his eyes had glazed over a little and shook his head, trying to snap out of it.

"Yeah, just - headache."

Blain winced sympathetically. "They'll do that to you, sorry." He looked out the window and his face lit up. "Guys, we're fifteen minutes from the first stop."

"Yay!" Wes clapped from the front seat and Kurt snorted. "Let's play a game until we get there. I spy -"

"No, I think it's my turn." Kurt interjected, deciding to have a little fun with them. _And perhaps get a message across to Blaine._ "Whoever gets this gets ... I don't know, what's a good prize?"

"Gets to ask you to do a favour?" Blaine suggested.

Kurt nodded in agreement, then smiled evilly. "Okay, I spy, with my little eye, something beginning with A."

"Animals!"

"No."

"Antelope!"

"No."

"Agriculture?"

"No."

"Ashley Tisdale?"

"You wish, David."

By the time they had reached their first stop, Wes and David were begging Kurt for the answer. Blaine had given up after ten minutes and was chuckling at the antics of their friends as Kurt refused once again to tell them.

Pulling into the car park, David locked the doors and turned to face Kurt. "I'm not letting out of this car until you tell us the answer!"

Kurt just looked at him before flicking the lock and opening the door. As he stepped out he heard David say, "Well damn, didn't think of that."

* * *

"SHUT UP!"

Wes and David momentarily paused, staring at Blaine in the front seat, then continued.

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

Blaine sighed and began to hit his head against the window before feeling a hand on his.

"Don't give them the satisfaction." Kurt smiled at him, albeit strained, then returned his attention to the road.

"I don't know how you convinced them to let you drive. I try every single time we go somewhere and they refuse. David's too protective of his baby normally to let anybody but him and Wes -"

"Kurt! Is it Australia?"

"Wes, we're nowhere near Australia. We're in _America._ And before you can ask, no it's not America." Wes slumped back in his seat, disappointed as Kurt returned his attention to Blaine. "In answer to your question, let's just say sharing a room with David occasionally has its perks. Very occasionally." Blaine raised an eyebrow at the obscure answer but shrugged and leaned back in his seat, trying to lose himself in the sound of Kurt's voice softly singing along to _Born This Way._

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is n-"

"GUYS! Do you even _remember_ what you were fighting about?"

David and Wes turned to face one another, equally puzzled looks on their faces. "No," said Wes slowly, "but I know David was wrong!"

"Was not!"

"Were too!"

Blaine resumed hitting his head.

* * *

"We should play the Alphabet Game!"

Blaine let out a loud groan at this. "David, this goes the same every time. We play, Wes wins, you sulk the rest of the day because you were the one that saw the Dairy Queen first and he shouldn't have gotten it. Every time."

"What's the Alphabet Game?"

Kurt knew he shouldn't have asked that question as Blaine groaned again from next to him, the steering wheel in a death grip, and Wes and David exchanged horrified glances. He spent the next five minutes listening to an overview of the rules, an extended version, corrections from David and a fistfight until Blaine threatened to pull over and eject them from the car (except Kurt of course). Finally sure that Kurt knew how to play, they began.

"Okay, so A like on that one there, Blaine? Oh, and B, and C? Is that right?"

Blaine burst out laughing. "Wes, looks like you've got some competition."

To Wes' horror, Kurt was well ahead and had actually gotten to Q long before Wes had made it past J. By the time Kurt was at X, Wes was close to tears, David had given up and Blaine was laughing his head off.

"Ooh, Zebra Crossing! Does that mean I win?"

Wes slammed his head into the seat in front of him, causing Blaine to jerk forward. "Yes, Kurt. You just beat Wes at his claim to fame."

Kurt snorted. "The Alphabet Game is Wes' claim to fame? Don't give up your day job, at least you're good with the gavel."

Blaine burst into fresh hysterics as Wes began to mutter mutinously in the back seat.

* * *

"Uh, Blaine, you awake?"

"Yeah?" Blaine blearily lifted his head, trying to focus his eyes in the darkness and finally managing to make out Kurt who looked apologetic.

"Sorry, I didn't realize you were asleep."

"S'okay. I need to wake up now anyway. Did you want to ask something?" Blaine knew he looked a mess and was aware that even when tired, Kurt still looked perfect. _Damn them for taking my gel, tomorrow will be terrible._

"I didn't actually think about it beforehand... do we drive all night?"

"Ahuh." Blaine yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Wes and David are going to swap in a few minutes because Wes can't keep his eyes open any longer and I'll have to get up front to make sure David doesn't fall asleep. Then I'll take the wheel and we'll keep rotating. David planned it out before we left. You okay to spot me when I drive?"

"Sure," Kurt replied, smiling. Blaine's heart did a backflip at that smile that so far this trip had only been reserved for him. "Does that mean I should sleep now?"

"Probably a good idea." Blaine tapped Wes on the shoulder. "Get some sleep, okay? David can drive from here." He gave a quick smile to Kurt as they pulled over before jumping into the front seat that David had just vacated.

As Wes curled up in the back and Blaine focused his eyes on the road and David, Kurt leaned forward. "Goodnight Blaine," he whispered.

"Night Kurt." Blaine couldn't keep the smile off his face, thankful that nobody had noticed.

Or so he thought. Ten minutes down the road and Blaine turned around to have a look at the two boys in the backseat. Wes was twisted around with his head tucked down into his chest and Blaine winced at how sore his neck would be in the morning. Then he turned his attention to Kurt and had to fight to keep from gasping out loud.

Kurt was beautiful even in sleep. His head rested lightly against the window with one hand resting softly against his cheek, the other lying on the seat next to him. His eyes were gently closed and a small smile was on his face. Blaine could barely draw his attention away but knew he had to focus on the road. Reluctantly, he took one last look then turned back to see a smirk on David's face.

"You're as oblivious as he is."

"What do you mean?" Blaine carefully kept a straight face and stared straight ahead.

"I mean it's so obvious that you like him and he has no idea. Just like you have no idea how much he likes you."

_No, it's not true. It's just David being stupid._

"I'm serious, you know."

"Well that's a first." Blaine tried to keep his hands from shaking at the possibilities that had begun to run through his head.

"Just ... look, I'm tired. You take over driving, wake up Kurt to keep you awake and maybe you can take the opportunity to talk about some important stuff. Wes and I won't interfere any further, except for me to say we had a similar conversation with Kurt when you were asleep this afternoon." David yawned and pulled over. "I'll let you wake him up."

* * *

"Kurt..."

Kurt groaned and batted away the hand that was gently shaking his shoulder. "G'way. S't'early."

He heard a familiar chuckle and froze. Cracking open one eyelid, he saw Blaine standing beside him with the car door open. _Good job, Hummel. Real smooth..._

"I'm sorry, I know you want to sleep but it's my turn to drive and I need someone to spot me. If you're not up to it, I can ask Wes -"

"No, it's okay." Kurt stretched, feeling his shoulders pop and climbed out of the car, allowing David to slide into his seat gratefully. He jumped into the front seat quickly, trying to get back to the warmth of the car as Blaine slid into the drivers seat and pulled back on to the road. Kurt rubbed his eyes and looked out at the sky, noticing the faint tinges of red. "What time is it anyway?"

"Three. Sunrise is in twoish hours. I always get the sunrise leg, which is awesome out this way." Blaine smiled and Kurt noted how cute he looked, eyes tired and hair curly and - _wait._

"Kurt?"

"You - your hair."

Blaine immediately raised a hand to his hair, a faint blush staining his cheeks. "I know, it's awful isn't it? I can't believe they wouldn't let me bring my gel."

"Wherever David hid it, I'm making sure it stays there." Kurt hesistantly raised a hand to touch the curls, running one through his fingers. "Blaine, this is amazing."

"Really?" Kurt couldn't help but notice the emphasis placed on the word and suddenly he knew why David had arranged the driving order the way he had.

"Yeah." Kurt smiled at Blaine who was avoiding eye contact, his face red. But a small smile played around his mouth and Kurt lapsed into thought. Perhaps it was time to -

"Kurt, we need to talk about something."

Kurt snapped his eyes back to Blaine who was looking back at him and his words died in his throat. The look in Blaine's eyes was _intense_.

"Um, yeah. But I think maybe we should pull over first." Kurt gestured towards the road and Blaine chuckled a little before pulling the car over, leaving the engine running so they could stay warm. As he turned back, Kurt noticed the look had abated slightly and was giving way to fear. He reached over and took Blaine's hand, squeezing it gently. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

Blaine took a deep breath. "Kurt, there's something I need to say and if I stop I won't ever say it so I need you to just listen, okay?" Kurt nodded and squeezed his hand again. "Okay. So, David was talking to me and he said some things that got my hopes up, but more importantly made me realize that I owe you the truth. Whatever happens, I trust that our friendship is strong enough to endure, so I'm going to just say it and if you - well, yeah. There's no obligation. Anyway," Blaine hesitated for a second, then jumped straight in. "Kurt, you're amazing. Ever since you came to Dalton, I've just loved spending time with you. You've been my best friend, my source of sanity when these two get too crazy. We've got so much in common and so much not in common and I feel like I can talk to you about anything. And for awhile, I didn't realize just how amazing you are."

Kurt felt like his heart was melting into a warm gooey puddle as Blaine continued to talk, staring into his eyes.

"You're the most gorgeous person I've ever met, both personality and appearance. You make the room light up when you walk in. Every time you smile at me, my heart does a backflip. Like now," he added as Kurt couldn't help the involuntary smile that had crossed his face. Blaine took his hand with his own and shakily held it to his chest, Kurt drawing in a breath at the sudden contact. He could _feel_ Blaine's heartbeat, jumping away erratically in his chest "Feel that? That's from you." Blaine drew his hand away but Kurt kept his exactly where Blaine had placed it, delighting in the way Blaine's eyes lit up when he realized.

"You make me so happy, Kurt. And I've never felt this before, so you'll have to forgive me for being oblivious for so long and not realizing how head-over-heels I am for you."

Kurt knew Blaine had stopped talking and was waiting anxiously for an answer but Kurt was lost for words. Trying to hold back the tears, he took Blaine's hand with his free one and held it up to his own chest.

"That's what you do to me."

For a few moments they sat there, their hands over each other's hearts. Kurt couldn't think of anywhere else he wanted to be in that moment, just staring into Blaine's eyes.

Then Wes began to snore in the backseat and the moment was broken. Blaine reluctantly moved his hand away, Kurt mirroring the action as he glared at the Warbler who had interrupted their perfect moment. Then a wicked idea came to mind. "Blaine, I know we should really talk about this more, and we will, but could you help me vandalize their faces first?"

Blaine stared at him for a minute before snorting with laughter. "Of course."

* * *

Blaine smiled as he watched the first rays of sunlight cross the front of the car and creep in through the windshield. This was the part of the trip he always looked forward to the most. Wes and David would always be unconscious in the back seat and Blaine would usually have the road to himself to watch the sun rising across the hills.

Except this time, there were a few changes. He was sitting in the passenger seat, the snoring figures in the back seat both sported black glasses, warts and facial hair, and there was a hand entwined in his.

Blaine looked over to Kurt and his smile grew wider. Kurt looked exhausted and his hair was a complete mess - something Blaine hadn't yet alerted him to - but he looked absolutely breathtaking in the early morning sun. Kurt caught his gaze out of the corner of his eye and a smile played across his own face. He allowed the car to slow and they stopped in the middle of the road, alternating between watching the sun rise and the glow it sent across each other's faces. Blaine knew that moments like these were rare in the insanity of Dalton and just enjoyed the quiet moment he could share with his new boyfriend.

Oh. Wait.

"Kurt?" Blaine gently broke the silence as Kurt turned towards him. "I probably should've asked about an hour ago, but will you be my boyfriend?"

Kurt just smiled and squeezed his hand. "Of course I will, moron."

They enjoyed their uninterrupted silence for the next few minutes until -

"BLAINE ANDERSON! KURT HUMMEL! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY FACE!"

Blaine caught Kurt's eye and they burst into laughter.

* * *

"I feel gross!"

Kurt sighed and leaned back against the seat, wrinkling his nose at the feeling of his messy and greasy hair on his face. He flicked it away a couple of times before giving up and huffing.

Beside him, Blaine was mirroring his actions. "You guys suck."

"We suck? Blaine, we just had to walk into a diner at 6 in the morning with _Sharpie glasses_ on our faces. You have _no_ complaining rights." Wes glared at him across the table, the remnants of hastily scrubbed Sharpie still around his eyes. David just stared into his coffee cup in silence, having been woken by his hysterical friend twenty minutes earlier and still wasn't completely with it.

Kurt poked at his breakfast for a little bit longer before giving up and drinking his own coffee. "So, what time will we be back at Dalton?"

"Probably around five." Blaine drunk the last of his coffee then rolled his neck to crack it. Kurt winced at the noise. "We'll stop for our usual picnic lunch where these two will bug me to play songs so we can sing and then we'll go back and we won't see either of them for the next two days while they sleep."

"Sleep?" David looked up vacantly, picking up the only word he cared about and Kurt laughed.

"Yes, David, you can go back to sleep as soon as we get back to the car. I'll drive -" Blaine and Kurt groaned simultaneously, "until we get to our lunch spot, then you can drive the rest of the way." Another groan from the two boys, until Kurt realized this would leave them alone in the back seat for most of the trip. He leaned over to whisper this realization in Blaine's ear, drawing a nervous glance from Wes as Blaine smiled. "Whatever you two are planning, I don't want to know. We're even now." He took one more nervous look at them, then rose from the table and tossed a couple of bills on it. "Let's go."

* * *

"Hey, Kurt, we never actually guessed what you spied." After another hour of sleep, David had sprung back to life and was now turned around facing Kurt in the back seat where he and Blaine had been quietly talking. Blaine looked up, annoyed at the interruption but Kurt just laughed.

"Well, go on then."

As David ran through a series of 'A' words, Blaine allowed his mind to drift back to a few hours ago, to a more pleasant time when he and Kurt had sat in the quiet and shared their feelings with each other -

"I've got it!" Blaine interrupted David and quickly leant over to whisper in Kurt's ear. Kurt smiled, causing that now-delightful flip-flop of Blaine's heart and nodded.

David groaned. "No fair! What was it?"

"Not telling." Blaine smirked as David stared at him for a few seconds open-mouthed, before spluttering and turning to complain to Wes.

"So, what are you going to ask me for?" Blaine turned back to Kurt and took the moment of privacy to take his boyfriend's hand and squeeze it gently, enjoying the slight flush that crossed his cheeks at the action.

"I'll think about it and tell you later," Blaine said. "It's time to pull over now anyway - WES! You missed the turn off AGAIN!"

* * *

"_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream,"_

Kurt and Blaine shared a smile before Blaine broke into the bridge, strumming at his guitar. So far, Wes and David had managed to convince Blaine to sing _I'll Make A Man Out of You _(while both making suggestive faces at Kurt who had sedately ignored them)_,_ _Silly Love Songs_ (where they all joined in for the harmony) and now _Teenage Dream_. Kurt wasn't oblivious ... well, not anymore. He knew they were on a misguided attempt to make the two boys see the light and admit their feelings.

_They're going to be annoyed when they find out_. Kurt thought back to his and Blaine's conversation about whether to tell Wes and David that they were now dating. They had both quickly agreed that while their hearts had been in the right place, neither of the boys deserved to know just yet and they would find out eventually. So Kurt just sat back and allowed his boyfriend to serenade him, enjoying the moment.

"_Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans,_

_Be your teenage dream tonight."_

Blaine finished the song and put his guitar away before Wes and David could request anything else. "Let's get on the road, okay? We're three hours from Dalton and I'd like to get back to shower soon."

Kurt jumped to his feet eagerly. "Shower! Let's go, go go!" He shoved David to his feet and pushed the keys into his hands, ignoring the chuckling of his boyfriend. The four boys quickly packed up and got back into the car, Kurt and Blaine taking the back seat again as Wes and David began to bicker over music. When they weren't looking, Blaine leant over and pressed a kiss to Kurt's cheek, leaning back quickly. Kurt felt the blush crossing his face and ducked his head, a smile on his face.

* * *

"You okay, Kurt?"

Blaine, who had been dozing against the window, snapped alert at these words. He turned to look at his boyfriend who was rubbing his shoulder and wincing.

"Yeah, fine. Just slept the wrong way."

"Do you want a massage?" Blaine saw the expression of pain on Kurt's face and the words were out of his mouth before he knew what he was saying. Kurt's eyes shot to his and he went to argue until the car went over a bump and his shoulder hit the window, causing a whimper of pain.

"Okay. Thanks."

Kurt shuffled so he was facing the window and Blaine unclipped his seat belt and moved into the middle seat. He hesitated for a second before gently slipping under his collar and placing his hands on Kurt's shoulders.

_How can skin be that soft? _Blaine's hands stayed motionless for a second, taking in the feeling of Kurt's skin against his fingers, before he remembered what he was meant to be doing and began to knead his shoulders. "That okay?"

"Mm." Kurt sighed from in front of him, his head drooping. "Wonderful."

Blaine smiled, continuing to massage the younger boy's shoulders as he relaxed, leaning further back into Blaine. After awhile, Blaine stopped his actions, leaving his hands resting on Kurt's shoulders. Kurt sighed happily, then turned to face Blaine.

"That was great, thank you -"

Kurt froze. Blaine knew the same thought was running through both of their heads. _His lips are so close..._

"You know, you still need to ask me for a favour." Kurt's lips barely moved as he whispered but Blaine caught every motion. It took him a few seconds before he realized what Kurt was saying but a smile curved across his face as he understood.

"Kiss me."

"With pleasure," Kurt whispered back before leaning in.

Blaine's eyes fluttered shut as he was lost in the feeling of Kurt's lips upon his. He felt Kurt's arms wrap around his neck and brought up a hand to touch Kurt's cheek. Kurt deepened the kiss slightly and Blaine reciprocated, running his free hand around Kurt's waist.

Blaine was the first to remember where they were, breaking apart reluctantly as he realized the car had stopped moving. He took one last look at Kurt before turning to face a grinning Wes and David, raising a warning finger.

"You are not allowed to go back to Dalton and parade around telling everyone you were the reason we got together. You are not allowed to tell everybody or anybody about this moment. You are not allowed to Facebook it - put that iPhone away now, David. If you do, you will be in trouble. David, you know I have dirt on you and because of that, I have dirt on Wes too. You both know what I'm talking about. So zip the lips, turn around and be good boys all the way home. When we're ready, we'll tell people."

Blaine turned in amazement to his boyfriend who was glaring at a stunned Wes and David.

"Fine." David spoke after a few seconds of silence. "But I think we deserve some kind of thanks for making you see the attraction between you - THAT'S IT! Attraction!"

Kurt clapped. "Congratulations. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, Blaine already called in the favour, but I can give you a similar one if you like?"

Blaine's head whipped around to face his boyfriend again as David said in a strangled voice, "No, that's okay. I'll just -" He broke off and turned around beginning to drive again.

Blaine raised an eyebrow and Kurt leaned over to whisper to him, "Don't worry, I wouldn't have," before leaning in to kiss him quickly. Blaine smiled because _we can do that whenever we like_, and took his boyfriend's hand, gently running his thumb over it. The Westerville sign came into sight and Blaine sighed happily, thinking of the hot shower that awaited him back at Dalton. _What a trip this has been, _he thought to himself quietly.

"Oh, Wes, David," Blaine caught the attention of the boys in the front. "Thanks."

* * *

**I got very close to the end of this before realizing I'd brought along Blaine's guitar without using it. Bad Sarah! So I did my best to make up for it. **

**So. Very. Long. Over 6,000 words! But I'm grinning like an idiot right now so I think it was worth it. Hope you guys enjoyed the length as well, I think it makes up for some of my 700 - 800 word stories nicely :)**


	24. Flight

**I love you all. Responses to the last chapter were out of this world. (So far out, in fact, that they were probably reading them on Pigfarts.)**

**This comes from **_**wynnie the pooh and similarly prompted by The Codebreaker: In an aeroplane**_

**Oh. My. Gosh. YES! :D Some of my favourite Klaine scenes feature them in airplanes, either where one of them is scared and the other comforts them, or they're both adorable and comfortable together. Speaking of comfortable, I think it's time I start sending out some praise to other authors. I've been glued to a story called Comfortable by thestoryofanhour and it's just gorgeous. Completely Klaine, completely beautiful. Go read it! :) **

**After this one of course. You're here to read my story right now ;) it's established Klaine by the way.**

**By the way, from my previous chapter I had _Call me Mad_ say she wanted to know what the dirt was that Kurt had on Wes and David. Well, I think that's an excellent idea and it's coming up in Chapter 43, which is the next chapter I'm up to writing. Yes, I know, I'm twenty chapters in advance of what I post. I don't even know how... **

**I've stopped my disclaimers. Do you think that matters? You guys all know by now that I don't own anything but my ideas...**

* * *

Flight

"Warblers! Listen up!"

The tired group of boys milling in the airport lounge reluctantly stopped their chatter and turned to face an equally tired looking Wes and David. "We've had a wonderful three days performing here and a huge congratulations to everybody, we've done Dalton proud. The flight to Port Columbus is five hours long," Wes paused to let the collective groan be heard, looking as if he were tempted to join in himself, then continued. "I assume you've all got your tickets and passports, if you don't then you're staying here because I'm not bailing you out. _Yes_, Thad, we have yours. Don't worry." Wes gave a stern look to the sheepish Warbler with his hand half-raised.

Kurt sighed, gently shaking Blaine's shoulder, envying his boyfriend's ability to fall asleep anywhere. Blaine looked so cute, curled up on Kurt's shoulder but he needed to get him through Customs before they missed their plane. "Blaine," he whispered in his ear, smiling when Blaine blearily cracked open his eyes and squinted up at him.

"Are we home?"

Kurt chuckled, gently pushing Blaine off his shoulder. "No, we need to get through security. Then we can get on the plane and you can sleep again."

"Mm. Kay." Blaine yawned before standing up and grabbing his bag. The rest of the Warblers were already passing through the security gate with their carry-on bags as Blaine and Kurt headed over, Kurt holding Blaine's elbow so he didn't trip over his own feet.

Miraculously, the entire Warblers group made it through security without setting off any alarms or having anything confiscated. This was probably due to Wes telling them all he would happily kick anybody out of the Warblers who caused any delays - he wanted to get home as much as the rest of them. While their experience performing in Los Angeles had been amazing, everyone was dead on their feet and Dalton would expect them back in class on Monday - they'd been lucky enough to get the three days off school to perform. No other group in the school would ever have gotten this opportunity, but since David's uncle was an honored alumni and mega-rich, they conceded that having the Warblers play at his wedding would be an honor for their school and allowed the boys to go.

Kurt dragged Blaine over to their gate and sat him down. "I'm going to go get some food, what do you want?"

"Um.. whatever you get. Thanks, baby." Blaine's eyes were already sliding shut so he didn't catch the look on Kurt's face at his last word. Kurt spun and headed towards the food, trying to keep a silly grin off his face. This was the first time either of them had called the other by a term of endearment. Kurt had always thought those things were cliche and overly sentimental and a waste of time and ... oh hell, he loved it. Of course he did.

Stopping in at Subway, Kurt ordered his and Blaine's usual orders, smiling at the fact that he knew exactly what Blaine ordered, and headed back over to the gate, surprised to find his boyfriend awake and flipping through a magazine. Blaine still looked like death warmed up and Kurt knew he wasn't a lot better, but he couldn't help but smile at his boyfriend who was gorgeous no matter what. Sitting down next to him, he handed the sub to Blaine and dug into his own. They ate in relative silence, trying to ignore the rest of the Warblers causing tired chaos.

* * *

"_...The passengers traveling on this flight in business class, please make your way to the boarding gate now."_

Kurt and Blaine grabbed their bags and stood to the mutters and glares of the rest of the Warblers. The trip had been planned back in September and all the current Warblers tickets had been paid for courtesy of David's uncle. But, as happens with a show choir, two new members had joined by the time the trip came around and while they didn't want to leave anybody behind, David didn't feel right about asking his uncle to pay for another two tickets, even though it was pocket change to him. So Blaine had jumped on the phone to his parents who had arranged to buy him and Kurt tickets so the other Warblers could still go on the flight. What Blaine had forgotten was when his parents travelled, they travelled in style. When the first-class tickets had arrived in the mail, Kurt had been ecstatic - "Leg room, proper service, a row to ourselves and no Wes and David!"

Even in their exhausted state, Kurt and Blaine still managed to wear satisfied smirks as they waved to the rest of the Warblers and handed their boarding passes to the attendant. Walking down to the plane, Blaine's hand automatically found Kurt's and he smiled, squeezing it gently. Ever since Blaine had finally gotten his act together and asked Kurt out, the two had been slowly exploring their relationship. Kurt had found that hand-holding was one of his favourite things and Blaine was more than happy to oblige. He was also fine with the fact that Kurt wasn't quite ready to take things past a kiss on the cheek yet and Kurt loved him for it.

It wasn't that he didn't _want_ to, Kurt thought to himself for the millionth time as he made his way down the row towards the seats, he just wanted to make it special. Neither one of them had experienced a proper first kiss yet and Kurt really wanted it to be a moment they wouldn't forget. He sat down in the window seat, stowing his bag under the chair in front. Blaine did the same next to him before promptly leaning against Kurt's shoulder, looking up at him tiredly.

"You're so cute when you're tired." Kurt twirled his fingers through Blaine's curly hair - the older boy had been so out of it that he'd forgotten gel and Kurt sure wasn't going to tell him - and smiled.

Blaine yawned. "No, you're the cute one. You're the kind of tired like 'oh, you know, I could take a nap now but I'll be okay without one.' I'm the kind of tired like 'look at me, I can't sit down for five minutes without falling asleep on the person next to me.'" Kurt chuckled at his boyfriend's exhausted whining. "And I've never felt so sorry for Nick for having to room with Thad. I thought he was making it up all these years, but that snoring is horrendous."

"Well, you did have other options. The fact that you chose to switch out on your first roommate is your own problem."

"Kurt, you know why -"

"Blaine, it's okay, I'm joking." Kurt ran his hand down Blaine's cheek gently, tracing the curve of his jawline and committing it to memory. "I appreciate what you did, really."

Kurt and Blaine had started dating two weeks prior to the trip, a couple of days before the roommate list was created. Because of this, David had thought it would be a good idea to let them room together so they could have 'flirty happy sexy moments in peace and not disturb the rest of us.' As soon as Blaine had found out about the pairing, he had told David to change the list.

Kurt thought back to when he had heard that Blaine had changed rooms. At first he had felt crushed. _Blaine doesn't want to spend time with me?_ Then David had tracked him down and told him Blaine's reasoning - "Kurt, he said he didn't want there to be any pressure on you, or either of you, for things to go further than you were ready for. It's one of those sickeningly _noble_ things that you have to expect from Blaine." Kurt smiled before tuning back in to the present.

"Well I knew the first question from your dad would be about who you roomed with, and I'd like to stay your boyfriend for a little longer before being chased off with a shotgun." Blaine pouted a little and Kurt nearly melted at the cute factor.

"No, the first thing my dad will ask is if we had a good time. The first thing _Finn_ will ask is who I roomed with. I swear he's a closet gay sometimes, the amount of questions he asks." Kurt smirked, then leant in and kissed his boyfriend on the forehead. "But I appreciate you putting so much effort into taking things slow. I really do."

Blaine smiled back and the two chatted until everybody else had boarded - David shooting the two of them an evil look as he headed into economy - and the plane began to taxi. Blaine's head came up from Kurt's shoulder and they both turned to look out the window at the rising sun as they roared along the runway. Their hands were entwined loosely as the plane rose up off the ground, gaining height steadily. Once all the buildings had disappeared from view, Kurt shifted his attention to the TV in the back of the seat while Blaine pulled out his headphone splitter. They had discovered on the first flight that while they could easily watch the same movie at the same time, it was more fun to watch it together - mainly because it involved curling up together to see the screen. Kurt chose _Burlesque_ and Blaine plugged in the headphones, giving a pair to Kurt and resuming his place on Kurt's shoulder as the movie started to play.

* * *

_Burlesque _had finished and Blaine was sound asleep on Kurt's shoulder. He took a moment to stare at his wonderfully perfect boyfriend before gently grabbing his bag and pulling out his iPod. He flipped through his playlists, working out what to listen to before the attendant got his attention to see what meal they would like. He grabbed the chicken salad for both of them, then gently shook Blaine awake.

"Blaine, sweetie, time to wake up." As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Kurt froze. _Sweetie?_ But somehow, it felt right and at least Blaine hadn't comprehended it.

Blaine shifted, nuzzling into Kurt's neck and mumbling incoherently. Kurt decided it was possibly the most adorable thing he'd ever seen, but reluctantly moved away so Blaine had no choice but to sit up.

"Okay, I'm up. Hey, food!"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, Blaine, food. Airplane food. Which means no nutritional value or flavour. So cardboard. Enjoy your cardboard."

Blaine burst into laughter. "You're so adorably sarcastic," he said when he got his breath back. Kurt raised an eyebrow but a smile was playing at the corners of his mouth.

"Face it, I'm a snarky bitch and you're stuck with me."

"Gladly." Kurt felt his face heating up at Blaine's statement and quickly busied himself with attempting to eat the food in front of him. He heard Blaine chuckle then start eating his own.

Five minutes later, Kurt had given up and pushed his plate away, and was now staring at his boyfriend in horror. "How can you EAT that?"

"It's good!" Blaine raised his hands in defense, holding an empty knife and fork. "Can I have yours if you're not eating it?"

Shuddering, Kurt pushed his plate over to an eager Blaine who quickly dug in. Now that the tiredness was wearing off, Blaine was getting back to his old self, one component of that being the fact that he ate _anything_. Including cardboard-flavoured airplane food apparently.

At least he was cute.

* * *

"Thad, we're _not_ swapping seats. Go away and tell the rest of the Warblers who haven't already been up here, if there are any left, that we're perfectly comfortable up here and you guys can stay cramped back there."

Thad sulked and moped away as Blaine painstakingly drew an X on the piece of paper. Kurt looked at it for a second, then drew an O. Blaine groaned. "Seriously, I don't know how you trap me every time but it's not fair."

Kurt just smirked. "I'm awesome, babe." The next second he clapped a hand to his mouth looking horrified. "Oh crap, you weren't meant to hear that. I mean -"

"Kurt, it's okay." Blaine reached over and gently tugged Kurt's hand down, trying to hide a smile. "I think we're okay to call each other whatever we like. It shows you care about me and I - well, I like it."

Kurt's hesitant smile immediately evaporated as Blaine added, "Isn't that right, _sweetie?_"

"Damn, I thought you didn't hear that."

Blaine chuckled, still holding Kurt's hand. Kurt traced a few patterns on it idly and looked up to ask Blaine a question but the words died in his throat.

Because Blaine was staring at him as if he was the sun. The look in his eyes was smoldering and Kurt shivered as he stared back into them.

"Hi," Blaine whispered.

"Hi yourself," Kurt whispered back, feeling his heart rate skyrocket. He took in a shaky breath, his eyes dropping to Blaine's lips which looked so _inviting_..

Kurt swallowed, unconsciously licking his lips. Blaine growled low in his throat and Kurt felt every resolve shatter as he leaned in and pressed his lips hungrily against Blaine's.

And that was when he realized that romance wasn't something he was meant to look for. The perfect moment was made when the two people made it themselves. Neither of them had thought that it would be when they were 40,000 feet in the sky, sitting on an airplane. In fact, if someone had asked Kurt earlier whether he wanted his first kiss to be on an airplane, he would've turned his nose up at them. But now he realized that it didn't matter. It wasn't Paris, it wasn't a candlelit dinner, it wasn't even Breadstix. But it was Kurt and Blaine and it was perfect.

* * *

"_We are beginning our descent into Port Columbus. Please ensure your seat back is upright, your tray table stowed away and your seatbelt fastened ready for landing."_

Kurt laughed as Blaine mouthed along to the safety briefing.(1) "You've been on too many fights," he said, playing with a strand of Blaine's hair as the older boy leaned against him. This had become their go-to position over the last few weeks and more so in the past five hours. As long as Kurt didn't tease Blaine about the height difference, they were both happy there.

"Mm. Your hair is so soft," Blaine murmured, also playing with Kurt's hair at the nape of his neck.

"We're so cute, aren't we?" Blaine smiled and kissed Kurt's jaw.

"Yup. So much so that the rest of business class thinks we're crazy. But they secretly envy us."

"Absolutely." The plane began to descend and Kurt sighed as Blaine reluctantly sat up for the landing, removing his hands from his hair. "I can't believe we have to go back to school now."

"I know, I think we deserve a vacation. We had to put up with _them_," Blaine jerked a thumb back towards economy, "all weekend. So let's just stay on this plane until it takes us somewhere exotic, okay?"

Kurt smiled. "Sure thing. You know, I kinda love planes now. Especially business class."

"Agreed. But only with you, baby."

* * *

**(1) This is me. I've been on wayyy too many flights. I have the safety briefings memorized. (and by many, I mean into the hundreds now)**

**I did my research for this one! Apparently the closest airport to Westerville is Port Columbus, and a flight from Port Columbus to Los Angeles would take somewhere from 4.5hrs to 5, depending on air conditions. I've never done the flight myself so I can't trust the accuracy, but either way I don't think it matters too much. A five hour flight works just fine for me and my story :)**

**I heart tired Blaine. **

**Please review :) **


	25. Panic

**Tonight I saw my half brother for the first time in ten years, and met his fiance. He's awesome and she's one of the loveliest people I've ever met AND I'm invited to the wedding in January so I'm very happy :)**

_**This prompt comes from Our bodies are the guilty ones **_**and similarly prompted by _eli7abeth _and **_**The Dark Queen of Insanity: You should do one from A Night Of Neglect, right after Santana leaves, or before Karfosky[sic] see's them.**_

**Sorry in advance, but I had to. Come on, Blaine is always calm and collected, something had to cause him to resort to violence like that. And we never hear about his past. So here's my take. I almost want to write another fluffy version cause I can think of a really good one.. ah well. I have had readers saying they want more angst, and I know I need to focus on the fact that relationships aren't all sunshine and Klainebows. But I'm the type of person that gets heavily attached to what I write and if I write about angst, I'm more likely to get depressed by it. Oh well, I'm happy to rise to the challenge.**

**P.S. I have NOT seen Prom Queen yet. Repeat: I have NOT SEEN PROM QUEEN! So no prompts unless they're incredibly vague like the one I got this afternoon which just mentioned a hallway and people and I've got no idea what it means until I watch the episode. I'll get onto it ASAP, I promise, I'm dying for that episode anyway. **

**Established Klaine from Original Song, just happened without the kiss.**

* * *

Panic

Kurt watched Santana disappear down the hallway, then turned towards Blaine. "Blaine, why'd you push him?"

Then he froze because Blaine had slumped against the lockers and was staring off into the distance, glassy eyed. His breathing had become shallow and ragged and his fists were clenched.

"Blaine!" Kurt went to grab his shoulders, then froze, realizing what was going on.

_He's trapped in his memories. He's having a panic attack._

"Blaine, listen to me." Kurt forced his voice to remain calm and smooth as he stood a few steps away from the panicked boy. "Listen. You're not there. You're at McKinley. You're with Kurt. You're safe here, Blaine, I promise. Nobody's going to hurt you, I won't let them. Take a deep breath."

Blaine gasped in a breath and Kurt knew it was working.

"That's it, baby. Take another one. Good, you're doing really good Blaine. Another breath."

Kurt could feel his hands shaking as he watched Blaine struggle to calm himself down. He continued to talk him through until Blaine's breathing finally evened out. His eyes cleared and he focused on Kurt. At first there was confusion, then realization followed by fear and shame that nearly broke Kurt's heart. He hesitantly reached forward and touched Blaine's shoulder.

And that was all it took for the dam to burst. Blaine's whole body shuddered, then he sunk down against the lockers with tears pouring down his face. Kurt immediately knelt next to him, wrapping an arm around him and letting him cry it out for as long as it took.

It turned out to only be a couple of minutes. Blaine quickly got under control, wiping his eyes and turning to Kurt. "I'm so sorry, I never wanted you to see that."

"Why not?" Kurt could understand how embarassing it felt to lose control in front of someone but Blaine was his boyfriend. And he'd cried countless times in front of Blaine after all.

"Kurt, I'm the one who's always in control. I'm the mentor to people who have been bullied. I'm the Warbler poster boy. Everybody tells me when they come to me with their problems. "I wish I was as strong as you, Blaine." I'm sick of hearing that because it's _not true._" Kurt winced, knowing he was one of the people who had said those words to Blaine. He pulled him in closer as Blaine continued. "I'm still not over my own damn issues. I tried to take on a guy twice the size of me because he called me a name that you had to listen to every single day. I just ... lost control. After spending three years of my life listening to it, you think I'd be okay with it, but no. I'm still scarred by my past. As soon as something like that happens, I get thrown back and -" His voice cracked.

"Shh, it's okay." Kurt rubbed his back soothingly. "Blaine, you've been through hell and nobody expects you to 'get over it' like that. You don't think I deal with nightmares and memories too? Of course I do. But the way we handle things is different and that's what makes us so different. You bottle things up, while I talk about them. I talk to you, and now I'm thinking I haven't been clear enough and let you know that you can talk to me too."

"Of course you have. It's just the way I am." Blaine sighed. "Kurt, do you really think you can handle being with someone like me?"

Kurt froze. "Blaine Anderson, you had damn well better not be breaking up with me right now!" Blaine avoided his eyes and Kurt saw red.

"Don't you even think about it! I refuse to let you be so _stupid!_" Kurt jumped to his feet and was pacing the hallway. "Blaine, you are a wonderful person and I count every day as a blessing that I spend with you. Yes, you have your memories still haunting you and struggle to talk about them. That's _okay_. You can work through it and I want to help you. I want to be there with you when you cry and be the one to wipe away your tears. I want to one day hear every single story of your past, good and bad, and I want you to hear the same from me. I plan to be with you a very long time, Blaine."

By now, he had stopped pacing and knelt down in front of the stunned boy. "We haven't been together long, Blaine, and I know we haven't even kissed yet or anything, but I think I love you and I've been trying to find the right way to tell you and this isn't it but you _need_ to hear it. I love you now and I'll love you tomorrow and I hope like hell I'll still love you in twenty years. I want to be with you for as long as I can, and even if we can't make it legal, for as long as we both shall live. And that might not be what you want down the track and we'll deal with that then but that's what I want. I want _you_, Blaine, and all of the baggage that comes with that because that's what makes you who you are." He paused, staring at the motionless figure in front of him. "Well, say something!"

Blaine knelt up, grabbed Kurt's face and kissed him.

Kurt gasped against Blaine's lips and Blaine quickly pulled away. "Kurt, I'm sorry, I thought -"

"Shut up and do that _again."_

* * *

"Well, we'd better get in there." Kurt reluctantly pulled away from Blaine who was wrapped in his arms, still on the floor. "Come on, Mr. Cool, Calm and Collected."

With a wink, Kurt pulled Blaine up from the floor and they walked into the auditorium; Blaine holding Kurt's hand proudly and walking with his head held high. Except this time it wasn't an act. With Kurt by his side, he felt ten feet tall, even if he was scarred.

* * *

**So, I kinda love Kurt's speech. I'm waiting for the day that someone says that sort of thing to me and convinces me that I'm worth their love even though I carry my own scars. It'll take time but I hope one day I can find that person and believe it and I know there are many others out there who are the same way.**

**In regards to the panic attack, I have never witnessed someone having one. I have, however, been the one experiencing it and I'm just going with what my friend did to help me through. I know it's different for every panic attack, this is just my experience of what worked for me. (In my case, I had a fire phobia and there was a bushfire out the back of our school and I started hyperventilating, my friend talked me through it until I calmed down)**

**Anyway, hope you enjoyed this and please review :)**


	26. Confessions

**CHAPTER 25! (Can you believe it would only let me put ONE exclamation mark after that?) As you can see, I'm a bit excited ;)**

**So the lucky 25th chapter comes from**_** THPG-13x**_** and I know there was another... but I've lost them: **_**When Kurt and Blaine are in the coffee shop and Kurt admits to Blaine that he thought he was the one he wanted to serenade etc. Didn't we all just wanna hug him there? How could Blaine resist! How about he doesn't :D Maybe with your awesome writing skills you could come up with a kiss revolving around that?**_

**I left that last line there because it makes me happy. I've started getting a lot of scenes from SLS which is great :) and yes, I so did want to hug him! I read recaps from AfterEllen dot com which are really awesomely written and the name of this one was "Stalker at the Gap" which made me laugh, cause he so was!**

**I just finished watching 'Prom Queen.' As usual, spoilers follow so just skip ahead to the story if you don't want them. So, there's so much I could comment on, I went from nearly crying at Mercedes to squealing at Klaine, then nearly crying at Blaine's confession (finally, some back story!), then squealing along with Kurt and adoring his fashion advice in the next scene. I wish they'd kept Jesse St James out, he bugs me even though his voice is fantastic. Bringing him in to get Finn kicked out of prom was stupid in my opinion. I loved the cooking class, especially Kurt's face and twirling of whisk :D but I was worried by the first hint of Klaine drama being followed by a Karofksy heart to heart, the timing set off alarm bells for me (anybody else feel the same?). And then they did Friday... At least it was better than the original, that's all I'll say. Blaine's song was hot. Sam and Mercedes has such beautiful potential. And then the drama. First of all, calm down girls who lost, it's just prom, you're not the ones who were publicly humiliated in front of the entire school. Seriously. Second, Kurt, you broke my heart so so much and Blaine, you disappointed me because you just sat there and didn't even hug the poor boy! Honestly... Finally, Kurt Hummel, I love you so much for your uniqueness, your absolute courage and for trying to help the person who made your life hell. And Blaine ... well you finally redeemed yourself at the end when I had almost given up on you (how hard is it to hug him when he's crying?) so I guess I love you too. **

**I guess they really were serious about taking Klaine really slowly and showing two teenage boys who are still learning how to be around one another. At least I hope that's what they're trying to portray instead of 'Blaine's an idiot who doesn't know how to hug someone who's crying.' I really hope so. And if there is a back story about how Blaine's afraid to be affectionate or whatever, I'd like to see it soon. We are getting glimpses and ideas which is helpful, but I know there's just so much more potential to that character.**

**I now take prompts up to Prom Queen. And NOBODY let me hear a whiff of a spoiler about Funeral. I mean it. I'll watch it as soon as it goes up and let you all know when that is.**

**Finally, Chris Colfer deserves every award under the sun, because his performances are absolutely magnificent. And Darren Criss is the most selfless, humble and real celebrity I've ever seen and he deserves so much love. Which he gets :)**

**Authors note is almost longer than the story. Sorry all :(**

* * *

Confessions

"I don't think I've EVER made that big a fool of myself, which is really saying something because I've performed at _theme parks_." Blaine groaned, looking around at the decorations that just the other day had seemed so cute. "I just can't believe I made it all up in my head."

Blaine was so wrapped up in his misery that he almost missed the look on Kurt's face. "Okay, can I ask you something? Because we've always been completely honest with each other. You and I - we hang out .. we sing flirty duets together.. you know my coffee order... Was I supposed to think that that was nothing?"

Blaine looked at his friend, stunned. _Could he really be saying -?_

"What do you mean?"

Kurt took a deep breath and Blaine saw the hints of vulnerability peeking through the brave facade. "I thought the guy that you wanted to ask out on Valentines Day was me."(1)

Blaine couldn't move. His brain whirred, trying to comprehend the admission he had been waiting for so long to hear, but had told himself that it would never happen. The words that had played at the back of his mind every time Kurt had smiled at him or laughed, the way his eyes would light up when he was excited about something, they were always there. But Blaine had pushed it away, knowing that Kurt would never see him that way. And now he found out that it was _true_. Kurt felt the same way and Blaine felt his heart could burst. Then he looked at his friend and saw the way his lip was slightly trembling and his eyes were downcast and Blaine realized he'd been silent for too long and Kurt thought he'd been rejected.

"Come with me." Blaine grabbed Kurt's hand and almost dragged him out of the coffee shop. As soon as they were outside, he spun him around and pulled the now-trembling boy into a hug. Kurt's facades never lasted long when the emotions came to the surface and Blaine knew he was going to break down in there if he hadn't done something.

Kurt's trembling eased and Blaine held him for a second longer before reluctantly letting him go. Looking into his eyes, Blaine knew this was it. If he didn't give Kurt something, he would give up now and there would never be another shot. Now or never. Fight or flight. Could he do it?

_Blaine, you've spent your whole life running from anything that could get behind your walls because it might hurt you. You've now got the chance to make both of you so happy and you're willing to throw it away because of that old fear?_

"Kurt, I'm completely clueless and I'll happily admit that. I have no idea what I'm doing, I just look like I do. On the outside, there's an out and proud teenage guy who sings, drinks coffee and mentors people. On the inside, there's a boy who's too afraid to let people in because he's been hurt in the past. But Kurt, you're worth letting in and it's time I did."(2)

Blaine could see Kurt starting to tear up and took his hands gently.

"I feel like I've been looking for you forever, Kurt. When I saw you on the staircase that first day, my heart stopped for a second because I thought you were an angel. Literally." Blaine laughed at himself. "But when you touched my arm and spoke to me, I knew by some impossibility you were real and here and you were talking to _me_. And all I wanted to do was spend more time with you. And then when I found out what you were going through at your old school, I just wanted to take that away from you. But when I knew I couldn't, I gave you what I could, which was me. When you came to Dalton, I was so happy, not just because I could spend time with you but because I could feel like I was giving you that support I had promised myself I would. And I've watched you heal from the past and transform into the amazing, sassy, talented and passionate person you are. And somewhere along the way, I must've fallen in love with you."

"Blaine," Kurt whispered, his face full of hope. He seemed incapable of forming a sentence and simply stared at him, blinking rapidly to keep the tears away.

"What I did for Jeremiah today, that was the stupidest thing I've ever done. I thought if I paid attention to someone else, I'd be able to take my attention off you. Because I convinced myself a long time ago that you only saw me as a friend and I wanted to respect that. But even when I was singing, I knew that the person I wanted to be singing it to was you. And I can say I regret the past all I want, but all I want to do now is make a future. With you."

A tear slid down Kurt's cheek and Blaine lifted a hand to wipe it away, still staring into Kurt's eyes. The fear that had been in his stomach earlier had abated to a peace. Even if nothing came of this, even if they stayed friends, Kurt would know that someone loved him.

"Blaine - I - I don't know what to - I just -" Kurt gave up and leaned in, pressing his lips to Blaine's. Blaine was caught off guard by the kiss, but responded quickly, drawing Kurt into him and wrapping his arms around his waist. He deepened the kiss, feeling Kurt respond in kind and then there were hands on either side of his face and Blaine thought he might pass out because this was _Kurt_ and he was kissing _him._

Kurt broke away, slowly removing his hands from Blaine's face and wrapping them around his neck. "I couldn't find the words, so I hope that was acceptable." There was a trace of the usual Kurt-smirk at the corners of his mouth, but the effect was dulled by how incredibly happy he looked.

"Bit of a role reversal isn't it? When it comes to emotions, usually you're the eloquent one and I'm stumbling over my words." Blaine traced patterns on Kurt's lower back and smiled when he shivered.

"Mm, well as cute as you are when you're lost for words, I kinda like this Blaine." Kurt leant in to kiss him again quickly, both boys smiling into the kiss. Blaine pulled away first, smiling at the younger boy happily.

"Well, I _love_ this Kurt."

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from Silly Love Songs to this point**

**(2) I took aspects of Blaine's original speech and put them in here, so I know it's not the exact thing. It's better! ;)**

**Blaine doesn't get enough speeches. His BTW speech made up for it though :) I think it was high time for Blaine to get his act together and sort his emotions out, so there we have it. I know they stay in the coffee shop in the original, but I think Blaine's longer hesitation here would be enough for Kurt to start to freak out. **

**As usual, please review and send love. I love your love so very much.**


	27. Coffee

**So my granddad died a year and a half ago (weird start to authors note, I know) and unfortunately his wife (my step grandmother) caused a huge fuss with the will reading and took it all to court. The past 18ish months have been terrible for my dad and his siblings as they've tried to fight back against her because all she wanted was money, and more than she was entitled to. So finally the contents have been released and we've been going through everything and I was given a 30 year old video camera and film camera which I love to bits because they're old and vintage and were once my granddads. So very glad that's all over :)**

******Last night, we flicked the TV on and Ellen is usually on before the 6 o'clock news here, which we don't pay a lot of attention to. And it comes on and there's WARBLERS! It was the Warbler episode! I was absolutely thrilled and sat there glued to the TV and then Ellen interviewing Darren ... and then partway through the TV cut out because of the storm. And I didn't want to act all fangirl in front of my family so I just sat there and went 'oh, no big deal' and cried internally because I love Darren's interviews. And then it came back and Darren was gone :( **

******I got a review last night talking about my reaction to Prom Queen which basically set me straight from an error of judgement against Blaine's character. They talked about Kurt's issues with intimacy and how he appears to be the sort of person who can't stand to be touched when they're upset, and I realized how right they are. And how Blaine was brave enough to ask Kurt to dance and then acted all extra-bouncy to cheer him up :) So.. um, apologies to Blaine? I still think there's some issues on his side that are going to be addressed along the track, but I forgot that Kurt had his own share of issues. I'm happier about the episode now. Especially after looking at pictures again =D**

**So, enough of real Glee, let's go to my pretend world**_** :) **_**from**_** Broken Gold: How about Klaine are in their coffee shop ( it's there's[sic], really ) and the barista asks them how long they've been dating and feelings are recognized and later acted upon.**_

**It really is theirs, isn't it? This filled me with glee (yes, it did) when I read it because I immediately started mapping it out and knowing it would be a long one. **

**By the way, the first few lines were annoying for me because I couldn't work out what to make their argument about. So I enlisted the help of ActingLikeGarfieldOnaMonday, otherwise known as Ryleigh (and because she helped and she's awesome, I gave her a mention in the story) ****and while I waited for a reply, I wrote it with the word 'something' in parenthesis in the parts where they're arguing about the topic. In fact, it even sat on my Document Uploader like that. Just a random fact for y'all ;)**

* * *

Coffee

"Blaine, I don't care how many times you say it, it doesn't make it true. Lady Gaga is infinitely more genius than Katy Perry"

Kurt pulled open the door to the coffee shop, gesturing for Blaine to enter first. He smiled before remembering he was supposed to be annoyed at Kurt. "Admit it, you preferred Katy's live performance more. She's got so much more ... spark!"

"Nu uh. No way." Blaine stuck his tongue out in response, then turned to the barista who was smiling at their antics. "I'll take a -"

"Medium drip with a tall nonfat mocha?"

Blaine blinked. "Um, yeah. We really come here too often, don't we?"

The barista laughed as Kurt blushed, stepping a little closer to Blaine who reveled in the contact. "That's okay, it's good for business." She turned and began to make their coffees as Blaine and Kurt walked over to the drop-off point.

"So, what are you up to tomorrow?" Kurt picked up a spoon and twirled it in his fingers nonchalantly, not noticing Blaine staring at his fingers in awe.

"How do you _do_ that?" Blaine grabbed a spoon of his own and tried to twirl it, dropping it on the counter with a clatter. "That's amazing."

"I practice sai swords. That's nothing."

Blaine spluttered, lost for words. "Since when? How did I not know about this?"

"Since I was ten. It's just a hobby, I didn't think it was that important."

"It's incredible." Blaine watched as the blush spread across Kurt's face again, idly noting how adorable he was when he was flustered.

_Give it up, Anderson. He doesn't feel the same._

Blaine sighed, pretending to watch the barista make their coffees as he looked at Kurt out of the corner of his eye. He had realized he had feelings for Kurt about two weeks ago and ever since, every day had been wonderful and terrible rolled into one. The first week had been alright, they were both busy with their exams and had only seen one another in passing and at meals. But now they were on holiday and both boys were staying at Dalton - Kurt's parents were finally taking their honeymoon while Finn camped out at Puck's, Blaine's parents were cruising around the world. The majority of the other Dalton boys had gone home, leaving Kurt and Blaine free to spend as much time together as they pleased. Which happened to be every day.

Blaine knew that keeping his feelings from Kurt were starting to affect him and it wouldn't be long before Kurt noticed, prised the truth out of him then gently let him down. The longer Blaine kept that from happening, the better.

"Order up, boys." The barista had finished their coffees while Blaine had been lost in thought and he jumped slightly when a coffee was thrust in front of him.

"You okay, Blaine?" Kurt touched his arm gently, looking at him apprehensively. "You were pretty lost in thought there."

Blaine smiled, trying not to shiver at the contact. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks, Kurt." He knew his mouth pronounced Kurt's name differently now, more emphasis on the fact that it was _Kurt_ he was talking to. So far, another thing Kurt hadn't noticed, thankfully.

But apparently someone had. The barista - Blaine checked her nametag, Ryleigh - gave him a knowing smile, then asked the question that would quite possibly mean the end of his sanity and Kurt's obliviousness:

"So, how long have you two been dating?"

Kurt and Blaine both froze in the act of taking their coffees. Kurt was the first to recover.

"I - we're not - I mean -"

"Oh, crap! I'm sorry, I shouldn't assume things. I just thought - I mean, I'm not saying you _look_ gay or anything..."

"We are." Blaine finally found his voice, albeit slightly strangled. "We're just - not each other -"

"Oh, okay. I'm really sorry." The girl looked incredibly apologetic and Blaine couldn't hold it against her, as much as he wanted to. He chanced a glance at Kurt who was holding onto the counter, an unreadable expression on his face. Then, suddenly, something seemed to snap within his eyes and he pushed away.

"I - I've got to go. Just remembered I'm hanging out with Mercedes this afternoon." Kurt turned and bolted out the door, Blaine watching him go. He bit his lip, then turned back to see that Kurt had forgotten his coffee and Ryleigh was standing with her hands covering her mouth.

"I'm so so sorry, I wish I hadn't said anything, I've probably ruined everything now -"

"Ryleigh, it's okay! It's not your fault, it's mine for never telling him how I felt." Blaine sighed, picking up both coffee cups. "I'd better go, I'm gonna talk it out with one of my friends. Thanks for the coffee."

As Blaine slid into his car, he suddenly realized that he had driven Kurt there and freaked out. _Kurt's out there walking around on his own_. Pulling out his phone to call him, he saw a new text on the screen.

_Mercedes has picked me up. I'll be back at Dalton at 5. - Kurt_

Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat, then scrolled through his contacts and called Wes.

* * *

"Okay, white boy, tell me what's going on." Mercedes sat down on the sofa next to Kurt who had barely said a word since she had picked him up from the Lima Bean ten minutes ago. He had been completely lost in thought, but shook out of it at Mercedes' gentle prompting.

"The barista asked how long Blaine and I had been dating."

Mercedes looked at him for a few seconds. "That's it? Come on, Kurt, you and I have been asked that before, we just laughed it off. What's really going on?"

Kurt stared at his fingers, twisting them together. "I - 'Cedes... I think -"

"You like him, don't you."

Kurt's head snapped up to his friend who was smiling smugly. He groaned and dropped his head into his hands. "How long have you known?"

"Since before you did, I reckon. I mean, you had a picture of the guy in your _locker_ after having hung out with him twice. Of course something was going to happen. The question is, why'd you run out on him just because someone assumed you were dating?"

"Because he just stood there!" Kurt felt himself choke up as he finally exploded. "She said it and I thought he would've laughed it off and said we weren't, but he stood there as if the idea _repulsed_ him. He looked shocked that anybody would think that. He's never -"

* * *

"- never even considered me that way, Wes. And then he ran out of there like the place was on fire and I _know_ he didn't have plans with Mercedes because we were going to hang out for the rest of the day."

Blaine pressed the phone to his ear with a shaking hand, still sitting in the Lima Bean car park, as Wes' voice crackled down the line.

"Why does this matter so much to you, Blaine? Pretend I'm stupid and tell me."

Blaine sighed, then finally laid it out on the line. "I'm attracted to him, Wes. Big time. And knowing he doesn't feel the same, it hurts."

"You don't know that for sure, Blaine." Blaine could almost hear the look on Wes' face; pity with a tinge of impatience.

"But, his reaction -"

"How did you react?"

"I - I didn't know what to do. I just stood there... like he did." Blaine's eyes widened.

"Exactly. You both reacted the same. You can't -"

* * *

"- can't make a judgement from that because you both did the same thing."

Kurt stared at Mercedes like he had never seen her before. _Don't jump to conclusions, don't get your hopes up,_ the internal pessimist chanted away.

"That's not true. I ran out, which kinda proved I had something to hide."

"And he stayed silent. Which, as you've told me in the past, is exactly what Blaine does when he's dealing with issues. Perhaps he was trying to work out how to deal with the fact that his attraction to _you_ might be coming to the surface."

"Mercedes, I want to believe you, but -"

* * *

"- but I can't get my hopes up, Wes. I don't want to get hurt."

Blaine tried desperately to keep the emotion out of his voice, thankful that Wes was in another state instead of there with him.

"Yeah, you've been hurt before, Blaine. I know. But isn't Kurt worth -"

* * *

"- worth letting in?"

Kurt thought about Blaine. He thought about the boy who had been there for him every time he had been hurt. The boy who was willing to come to his school three days after meeting him to help him with a bully when there was no obligation. The Blaine who told him to have _courage_.

"Okay, I'll do it."

* * *

Blaine thought about Kurt. The boy who made Blaine realize he could cut loose occasionally and be himself. The boy who seemed to instinctively know when Blaine was having a bad day and would always be there to talk him through. The Kurt who _he_ had told to have courage, so where was his own?

"I'll do it."

* * *

Kurt drummed the steering wheel on his way back to Dalton, anxiously checking the clock. 4:30. That would give him plenty of time to get back, go to his room, freak out a little then go and meet Blaine. He had spent the past few hours talking with Mercedes, trying to work out the perfect way to talk about what had happened and to finally admit his feelings.

Kurt jumped as his phone buzzed on the seat next to him. He glanced over at the screen, immediately pulling over when he saw the name there: _Blaine_. Putting the car into Park (his dad had made him promise to never text and drive and he stuck to that), he opened the text with shaking hands.

_Meet me in the choir room when you get back? - Blaine_

Kurt furrowed his brow, then quickly shot off a reply.

_Sure thing, be there in ten. - Kurt_

He pulled back onto the road, trying to stop his hands from shaking. The drive to Dalton was both too long and not long enough, Kurt finding himself in the car park before he was aware of it. He quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his bag. As he walked in, a text buzzed in from Mercedes

_Love you, white boy. Go get your man! - M_

Kurt smiled, pocketing his phone as he made his way through the foyer. Walking up the stairs, he paused for a second on the step where he had met Blaine. He would never admit it, but he stopped there as often as he could, remembering the moment when their eyes had met and something had passed between them. Pulling himself out of nostalgia, Kurt quickly made his way up the rest of the stairs and down the hall to the choir room.

_Breathe, Kurt. It's just Blaine._

Funnily enough, this didn't help calm Kurt's nerves any as he paused outside the door to the choir room. He couldn't hear anything from inside so hesitantly poked his head around the door to see -

Blaine. Who was standing with his back to Kurt, in front of the grand piano that Kurt admired every time he came in but had never heard anybody play. He knew Blaine had taken lessons but he never played much anymore, which was a pity. Kurt had always imagined those fingers dancing across the keys gracefully, making beautiful melodies that Blaine would play for Kurt - _don't get ahead of yourself, Hummel._

Kurt cleared his throat gently and Blaine spun around. "Kurt," he said quietly, a small smile on his face. Kurt tried to read him and found there were too many emotions to even begin to comprehend what was going on in his mind. "Hey."

"Hi," Kurt responded simply, still staring at the boy in front of him. There was so much in that expression - fear, confusion, happiness, sadness, nervousness... Kurt gave up and just hoped all would be explained soon, even though he knew he had his own share of explaining to do.

"Kurt -" Blaine let out a breath and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, I don't know how to say what's on my mind. You know I suck at expressing myself. So, I'm going to sing it. Cliche, yes. Hopefully it helps you understand what happened today for me."

And before Kurt could respond, Blaine had walked over and taken his hand, pulling him over to the piano. Blaine sat on one side of the bench and Kurt joined him, staring down at the keys with Blaine's hands poised over them. _Is he really -?_

The hands hit the keys and some of the most beautiful notes Kurt had ever heard erupted from the instrument. He felt his breath leave him as Blaine began to play, and just as he felt he was getting himself under control, Blaine started to sing and he was knocked senseless again.

"_Look into my eyes - you will see,_

_What you mean to me_

_Search your heart - search your soul_

_And when you find me there you'll search no more"_

Kurt could barely move as the words invaded his brain - they were for _him_. Mercedes was right, Blaine _did_ feel the same. Everything fell into place in his mind; the looks, the subtle touches, spending so much time together the past week. It wasn't just him, it was Blaine too.

"_Don't tell me it's not worth tryin' for_

_You can't tell me it's not worth dyin' for_

_You know it's true_

_Everything I do - I do it for you"_

As Blaine played the instrumental, Kurt felt the tears beginning to roll down his cheeks at the emotion that had flowed from Blaine's words. Blaine was giving him something amazing, and he wanted to give something in return. As Blaine broke into the last chorus, Kurt let his voice mix into a perfect harmony with Blaine's. _Even our voices knew we were going to get together before we did. They've always been together. _

"_Oh, you can't tell me it's not worth tryin' for_

_I can't help it, there's nothin' I want more_

_I would fight for you, I'd lie for you_

_Walk the wire for you, you know I'd die for you."_

By now, Blaine had stopped playing and had turned to face Kurt as they both sang. Kurt felt himself choking up at the emotion in Blaine's eyes, the same hesitant hope he had felt when Blaine had started singing. He saw the instant that it became clear to Blaine that this was real, that they both felt the same way and it was _okay_.

"_You know it's true,_

_Everything I do,_

_I do it for you."_

And as the last note echoed around the room in perfect harmony, Blaine leaned in and kissed him. It was only quick, but they both knew it said more than words ever could.

Kurt spoke first. "I'm sorry I ran. I thought -"

"That I didn't feel the same? So did I, I was just -"

"Scared? Me too." They looked at each other for a second, then laughed. "We're too damn predictable," Kurt said, entwining his hand in Blaine's.

"Yep. Can you predict what will happen next?" Blaine reached up to gently brush a strand of Kurt's hair out of his eyes.

"I predict you'll kiss me again. Because if you don't, I might have to instead."

Blaine looked deep in thought for a second. "Well I was _going_ to say that we could watch _Tangled_ again but I _suppose_ if you want to -"

Kurt cut him off by kissing him again, feeling Blaine chuckle against his lips before pulling away with another thought.

"We really need to go back and thank that barista."

* * *

"About freaking time, isn't it?" Wes looked across the sand, a drink held in one hand with his phone clutched in the other.

"Yep. You've been dropping hints too, I suppose." Mercedes' voice came down the line to him.

"Of course, they just care too much. It's always been Blaine's downfall."

"And Kurt's," Mercedes agreed. "I'll let you know when he calls me, I'm sure I'll get _all_ the details, even the ones I don't want. And we're still meeting up at Breadstix when you get back?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. Enjoy your holiday, my partner in crime." Wes laughed as they said goodbye, hanging up and leaning back in his chair. It was _good_ to be in charge.

* * *

**I kinda loved writing this. The song is **_**(Everything I Do) I Do It For You - **__**Bryan Adams**_** and yes, it's one of the most cliche love songs out there but trust me, I trawled through a site called 101 Best Love Songs of all time and I got very close to the end before I found anything applicable for this moment. So cliche it is.**

**Yes, that is a hint at something between Mercedes and Wes. I love the idea of them being partners in crime, and I reckon that something could easily happen. So I will do my best to work it into a prompt somewhere, or wait to get a double date prompt (hint hint)**

**And I finally worked in the sai swords! Am I seriously the only one who finds that incredibly hot? If you haven't checked out the video, go search for it. Chris Colfer is beyond amazing. (Apparently I'm not the only one who realizes the hotness of the swords, I got a prompt! :D )**

**Please review :)**

**P.S. I have activated anonymous reviews, because I think there are people out there who read this but can't be bothered making accounts. So I know I'm also opening myself up to anonymous flames, and that's okay. I've had an amazing string of positive, lovely reviews, so it's time to hear some of that negativity that's out there (I was told tonight that there are people who want to kill Klaine fics because of Blaine, what the hell is that?). So, to my readers who don't have accounts, please send your thoughts!**


	28. Introductions

**100 FREAKING PROMPTS! I'm drowning in a sea of Klaine and love... you guys are all so wonderful, you know that? WONDERFUL. I seriously never saw this making it past ten or so chapters, if that. So to be sitting there with a document called Kiss103 waiting for me to write... wow. Just wow. Who's going to see it through to the end? (whenever that may be...) Also, do you guys want me to cap it anywhere or are you happy for me to write into indefinite numbers of prompts? Because I've only seen a couple of other stories around here that go over 100 chapters... your call, guys! I still get prompts that make me squeal in happiness so I'm happy to keep going for as long as the (good and writeable) prompts keep coming :) **

**This is my first Kiss chapter that has actually been edited by someone who wasn't me. I sent this off to Angela AKA SquirrelzAttack who looked through it for me because I'm looking through some of her stories because she's starting to post fanfiction because there were too many becauses in that sentence ;) but seriously, go check her out. She's doing a Warblers drabble series, loosely based on the iPod challenge and it really is awesome work. I consider it a privilege to have her look over my work and be able to look over hers (though we drive each other crazy with our nitpicking!) I love her work :)**

**From the mind of**_** akatrixie: Okay, this really doesn't fit the canon storyline. But Kurt takes Blaine to McKinley to introduce him to his friends, and Blaine gathers all of ND in a big group. Kurt doesn't know why. But then Blaine professes his love for Kurt and goes all sappy and romantic. And Kurt gets exasperated and kisses him.**_

**I love stories that don't fit canon. It means I get to make up my own back story for it and then the story isn't some little 1000 word thing that I stare at and bemoan cause it's so short. So thank you :) I already have them gathered together because it's easier than trying to write one where Klaine's walking through the hallways and having to deal with the jocks and stuff. (This is also awesome because 100th prompt was _akatrixie_ too!)**

**I heart exasperated Kurt. He still doesn't quite hold a candle to tired Blaine, but he's a close second ;)**

* * *

Introductions 

"So, which house is yours?"

Kurt's voice crackled through his bluetooth as Blaine pulled onto the street. "The white one on the left with my car outside it."(1)

"Of course, that's a dead giveaway." Blaine chuckled, pulling into the driveway. "Alright, I'm outside, you ready?"

"On my way." The phone went dead and Blaine drummed his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, his eye on the front door. When Kurt had said he wanted to introduce him to his New Directions friends, Blaine's mind had immediately started putting ideas together. The group was bound to start making comments, and Blaine figured he could use it to his advantage to finally admit to the younger boy how he felt.

Blaine sighed. He hadn't seen Kurt since Friday when he had left for the weekend as he always did. Blaine stayed at Dalton most weekends, which hadn't been a problem until Kurt had arrived. Now those two days were spent in a state of boredom, waiting for him to get back so they could hang out. This weekend had been particularly bad. Just before he had left, Blaine had wandered over to Kurt's room to say goodbye and see if he needed help with his bags, only to overhear him chatting to Mercedes about their meeting on Monday.

"I hope you guys like him." Kurt had said apprehensively. There was silence while Mercedes said something. Then, "Yes, I know you know almost everything about him. I'm sorry if Blaine happens to be the guy I'm crushing on big time." Silence. "No, I haven't told him. How could I? He wouldn't feel the same."

Blaine stayed frozen against the wall, knowing he shouldn't be listening but unable to help himself. _Kurt liked him?_

"Anyway, 'Cedes, I'd better go. Blaine will be here in a couple of minutes and then I'll be back for the weekend. We'll go shopping, okay?"

Blaine quickly tiptoed back up the hall, waiting five minutes before making his way back down to Kurt's room and greeting him as if nothing was different, noting that Kurt looked slightly nervous. As they walked down to Kurt's car, he brought up the subject he had been chatting to Mercedes about, Blaine feigning ignorance.

"So, Blaine, you know how Monday's a Teacher Conference?"

Blaine hummed in agreement, shuffling the bag from one arm to another.

"Well, I was wondering if you'd like to come out to McKinley to meet my friends. They all really want to meet you and I figured if we went during Glee practice, none of the jocks would hunt us down, and I'll make sure nobody has a problem with the 'enemy' coming in or anything."

"I'd love to, Kurt." Blaine smiled, chucking the bag into the backseat of Kurt's Navigator, before pulling the boy into a quick hug. "I'll see you on Monday, then?"

When he had watched Kurt drive away, his brain was already in motion of how to make the moment perfect.

* * *

Blaine was jarred back to reality by the front door opening and Kurt emerging, looking immaculately dressed as usual.(2) He leaned back in the door to say something to his dad, then shut it behind him and walked over to Blaine's car, sliding into the passenger seat. "Hey there," he greeted as Blaine pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey you," Blaine said, smiling at him quickly. "Good weekend?"

"Yeah. I rearranged my room again and baked with Carol. You?"

"Worked on assignments." Blaine pulled a face as Kurt chuckled. "Now, are you going to direct me there or what?"

Between directions, Kurt gave him the low down on the members of his old Glee club.

"So I talk about Mercedes a lot, you probably know enough about her. She's really looking forward to meeting you so there won't be any issues there. Rachel's our diva, she'll hate you on principle because she's had a bad experience with the competition before, don't take it personally. Tina probably won't say much but she's lovely. Quinn - well it depends on her mood. She'll probably spend the whole time on Finn's arm glaring at Rachel, but I think she'll be nice enough to you. Ignore anything that comes out of Brittany or Santana's mouths - Brittany's won't make sense and you'll end up with a headache trying to work it out, Santana's will scar you for life. I mean it. You've met Finn already, of course."

Blaine remembered back to the awkward dinner he had with Kurt's family a few weeks ago and winced. "It won't be that bad, I promise. Quinn will keep him in line. Artie's cool, he's in a wheelchair but you'll adjust pretty quickly to that. Mike's kinda like Tina, and considering they're dating we might not hear much from them either. Sam's cool as well, he's one of the jocks but the nice type. Puck is absolutely crazy and will probably make you wish you'd never met him, but he means well. And Lauren, I haven't had much to do with her at all, but she's kinda like Puck I think."

Blaine blinked a couple of times. "I've forgotten all of that already. And I won't know who's who anyway."

Kurt laughed. "That's okay, I'll look after you." His cheeks flushed slightly at this and Blaine pretended not to have noticed as he pulled into the parking lot.

"So, am I going to get keyed here?" Blaine meant it as a joke but Kurt's eyes widened in realization.

"Possibly. They'll know you're not from here. If they do, Dad will fix it up for free though."

Blaine winced at the though of someone ruining his car but got out reluctantly, making sure it was locked before allowing Kurt to lead him into the building. As they walked, Blaine allowed his hand to slip into Kurt's, who looked stunned but didn't pull away.

_I seriously don't know how he hasn't caught on to me yet_, Blaine thought to himself as they neared the choir room. _It's sure going to make this afternoon interesting though._

"You'll probably want to take a step back when we get in there," Kurt advised, letting go of his hand to open the door. Blaine was about to ask why when Kurt burst in. "Hellooo New Directions!"

"KURT!"

Blaine slipped away just in time as the whole group converged on Kurt, hugging him and asking him questions. In the chaos, nobody had noticed Blaine so he leant against the piano, watching the madness and how happy Kurt looked with these people. Then he saw Kurt turn to him with a smile, and he knew it was reserved only for him.

"Guys, let me breathe! Go and sit down or something so I can introduce you to Blaine!"

The group turned as one and Blaine blushed slightly under the attention. He waved awkwardly as Kurt shooed everybody to sit down, then beckoned Blaine to stand with him.

"Everyone, this is Blaine. _No_, Rachel, he's not here to spy. Neither of us are." Kurt glared at a brunette girl who had opened her mouth to speak and now looked very put out.

"It's nice to meet you, Blaine." A dark-skinned girl spoke up from one of the seats, smiling at him. "I'm Mercedes."

"I've heard about you, good to finally put a face to a name." Blaine smiled at her, then surveyed the rest of the club. He recognized Finn, which meant the blonde girl practically sitting in his lap was Quinn. Artie, of course, the one in the wheelchair. Everybody else, Blaine drew a blank on, waiting for them to introduce themselves.

"Where's my straight copy?" Blaine looked at the Latina girl who had asked the question, a sultry look in her eyes. _Santana?_

"Are you a dolphin like Kurt?" So that must be Brittany, Blaine decided as he tried to work out what the correct answer was to that question. He noticed the two girls had their pinkies linked and decided to wonder over that later.

"Yes, Brit, he's a dolphin. Pity that, he's a _sexy_ dolphin," the other girl purred, raising her eyebrow suggestively. Blaine coughed and looked away, catching Kurt's eye.

"Santana, behave," Kurt admonished the girl sternly, though Blaine could see the edge of a smirk. "We don't want to scare Blaine away."

"No, I'm sure _you_ don't," came the comment from the guy at the back. Blaine took a proper look at him - classic tough guy, he decided immediately. Then he took in the girl sitting next to him. _Oh-kay, steer clear of those two._

"Puck, you're not helping. Can I assume this is Lauren?"

The girl smirked, snapping her gum. "You can. Though you wouldn't want to assume anything else about me, that's for sure."

Blaine blinked. _Yep, definitely stay away._

"Moving on," Kurt hastily changed the subject. "The two up the back who have mercifully been silent so far are Tina and Mike." The two waved, Tina with her head resting on Mike's shoulder. "And that's Sam." He pointed to the blonde guy sitting on the other side of Finn. "We're not allowed to talk about him dying his hair though -"

"Dude, I don't dye my hair." Blaine looked at Kurt and smirked.

"Come on, I've only just met you and I _know_ that's not natural."

As Sam argued, Kurt shot Blaine a quick smile and he knew he was happy that Blaine was fitting in with his friends. Blaine smiled back, looking around at the club who had quickly lost interest and were resuming their normal activities. He wrinkled his nose as Quinn and Finn started making out and looked for something else to distract him.

"Kurt, I would like to draw something to your attention."

Kurt groaned next to him as Rachel stood up.

"I know that this Blaine has professed to be your friend and possibly your lover," Blaine stared and Kurt coughed nervously, "but you have to know that bringing him here is a strict breach of the rules that this club made after the last - _incident_."

"You mean the one_ you_ caused." Quinn had broken free from her lip-lock and turned to glare at Rachel. "Besides, Kurt's not even a part of this club anymore. And we're not performing anything right now, how can they spy?"

Rachel was lost for words for a second which gave Blaine a chance to jump in. "I can assure you, I'm not a spy. And if I was, it would just be in retribution for you guys sending Kurt. Which I should thank you for, by the way. Without your nosiness, I would never have met him."

Kurt blushed and hit Blaine lightly but he wasn't done. "There's something I want to share with all of you. I feel kind of weird standing here in front of you like I'm on a soapbox or something but there's some things I need to say and I figured now would be the best time. But before I do, I want to ask you guys something." He turned to the first person on his list. "Mercedes, what's my favourite colour?"

"Blue," she responded without hesitation.

"Rachel, what performances have I done?"

"Apart from Warbler performances, you starred in _Hairspray_ at your old school and did a community theatre performance of _RENT_, which, even though I am suspicious of you, I admire."

"Finn, what sports do I play?"

"Soccer and football, which really surprised me when Kurt told me because, you know -" Quinn mercifully stepped on his foot to stop him from talking at this point, smiling at Blaine. "You also apparently look really good in dark green," she added.

"Thank you, everyone." He turned to Kurt who was looking like he wanted a hole to open up in the floor and swallow him. "Now, I'd ask how you guys know so much about me, but that's a redundant question." He turned his attention back to the group to see Mercedes looking at him appraisingly. _She knows what's about to happen_, Blaine thought to himself.

"As you can see, Kurt and I have gotten to know each other very well. He's the best friend I could ever ask for, he's always there for me and we've had some great times together." Blaine hear Santana muttering _"wanky"_ and tried to ignore her. "Kurt is an amazing person who not only has a lot of talent but a lot of heart. His passion is amazing, he inspires the Warblers and inspires me."

Blaine chanced a glance at Kurt who was looking at him exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. But the smile on his face said it all.

"I'm not naive enough to believe that Dalton can keep him forever, he'll end up back with you guys as soon as it's safe. And while I'll miss him terribly, I'm okay with that because it'll mean that Kurt is happy. You guys are Kurt's family. And even though I'll have to deal with his real family too - and one member of it is here so that makes things easier - I want you guys to be the first to know that I'm in love with Kurt."

There was silence for a second, then the room erupted. Santana began to call out obscene words, winking at the two boys, while Brittany said something about a family of dolphin babies. Rachel looked concerned, but couldn't hide the smile on her face. Quinn was whispering in Finn's ear, who looked shell-shocked.

But all of this ceased the second Kurt grabbed Blaine by his shirt and pulled him in. The rest of the club watched on as the two boys kissed.

And kept kissing.

The seconds ticked on in silence until Mr. Schuester walked into the room.

"Sorry I'm late guys, what did I - woah!"

Kurt pulled away from Blaine, letting go of his shirt. "Next time you want to ask me out, just tell me, moron. You don't have to do an elaborate display like that." But he was smiling wider than Blaine had ever seen and took his hand before turning to the stunned choir teacher.

"Hey Mr. Schue, good to see you again. This is Blaine, my boyfriend."

* * *

**(1) I have never seen the outside of Kurt's house in any episode I remember. So that's a generic enough place for me. **

**(2) I don't write Kurt's outfits because I don't have the fashion sense to do so. The most I ever do is scarves and even then they're not exactly mentioned in detail. I know I'm not the only author who does this either - Kurt's fashion sense is just beyond words sometimes, both good and bad. (Those keys he wore around his neck in **_**As If We Never Said Goodbye**_** were gorgeous, I want!)**

**This is my first (I wrote that three times before I got it right, I kept writing frist) story where I've really featured New Directions so I hope I did alright with that. **

**My head was spinning the whole time I wrote this (sick day, sigh) so I don't know if it's even coherent. Though the fact I can use the word coherent must mean something, right?**

**Anyway, hope you liked it and please review :)**


	29. Foam

**GUYS! So I Google searched myself because I wanted to check my review count on my Kiss story and this Chinese site came up which has links to _Kiss, Hiccups _and_ Phone._ The author has put their notes underneath each of them and even though I took high school Chinese, I know nothing so I translated them and this is what came out.**

**Kiss: "This is a short series, the Klaine together in glee in the chance to be used vigorously sprouting like! Really, cute friends Ye Hao show friendship and like wablers" (guys, I'm SPROUTING! VIGOROUSLY!)**

**Hiccups: "Perfect boyfriend Blaine, even because of the little things and avoid Kurt? Wes This ultra dazzling Rights" (Well, we all knew Wes was ultra dazzling...)**

**Phone: "This is wonderful, really wonderful, Because this article and Chris. Send a tweet point in time very close so I guess with the chris of the stems." (the Chris of the Stems... he'd so love that)**

**I'm way too happy about that. That made my day, not just the dodgy translation but the fact that someone from China has read and loved my stories (at least, I think they like them...)**

**From**_** sehguheinna: You know during "Animal" when they have a little foam party and Blaine throws**_ _**the big purple ball at Kurt's head? I want Kurt to fall over and Blaine rush to his side because he thinks he hurt him but Kurt is lay there giggling with foam stuck on his head and Blaine can't resist. **_

**And a huge thanks to **_**sehguheinna**_** for linking me to the Animal video which I couldn't find and really wanted to watch. So now I can sit there and stare at it all day (even though I cringe so MUCH at Kurt's faces, I adore the flirting between them, especially during the 'hush hush' part) and then write this prompt :D **

**You know what? I can't even watch it. It's such an amazing song and I can't watch it because of Kurt's faces. I can only watch the last bit from when they're firing the foam cannon and Kurt has finally stopped trying to be sexy and is just **_**being**_** sexy.**

**Anyway, back to the story. I can't make it long though! Sorry :/**

* * *

Foam

"_Oh, I won't sleep tonight!"_

Blaine and Kurt ran up the stairs, each grabbing a side of the foam cannon and spraying it everywhere. Blaine was trying not laugh through his words as he watched the other Dalton boys getting soaked with the foam. He chanced a glance at Kurt as they worked the foam machine and was thankful to see his friend had finally stopped pulling faces and just seemed to be having a good time.

It hadn't taken Blaine long to realize that Kurt was trying to be sexy for the number. The first few times, Blaine couldn't even look at Kurt without trying not to crack up laughing, but after awhile he realized that Kurt was getting frustrated with himself. _He just needs to relax and be himself. That's plenty sexy._

_Wait._ Blaine caught himself. _Did you just say Kurt was sexy_? He looked at Kurt again and saw the way his eyes crinkled when he laughed, that adorable flush of his cheeks ... Kurt was cute. Kurt was adorable, and Kurt was definitely beautiful. But was he sexy?

Then he focused in on the words coming out of Kurt's mouth and the way a shiver had run down his back when Kurt had _growled_, _"You're killing me now!" _The way that Kurt could _dance_ - David had somehow gotten it out of Kurt that he had performed 4 Minutes and when Blaine had Youtubed it, he had just stared at the screen, transfixed. And the way Kurt just - _was._

_Oh yes, he is sexy. _Blaine shook his head. _But why are you even thinking about your friend this way?_ Blaine admitted to himself that perhaps he looked at Kurt a bit more than necessary or spent a bit more time with him than with anybody else, but that didn't mean anything, did it? He put it to the back of his mind for later and focused on the song as they ran down the stairs to join the foam party, singing amidst the squeals of the girls.

"_What are you waiting for, what are you waiting -?"_

Blaine sang his final lines before joining in the harmony with the rest of the Warblers. By now they were all throwing around the balls and covering each other in foam. Blaine had lost Kurt in the midst of it all and looked around, finding him on the edge. He picked up one of the balls, a bright purple one and chucked it at Kurt. It hit him in the head and Kurt went down, disappearing in the foam.

"Kurt!" Blaine yelled, pushing his way through the crowd of foamy people and trying not to slip as he made his way to his friend who hadn't surfaced yet. "Kurt, are you okay?"

He heard a giggle and looked down to see Kurt lying in a pile of foam. Kneeling beside him, Blaine took his hand without thinking about it. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm good." Kurt giggled again, picking up a bubble of foam and blowing it towards Blaine. He blinked, batting the foam away that had landed on his shoulder.

"What was that for?"

"Cause it's fun?" Kurt winked - _winked?_ - at him and Blaine noticed that his hair was full of foam. Kurt had obviously run his hands through it because it was sticking up, looking like it had just been styled. And it was - Blaine groaned to himself as he realized - _sexy_. Unbelievably so.

_You're going to have to deal with this, Blaine. Either talk to him about it or walk away. Because if you don't - _

"Hey!" A clump of foam had just landed in his hair. Blaine pushed it off as Kurt continued to giggle. "That's it, mister!"

"What are you going to do to me, Blaine? You've got me lying here defenceless in a pile of foam, what are you gonna do?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, smirking and Blaine knew that _he_ knew what was going to happen. They both did.

"Oh I don't know, this?"

Blaine leant down and attached his mouth to Kurt's.

The kiss didn't last long, as the Warblers had finished the song and now the Crawford girls were going crazy, trying to get all of their numbers. Blaine reluctantly pulled away, knowing they'd get caught if he didn't. He stared down at the slightly dazed boy, still lying in the foam and all he wanted to do was kiss him again, and again, until all the foam disappeared and then probably kiss him some more.

"Woah, what happened here? You okay, Kurt?"

Blaine growled inaudibly and turned to see a concerned Nick standing behind him, staring down at Kurt. Kurt giggled again - and seriously, how could he make _that_ sexy too? - and sat up, brushing the foam off his blazer.

"I'm great, Nick. Never been better."

* * *

**I really couldn't do much more with this, unfortunately. Hopefully the short moment did it justice anyway.**

**Hope you liked it :) please review.**


	30. Notebook

**I have a question. Do I have any male readers? I seem to have an abundance of females... anyway, if you're a guy, review and let me know. I just want to know whether guys actually read this particular fandom or not.**

**I've put a poll up! I've always kinda thought they were weird but now I have a use for one so they're awesome, of course. It's in relation to this story so if you're a follower, go check that out. It should appear at the top of my profile. And please answer it, it only takes a second and I really want answers :)**

_**This comes from NightRose131**_ **and is similarly prompted by **_**Winniepig461: What**_ _**if Blaine had seen that "Blaine + Kurt" drawing thing in the episode "Silly Love Songs"? Say, Kurt left his notebook where he was sitting and Blaine went to pick it up or something?**_

**When I was looking this up, I read the whole recap of the episode and there's so many things in it that just don't make sense. Tina singing that song for Mike and bawling her eyes out... for no apparent reason? Blaine going lovestruck about getting 50% off at The Gap? (Kurt's face when he says that is amazing though) It's all a little bit crazy that episode, but leads for good prompts for us Klaine shippers (though I would like to see how any writers have explained Tina's breakdown - some have said she's still in love with Artie and that's what caused it [of course all the Brittana fans are wanting that]. If anybody's seen a really good story on that one, please let me know, I'd love to read it!)**

**Anyway, SLS makes me happy. And this is edited again by Angela AKA SquirrelzAttack. If you're as crazy about Warblers as we are, go read her drabbles! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Notebook

Blaine entered the room, heading towards Kurt, who was writing in a notebook. Blaine just had time to catch a glimpse of what looked like a heart before Kurt slammed it shut and looked up at him, dropping the book onto the couch.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he asked, because he was _really_ curious now.

Kurt looked up at him at little too eagerly as he said, "Nothing. Daydreaming, planning weekend outfits."

Blaine eyed the notebook for a second, then remembered why he'd come. "Oh, come on, you're gonna want to see this. I've called an emergency meeting of the Warbler's Council." He felt his heart jump again because _is this really what you want to do?_ But it was too late to change his mind now.

"Oh, sounds serious." Kurt stood up and shouldered his bag.

"Let's hope not, just need to ask them a tiny little favour."(1) Kurt nodded and began to walk away, leaving the notebook on the couch where he had left it.

"Oh, Kurt, you -" Blaine stopped. He _really_ should tell Kurt about the notebook, but...

"Yeah?"

"You ... go on ahead. I've got to tell a couple of others. I'll meet you there in a minute."

Kurt shrugged. "Okay." He walked out of the room, leaving Blaine standing in front of the couch, still staring at the notebook. It was _so_ obvious that Kurt had something to hide, and Blaine now had to weigh it up: his curiosity or Kurt's privacy.

_I'll bring it with me to give back to him_, Blaine decided. _I'm not going to invade his privacy._

But as Blaine picked up the notebook, it fell open and Blaine stopped dead.

There, inside a big loveheart was "Blaine + Kurt"

Blaine stared at the picture for a few seconds, trying to get past his hallucination and see what it actually said. He blinked a few times. No, still there.

_Kurt likes me._

Blaine snapped the notebook shut, then turned and half-ran towards the council meeting, pulling out his phone to text Wes as new plans formed in his head.

* * *

"We'd like to call on Junior Council Member Blaine Anderson." Wes tapped his beloved gavel.

Blaine stood nervously, noticing Kurt clapping behind him. With a small smile playing about his lips, he addressed the council.

"Thank you for your time, I'll be brief. Certain events have occurred lately and I'd like to announce to you all that I'm in love." Wes raised an eyebrow and Blaine knew he'd be getting grilled once he was out of Council member mode. "I was going to ask permission to do a performance off-campus -"

The entire Warbler group erupted into chaos and Blaine raised his hand as Wes slammed his gavel into the desk. "I was _going_ to, but I've changed my mind. I still believe we should broaden our horizons towards performing outside competitions, but let's save that arg - _discussion,_ for another day."

Blaine half-turned so Kurt was in his line of sight. He was sitting forward, staring at Blaine and he suddenly realized how much he would've crushed Kurt if he had gone through with his original plans. _Thank goodness for that notebook. Oh, speaking of which -_

"Kurt, you left this back there by the way." He pulled the notebook out of his blazer pocket - Dalton seemed to have an obsession with overly-large pockets which Blaine was thankful for - and tossed it towards his friend, watching as Kurt turned pale and refused to meet his eyes.

Turning back to Wes, Blaine continued, noticing the look of approval. "I'd still like to try something a little bit different though. Council Member Wes, did you bring it?"

"I did, Junior Member Anderson," Wes smirked at the title and a few of the newer Warblers looked frightened, having never seen Wes amused before. "It's over there."

Blaine walked over to the couch that Wes was pointing to and pulled his guitar from behind it to murmurs from the Warblers. "I know we normally do a capella performances but today I'd like to take this one on my own. I've got something to say to someone special here."

Blaine stepped back to the front of the room, making eye contact with Kurt who managed to look terrified, hopeful, eager and confused all in one. "I know this is a favourite of a particular Warbler, so I hope I do it justice."

He strummed the first notes and began to sing

"_You make me strong, you make me weak,_

_You lift me off my feet,_

_You give me hope when all my dreams_

_Seem they're out of reach,"_

Blaine focused all of his attention on Kurt and everybody else in the room seemed to disappear. This was about him.

"_You make me understand, _

_The way the perfect love should be,"_

And that was true. If it weren't for Kurt, Blaine would be chasing Jeremiah around The Gap singing _When I Get You Alone_ - possibly the most inappropriate choice but somehow Blaine had thought it would be _romantic_.

No. This was what was real.

"_Cause sometimes I think of all the things_

_I should have said_

_And I hope it's not to late_

_I wanna make you understand"_

"_If the world crashes down over me_

_Well, I know that my life is complete_

_Cause I've held you in my arms all night_

_Cause I can't imagine life without you by my side"_

Blaine indicated to Wes and David and they gave him the backing vocals for the last chorus as he put down the guitar and walked towards Kurt, kneeling before him.

"_Well, if the world crashes down over me (over me)_

_Well that I know that my life is complete (is complete)_

_Cause I've held you in my arms all night_

_And I can't imagine life without you by my side"_

Blaine sung the last words in a near-whisper, taking Kurt's hands gently in his. "So," he murmured, "is it too late?"

"Never," Kurt whispered back before leaning in to kiss him.

They weren't aware of the Warblers breaking into excited murmuring around them, or David doing a victory dance and Thad reluctantly giving him money. Looking back on it later, Blaine would wish he had been more aware of the sound of a camera phone going off, but in that moment it was just him and Kurt.

Breaking apart, Blaine began to say something but was stopped by his phone buzzing. He pulled it out to see a message from Wes. There were no words, simply a photo. Blaine turned it in Kurt's direction so he could see the shot of the two of them kissing. Kurt smiled until he noticed the names at the top of the text.

"He sent it to MERCEDES AND RACHEL?" Kurt turned to glare at the Head Warbler, who suddenly looked very interested in his gavel.

"Yeah, and he put it on Facebook too!" David yelled out from the back of the room, waving his iPhone in the air cheerfully and ignoring the look of impending death on his best friend's face.

"Um, meeting dismissed everybody." Wes scrambled out of the room as Kurt glared after him, Blaine trying not to laugh.

"Well, there goes our perfect moment." Kurt sighed. Blaine smiled at him gently.

"Let's make another one then. Check your notebook."

Kurt raised an eyebrow but pulled out the notebook that had started the whole thing and flipped it open. Underneath the _Blaine + Kurt_, Blaine had drawn a smiley face and written one word.

_Forever._

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from 'Silly Love Songs' to this point**

**So I was in the middle of writing this and I was about to start developing what I call 'The Plan' until I realized that it didn't belong to this prompt. I've been given another one from SLS and the idea I had could work for both. So I very reluctantly wrote this instead. Not that I don't like it (and I know I've done the photo idea before but come on, someone had to upload it to Facebook eventually, they're teenagers!), I'm just looking forward to my other one.**

**I figured Blaine is too polite and respectful to look through something that isn't his own, even though the temptation would be very strong. After everything that Kurt's gone through, I can't see Blaine wanting to in****vade his privacy at all. So I kept him as a decent guy (even more decent now that he's not singing to someone that ISN'T Kurt) and made it accidental.**

**The song is _If The World Crashes Down - Enrique Iglesais. _**


	31. Breadstix

**You guys are getting this chapter early because I have something important to say, and I usually do this too late so I thought I'd better get in first. I'm pretty sure, judging by all the excitement, that Funeral comes out tonight in America. It may have already aired by the time this goes out, I'm not too sure on time differences (it's close to midday here). I just want to say that I probably won't be seeing it until tomorrow NIGHT, so that's another day and a half for me. So, please please please PLEASE, nobody review saying things like "wasn't Funeral awesome? Didn't you like the part when... *obvious spoiler*" or "Here's a prompt from Funeral where... *more obvious spoilers*" I'm happy to get very vague prompts like I did for Prom Queen; "The scene in the hallway," for example is fine to hear. Just please, no Funeral spoilers.**

******Also, I said last night that I had a poll and you should all check it out. I got a lot of reviews today saying 'where's the poll?' so I went to check and found a nifty little button that says 'do you want this poll displayed on your profile?' which I hadn't clicked yes on. So I'm embarrassed, it's there now and we can continue on.**

**From **_**Broken Gold: What about at Breadstix after losing Regionals or something? :)**_

**Mm, I like. Now I just have to think of a nice plot device of why they didn't get together when Blaine asked Kurt to duet with him... okay, got it :D**

**I just realized I've written 29 (or 30 if you count SOWK which I still don't) stories and haven't put Karofsky in any of them! I figured it was time to mess with him a little bit...**

* * *

Breadstix

Kurt sighed, pushing his breadsticks around the basket absently as Blaine watched him. It was the day after Regionals and the rest of the Warblers were probably planning their next performance at the Gap or something like that. Blaine had noticed that Kurt wasn't exactly interested in doing this so offered to take him out for lunch so he could talk about what was on his mind.

So far, that wasn't happening.

"Kurt," Blaine finally broke the silence. "What's going on?"

Kurt gave another sigh (for the 52nd time that day. Blaine was keeping count to hold it against him when he was feeling better) and looked up. "I guess I'm just upset that we lost at Regionals. I really wanted to go to New York." He looked down again quickly and Blaine knew that he was still keeping something hidden.

"Okay, I'd understand that if it were the whole story. But I know you, and I know it's not. What else is going on?" Blaine knew that pushing Kurt to talk was a fine line, and if he went over that Kurt would shut down. He hesitated for a second, then leant over and took Kurt's hand, hearing the soft gasp from Kurt as he did so.

"Blaine, this isn't Dalton. We can't -"

"Yes we -" Blaine stopped himself, looking into Kurt's eyes. There was something there that Blaine had somehow overlooked and he quickly realized what was going on. "That's what it's about, isn't it?"

"What, that people judge gays in Ohio?" Kurt chuckled. "Blaine, I've lived with that for a long time now."

"Not that. That you can't be with me."

_Jackpot_.

Kurt's face went white and he blinked rapidly a couple of times, his mind whirring so fast that Blaine could practically see it. He knew what was going on in there - _think of a cover story, fast!_

"You're the one who told me. Coffee shop, remember? It's okay, Kurt. I - I've been meaning to talk to you for awhile now about that." Blaine hesitated for a moment, noticing that the colour was returning to Kurt's face but the hand underneath his was still shaking.

"That day when Thad told you what song we were going to do for Regionals, I was on my way to tell you that myself, as you know. He just beat me there."

* * *

"_I've picked the perfect number for Regionals and we should practice." Blaine tried not to wring his hands together in sheer nervousness, focusing on keeping his breathing calm and his face impassive._

"_Candles, right? By Hey Monday?"_

_Blaine blinked. "How -"_

"_Oh, Thad just stopped by and told me. Great choice, I'm glad it's not Pink. And I've been thinking we should cover Hey Monday for awhile now." Kurt rose from his chair, capping the lid on the glue. "Should we go practice then?"_

"_Um.. yeah. Let's go."_

* * *

Blaine sighed, drawing himself back to the present where Kurt was watching him curiously.

"Kurt, that wasn't the only thing I wanted to talk to you about that day. I had hoped that we would talk about the song choice, about why I didn't go with something more Top 40. Because that would've lead into me telling you that I picked that song because I wanted something more _emotional._"

He raised his eyes from where they had dropped to the table to see Kurt staring at him, his brow slightly furrowed.

"Emotional? With me?" Then his eyes widened.

"Kurt, I've realized some things in the past few weeks that I should've realized a long time ago. It started when you did _Blackbird_. I'd never seen anything like it before and something changed inside me. It was like I'd never seen you before, and I wish I had. And then I had the idea to do a duet with you for Regionals. Wes and David were in on it, they just pretended to kick up a fuss because it would ruin their reputation otherwise - they were all for it. And then I had to find the perfect song and you have no idea how long I spent on YouTube trying to find it and arrange it -"

"Wait, you arranged that yourself?"

Blaine nodded. "I wanted it to be perfect for us." He blushed because Kurt was looking at him with admiration shining in his eyes and he had honestly never felt so accepted by another human being before. "Then, of course, my master plan got ruined, but at least I was getting to spend more time with you. Those practices made my week, Kurt. And then we performed it and it was _amazing _and I was all set to tell you as soon as the competition ended but you were so upset that I couldn't bring myself to. So - here we are. And here's me telling you that I've finally got my act together and realized what's important. You."

"Blaine, I don't know what to -"

"Oh, isn't this _touching_."

Blaine looked up to see a large boy standing over them who he had never wanted to see again in his life. And judging by the pressure on his hand, neither had Kurt.

"What are you doing here, Karofsky?" Kurt glared at the boy.

"Well, I did come to eat here, but the sight of you two queers has just put me off my food. This is a public place, can't you be fags somewhere else?"

Blaine went to stand up but Kurt kept a tight hold of his hand, giving him a warning glance. "We're allowed to eat wherever we please. If it bothers you, sit somewhere else."

"Oh no, I think I'll be sitting right here." He sat down at the table next to them, still staring at Kurt. "But if you two poofs make it so I can't eat my meal, I'll be complaining to the manager. There's no place here for disgusting creatures like you."

"What's so disgusting about what we're doing here, Karofsky? Is it the fact that we're two guys talking about _emotions_? Or that we're holding hands?" Kurt gestured to their linked hands across the table, then reached out his other hand and grabbed Blaine's. "Does this make it worse?"

"I'm warning you, Hummel." Karofsky started to look nervous.

"What about this?" Kurt ran a hand up Blaine's arm, sending a shiver down his back. "Isn't that just _sickening_?"

"Don't mess with me!"

Blaine leant over and gently touched Kurt's face, drawing his eyes away from Karofsky who was now turning red. Kurt gave him a questioning look - _is this okay with you?_ - which Blaine answered with a smile - _do what you have to,_ marvelling at the fact that they could have these conversations with just their eyes and had never realized before.

"Perhaps we should - oh, but that might be too much. This is a _public_ place after all, isn't it Blaine?" Kurt's eyes flickered down to his lips, which Blaine licked unconsciously before answering.

"I think that would ruin people's sensibilities. Though, you'll never know until you try." Blaine saw Karofsky's fists clenching out of the corner of his eye and tried to ignore him, hoping that this wouldn't backfire spectacularly and mentally planning how to get himself between Kurt and Karofsky's fists if it did.

"Oh, that's true. So very true." Kurt breathed, before leaning across the table and capturing Blaine's lips with his own.

There was a clatter of chair legs against wood and the sound of rapidly disappearing footsteps as the two boys kissed. Blaine moved to break away after a few seconds, assuming they had made their point but Kurt grabbed his face and pulled him back in. _No complaints here_, Blaine thought happily.

Finally, Kurt pulled away, dropping his hands from Blaine's face. "I know that wasn't the most romantic of first kisses but it's probably going to define what this relationship will be like, so better to start on the right page. This isn't going to be easy, Blaine, we're going to get a lot of crap thrown our way. We're going to have to fight for it. Are you sure it's what you want?"

Blaine just smiled, tracing a line down Kurt's jawbone. "For you, I'd do anything."

* * *

**The ending feels a little abrupt but the point needed to be made and I didn't want to write anything more after it. Just to recap: NO FUNERAL SPOILERS! Thank you :) **


	32. Mercedes

**So last night I jumped online optimistically, and there was Funeral! After much flailing, I realized it was literally going to take hours to load. My night began around 9:15 my time, trying to get Funeral to load and ****I was ten minutes into watching it when it cut out at midnight. So I hit reload and waited. Around two, I flicked all my settings so the laptop would stay on all night and left it to load. Woke at 5:30 to find my laptop had restarted and all progress was lost. So when I woke up again at 8:30, I set to reloading for the third time. It failed. My internet just won't let me watch Funeral. So, I swallowed my pride, shed a few tears, then read the recap instead. **

**SPOILERS. That's your warning. Here we go! **

**I saw the first ten minutes or so. Enough to make me cringe at Jesse St James being back (I kept telling myself, 'it's okay, he's just here for Prom Queen' and then ... there he was), start hating on Will big time, feel sorry for Sue and more sorry for Becky (I mean, come on, the girl does NOT need to hear that she doesn't have a place), decide that Kurt's a sweetheart and watch Finn get a backbone. That was it. So I read the rest. I can't wait to look up Santana's audition. I heard Kurt's hips feature in his song ;) so I guess I'd better check that out too, though I'm dying to see his 'look' when he gets shot down. And I can just imagine his "Jesse St. James Jesse St. Sucks" line. Oh how I'm regretting using up the internet... anyway. Oh, wow, this is the first time I've really felt sorry for Sue and I know I'll cry when I watch the actual episode. Imagine knowing nobody would come to the funeral otherwise... and the funeral is going to break me. And I knew it'd be the end of Fuinn. I think we all did. After reading Sue's speech to Will, I have to see this episode. I kinda don't like Terri coming back but at least it sounds like the end of that era, finally. Freaking Jesse... they're writing songs on the plane? Talk about last minute... sigh. And the whole Finn/Quinn/Rachel/Jesse drama is just boring me. BORED. And there was NO BLAINE. :/**

**So I'm accepting prompts up to Funeral. I don't know.. I might change my mind when I see it but apart from Sue, I really don't see much interesting happening here. **

**So, since there was NO Klaine in this episode, here's my fill of it. From**_** Lolasatsuma **_**(and I just know someone else prompted this...)**_**: At Breadstix during 2x07 Blaine and Kurt are mindlessly flirting and Mercedes is bored out of her mind. Right? Well, what if when Mercedes excuses herself to ask for tots, our boys have a heart-to-heart about the kurtofsky kiss, in which Kurt slips up and says (in one way or another) that he loves Blaine. Blaine, seeing Kurt get flustered and start to leave, grabs Kurt's wrist and kisses him. BONUS: They get caught by Mercedes and she has a Mother Hen moment.**_

* * *

Mercedes

"On the count of three, name your favourite 2010 Vogue cover. 1... 2... 3!"

"Marion Cotillard!"

Kurt laughed in delight while Blaine looked shocked. "Oh my god, stop it!"

"I know, I know. She's AMAZING!" Kurt couldn't keep the smile off his face, more likely due to the fact that Blaine was paying so much attention to him than their mutual love of Vogue.

"She's amazing." Blaine smiled, popping a bread stick in his mouth.(1) Kurt heard a cough from across from them and turned to see Mercedes looking bored. He winced and shot her a look of apology, fumbling for his phone under the table.

'_Cedes, I'm so sorry, he's just so distracting. And amazing. We'll pay more attention to you from now on, promise. - Kurt_

Blaine had been talking about something to do with Wes and David while Kurt subtly texted Mercedes. He saw her look down and read the message, then quickly reply.

_I'm'a leave you boys to it for a bit. See if they've got some tots. - M_

"Well, I'm gonna go find me some tots." True to her word, Mercedes stood, giving them a quick smile before heading off in the direction of the kitchen. Kurt sighed, feeling a twinge of guilt for not paying attention to his best friend, but knew she'd be alright once they had a chat about things.

"Is she okay?"

"Yeah, I think she's just not used to sharing me." Kurt turned to Blaine who was still looking a little bit worried. "She'll be alright though, once I've had a chat to her. We've been all each other has had for awhile now, we've stuck by each other through thick and thin. So I think it's a bit weird for her to see I've got someone else looking out for me." He smiled at Blaine who was looking half-flattered, half-confused.

"So why did you say you had nobody to talk to when the Karofsky thing happened?"

Kurt still flinched a little every time his name was mentioned and this time was no exception. He ignored Blaine's muttered apology as he tried to work out how best to answer.

"Mercedes loves me to death. But she doesn't understand. She knows what it's like to be bullied and slushied and hated on for no reason, that's for sure. That's why we bond so well. But this was something I couldn't talk to her about and I can't even tell her why I couldn't when she asks why I didn't go to her. And believe me, she asks. All of New Directions do."

Kurt knew he was about to reveal some stuff that his best friend hadn't wanted anybody knowing. But he also remembered Blaine's reaction to finding out that nobody from New Directions - the people who were supposed to be his McKinley family - had noticed his bullying and he didn't want another explosion, especially not in public.

"Blaine, Mercedes has never had a boyfriend. But more than that, she's never had anybody show interest in her. At least I've had that before. She's never had to reject anybody or tell them she wasn't interested. So how could I have gone to her and asked for advice on how to deal with someone who's giving me attention I don't want?"

"But it wasn't just about that, Kurt. Couldn't she have given you support as well? I mean, you'd just been assaulted - no, I'm sorry, you probably don't want to talk about this right now." Blaine looked incredibly contrite and Kurt knew his face must have paled at the word they had mutually agreed not to bring up. But it was time to deal with these things.

"It's okay." He took a deep breath. "Yes, I was assaulted. But what could she have done about that, either? Sure, we could have had girl nights and sleepovers and stuff, but she wasn't trained to deal with it. None of my friends were, and that's why I didn't expect anybody to come to help me. What I needed was for a staff member to give a crap but they didn't. I was incredibly lucky to have you there, Blaine. Someone who's gone through stuff like that who could give me advice with experience behind it. Someone who cared about me and someone I loved enough to trust, no matter what. So you can't blame Mercedes for not being there for me, it's not her fault."

Kurt frowned. Blaine was staring at him, mouth slightly agape. "Blaine?"

"Kurt... what did you just say?"

Kurt quickly ran through everything he had said in the last few minutes. _Assaulted... no teachers helped me... Blaine was the only one... loved him... _

_Oh crap._

"I - I should go... go check on Mercedes. Make sure she's alright." Kurt babbled as he started to stand up, completely intent on getting out of there and finding someone quiet to collapse and cry for the next few hours because this was too much right now.

And then a hand was on his wrist, gently holding him back. "Kurt."

It wasn't the hand that kept him there, it was the vulnerability in Blaine's voice, the way it hitched slightly as if he was trying to hold something back. Kurt turned to look at him and there was Blaine right next to him, gently tugging him down into the booth.

"Kurt, don't go. Please? I know you're embarassed -"

"Try mortified! I can't believe I just said that, I worked so hard to keep it a secret because I _knew_ you didn't feel the same way, and now you know and you're probably going to give me some righteous speech about how it's okay and you still see me as a good friend but _you_ try telling someone you love them when you know they don't feel the same -"

Kurt felt his tirade cut off abruptly as Blaine's lips crashed into his. Still struggling with his anger and embarassment, it took a few seconds for it to sink in. _Blaine's kissing me._

It wasn't anything like Kurt had thought it would be. He always imagined his first kiss to be soft and sweet after a heartfelt declaration of love between him and - the other person (he had also always imagined it would be Blaine but had never dared to hope). This kiss was full of _need_, like Blaine was trying to tell Kurt without words how much he loved him too. Kurt responded in turn, pressing himself closer to Blaine, attempting to drink him in in case this was the last time this ever happened - _but don't think that. _

After what felt like a second and an hour all rolled into one, Kurt pulled away, searching Blaine's eyes for any signs of regret. Instead, he saw so much love that his breath caught in his throat.

"Kurt, of course I love you. I just never thought you felt the same."

Kurt laughed, suddenly feeling as light as air. "We've just been typical teenage boys, haven't we?"

"What, being oblivious, then kissing? Well, most teenage boys do that with _girls_..." Blaine smirked as Kurt slapped him lightly, still smiling. "But yes. And then usually they spend a lot more time doing the second part, if you catch my drift."

"Stop waggling your eyebrows, you look like a perv." Now it was Kurt's turn to smirk as Blaine deflated slightly. "But yes, we can."

Blaine smiled at him again and leant in to capture his lips for another kiss. And now that the initial fear and urgency had worn off, they were free to gently enjoy and explore one another's lips for as long as they wanted -

"Okay, you boys are all kinds of sweet but you _need_ to cut the PDA before people start to stare."

Kurt reluctantly broke the kiss, turning to see an amused Mercedes sliding into the booth across from them with a large basket of tots. She caught his eye and nodded, and Kurt felt the tension leave him that he hadn't realized he was holding on to. He had worried that Mercedes wouldn't be able to look past her jealousy, but she seemed genuinely happy for him, though he knew they'd have to talk later.

"Now, I know the nice thing to do would be for me to leave you two alone so you can get to _know_ each other better." Kurt felt himself blush at the emphasis on the word. "But instead, I'm going to sit here and grill you for deets, then I get to threaten you," she pointed at Blaine who gulped, "and tell you what happens if you ever hurt my boy."

Kurt felt Blaine's hand slip into his and he squeezed it reassuringly, smiling at Mercedes 'bitch face'. "As long as you don't scare him away, that's a deal."

"She's not scaring me away, Kurt." Blaine still looked slightly nervous but looked at Mercedes defiantly.

"No, that's true. Kurt's dad and his shotgun will do that."

Blaine grew pale as Kurt chided Mercedes. "Okay, let's just finish our meal so you can get all the details you're salivating over, then we can go have our gossip sesh."

"Sure thing white boy." Mercedes smiled at the two of them, then held out her basket. "Tots?"

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from 2x07 to this point**

**She didn't really have her Mother Hen moment, she had her Mercedes moment instead ;)**


	33. Aftermath

_**MyUniversalWorld: you know in silly love songs after the famed WIGYA moment? Well since I love Wes and David, after this happens and kurt storms off, you should have them confront Blainey and shake him and tell him ALL about how he loves Kurt. Then he dramatically runs to find kurtie and explains all the things that he loves bout him, he's sorry, then kisses him... **_**and then this prompt continued via email... **_**maybe he was shopping trying to calm himself down and started crying in the middle of the store**_

**And a big thank you to **_**MyUniversalWorld**_** for emailing back when I had to ask for clarification of when this happened. I wasn't sure whether he stormed out of the GAP, so I watched the whole video again - well, no. I watched parts, laughed at Kurt's face when Blaine sang particularly suggestive lines and covered my eyes every time Blaine sang to Jeremiah. And then, of course, Kurt never stormed out of there so it was a total waste of time and sanity. But I got the answer so here we go! **

**Long shot here, but if anybody knows of a good site where they do transcripts for Glee shows, I'd love love love to hear about it. I do okay with my recaps but sometimes I need the exact dialogue and nobody has put it in the recap. I spent way too long looking for the moment on the bench... and couldn't find it. So I essentially made it up.**

**Edited by Angela! And for as long as she continues to edit, I will continue to plug her: SquirrelzAttack, she's writing The Warbler Drabbles and they're freaking hilarious. I can't keep a straight face long enough to edit most of the time. So, go read, review and love her. (after doing the same for me of course!)**

**This absolutely cannot be ignored. I received a prompt from MyPartnerInCrime (which unfortunately I've already kind of done) and this was it: Kurt's like "You're Gay Blaine!" and Blaine is all like "Hey man, you no being supportive of me confuzzlement here!" Well, we never really see them resolve that properly...so they could be like ARG ARG ARG (that's them being angry at each other) and then Kurt can be like "I only said all dat crap cos I love yooh!" And then Blaine can kiss him all angrily...and then they're like "ooh...yay, I love you"**

**Do you know how much I WANT to write a story like this? Way too much... So I'm considering a grammatically incorrect oneshot (even though the thought makes me cringe) based on this with a twist. Tell me honestly, if I wrote something like this would you stop following me on the spot? (I swear there'd be more to it than bad spelling. I swear!)**

* * *

Aftermath

Jeremiah walked away and Blaine watched him go. Even though there was a weight in his heart, strangely enough he didn't feel as upset as he thought he would. There was almost a sense of relief that his silly crush had been .. well, crushed. Because that meant when he truly fell for someone, he would know what to expect if things didn't work out. And it gave him the chance to keep looking. _Perhaps someone your own age is a good start._

Blaine realized Kurt hadn't said anything and turned to him, only to see him standing up. "Kurt, where are you going?"

Kurt turned back to look at him and Blaine froze as their eyes connected. He had never seen Kurt so ... _angry?_ Without a word, Kurt turned and strode away in the direction of the shops.

Blaine stayed frozen, trying to work out what would provoke that anger in his friend. And was it just anger? There seemed to be something else under the surface -

"Blaine Anderson, you are an idiot."

There was a thud on either side of him as Wes and David sat down on the bench. Blaine turned to Wes who had spoken, glaring. "Don't you think I feel awful enough, Wes? I just sung to a guy who got _fired_ because of me and rejected me, now Kurt's angry and I don't know why -"

"And that's where you're an idiot." David chimed in from the other side, Blaine now focusing his ire on him. Before he could speak, David continued. "We know why Kurt's angry."

"Yep, and it's your fault." Blaine was starting to feel like he was watching a game of ping pong so he stood, turning to face his friends.

"Well, by all means, tell me so I can go fix the problem," he spat out, glancing in the direction Kurt had disappeared to. No sign of him.

"Why did you sing to Jeremiah?"

Blaine felt his face flush as it did any time he talked about guys with his two straight-as-rulers friends. "Well... I don't know. He was cute, we got on well, I thought maybe -"

"Were you attracted to him?" David asked bluntly.

"I - I thought so - maybe -"

"No, you weren't. Blaine, what you have is Singleitis." Blaine raised an eyebrow at how official Wes could make his made up term sound. "Valentines Day comes around and you get lonely, wanting someone to share it with. So you jump the closest guy you think you could possibly have a chance with. If that had been successful, you guys would've broken up within the next two weeks anyway."

"Dating someone on Valentines Day doesn't work," David agreed. "I mean, think of all of Wes' failed attempts."

"Shut up, David," Wes calmly told his friend, then continued. "So, here's the question. You and Kurt are friends, you're gay, he's gay. Why not him?"

"What? I could never do that to Kurt! He means too much to me."

David smirked as Blaine hastily added, "As a friend!"

"No, Blaine, that's where you're wrong." Wes stood so he was eye-to-eye with Blaine. "You were never attracted to Jeremiah because you're attracted to _Kurt_. You've just let yourself stay blind to that because it's the first time you've felt something real for someone and you don't want to screw it up. Think about it some and you'll realize it's true."

David also stood, continuing on from where Wes left off while Blaine's mind frantically tried to catch up. "Now, why did Kurt run off all mad? Well, he wasn't _all_ mad. He was fairly upset too. And the reason; he was _naive_ enough to think you were going to sing to him. Funnily enough, we all were. Blaine, we never would've agreed to this if we hadn't thought it was going to be _Kurt_ you were singing to. You didn't see him in that meeting. He was so eager to back you up and make sure you could sing that song, until he found out you were singing to Jeremiah. Then he just ... he deflated. I wanted to go give him a hug right there and then because I _saw_ his heart break. I also wanted to hit you for doing that, and possibly call off this, but by then it was too late and Wes wouldn't lend me his gavel."

"So, in conclusion," Wes chipped in, giving a meaningful look to David, "you've been an idiot and Kurt's probably off crying in one of the stores because he thinks you'll never see him as anything more than a friend."

"Oh, and because he just saw you serenade another guy. That's probably made him cry too. But anyway, go talk to him. I think he went in there." David pointed towards Meijer(1) and Blaine eyed it up apprehensively.

"What if he won't talk to me?"

"Well, just don't sing to him, that's all we ask. We've got a ban from The Gap now, and I quite like shopping in Meijer. But I think, if you explain what's going on he might be willing to listen. Just don't break his heart again, Blaine."

"I won't." Blaine was still staring at the store but there was now a determination in his eyes. Wes and David both clapped him on the shoulder before walking back to where the rest of the Warblers were milling around, enjoying their freedom. Blaine took a deep breath and crossed the road to Meijer. His heart sank as he walked into the huge store - _how am I supposed to find Kurt in here? _Then his eye caught the _Beauty and Health_ sign and he smiled slightly, heading over in that direction. When he reached the section, he slowed and carefully checked each aisle, not wanting to scare off his friend.

Three aisles in, Blaine turned the corner and froze. _Kurt_. He was standing with his back to Blaine, holding a bottle of some product and pretending to be interested in it, but Blaine could see his shoulders shaking. He walked over, loud enough that Kurt could hear him and wouldn't freak out, and gently took the bottle out of his hand, putting it back on the shelf before opening his arms wordlessly to the younger boy. At first, Kurt refused, but then his face crumpled and he collapsed into Blaine. Blaine rubbed his back and made small murmuring noises of comfort as each sob stabbed into his heart. _How could I hurt him so badly?_

After awhile, Kurt drew away, wiping his eyes and avoiding looking at Blaine. He picked up the basket that Blaine had somehow missed, which was crammed full of products. Blaine looked at the nearest price tag, then quickly took the basket from Kurt.

"Hey, I know you shop when you're upset but you're going to max out your credit card and then your dad will flip. How about we leave this stuff here and go talk about what's going on?" He put the basket back down and took Kurt's arm, gently steering him out of the store before the younger boy could complain. They sat down on a bench outside, Kurt still refusing to look at Blaine. Blaine was uncomfortably aware that they were in plain sight of the Warblers but Kurt was more important right now.

"Kurt, look at me. Please?"

Kurt sighed and looked up. Blaine's breath caught for a second because he was so _beautiful_. But then he took in the pain-filled eyes and remembered why he was here.

"Kurt, I've been an idiot. I thought I could go after some random guy who I barely even known and get a boyfriend that way. Clearly, I was wrong" Kurt looked down again and Blaine grabbed his chin, tilting his head up so they were looking at each other again.

"But what I did was wrong on so many levels. I was wrong to do that to Jeremiah, and now he's lost his job and thinks I'm a crazy stalker. I was wrong to do that to the Warblers, who are now banned from Gap performances and probably also think I'm a crazy stalker and are very unimpressed with me for upsetting you like that." Blaine glanced at Wes and David who were pretending not to watch. "I was wrong to do that to you. Even though I wasn't aware that you liked me, I never even talked to you about it. And the signs were all there, I just chose to ignore them. And I was wrong to do that to me, because I was just building up a big lie in my head, trying to convince myself that I didn't like you."

"I definitely heard you wrong." Kurt stared at Blaine in complete confusion.

"No, you heard right." Blaine sighed. "Kurt, I know nothing about romance. I'm the kind of guy who thinks _When I Get You Alone _is _romantic_, for goodness sake. I went after everything I saw in movies and - don't you laugh at me, Kurt Hummel!" But Blaine was smiling because at least Kurt was happy again. "Yes, I did do that. I thought that the mysterious Gap worker was the guy I was going to be with and serenading him at work was the most romantic thing I could do and he'd fall for me and - and then I realized while I was singing to him that this was stupid. Because love isn't something you make. It's what you find."

"Blaine, that is so cliche." But Kurt was smiling and Blaine could see the hope that had ignited in his eyes.

"But true. I found you, Kurt. You've been right there the whole time and I wouldn't let myself see you as anything more than a friend. After everything you'd been through, and I was the mentor -"

"Blaine, does this look like a guy who needs mentoring?"

And before Blaine could register the words, Kurt had leant in and kissed him.

Blaine heard wolf-whistles coming from the Warblers but ignored them, focusing on the fact that Kurt Hummel was kissing him. A pretty easy thing to focus on, it turned out.

Kurt pulled away with the most beautiful expression on his face and Blaine just wanted to kiss him again. He refrained, however, knowing he'd better do things right. "So, Kurt Hummel, would you be my Valentine?"

Kurt looked as if he was thinking very seriously. "Well, I don't usually celebrate Valentines Day..." He trailed off, laughing at the look on Blaine's face. "Yes, of course I will."

* * *

**Rotting-teeth-fluff-ness for the ending. Cause you guys seem to like that. **

**(1) I have never been to Meijer. I Google Mapped the two Gaps in Westerville (assuming they went to one of those) and then looked at the shops around them and this was the ONLY one I could imagine Kurt going into at all because it has health and beauty stuff in it. So if there was a Guess or something there that he would've gone into instead, I apologize but I didn't want to write it and be wrong. I could be wrong anyway, but whatever.**

**Rocking out to the Warbler album! I only bought select songs from it, then realized that somehow after all this time, I hadn't bought _Teenage Dream_.. so I went on and they said I could complete my album for $3 and get 7 songs! And I'm working my way through to _Do Ya Think I'm Sexy_ and hoping I don't swoon... I kinda forgot how _Hey Soul Sister_ is a very different song than the rest... it's more subdued in my opinion and I both like and dislike that because I think Darren seriously could've killed that song, but he just sung it well instead. Oh rest of the songs definitely make up for it. I used to have an issue with _Billsx3 _but I'm quite liking it now... **

**Sorry this was late by the way! I lost track of time... :S clearly... see above ^**


	34. Tutoring

**Italians are sexy... wow. We're watching American Idol (not that I'm American...) and Il Volo are all kinds of ... wow. Swoon? I think so. So, do I have any Italians reading? ;)**

**Okay, recovered. I can't believe I still haven't seen the video of Darren singing in Italian... stupid lack of broadband. Oh, and to all the people who dared me not to swoon when I listened to _Do Ya Think I'm Sexy? ... _I'd love to say challenge accepted but as soon as it hit the chorus I was flat on my back on my bed with the most ridiculous smile on my face. So I failed (and flailed!) but it was absolutely worth it. Darren Criss is a life ruiner! **

_**This comes from ashKITTYKAT77: I'm just going to give you one word... tutoring. I just thought it would be cool if Kurt said 'I love you' in French...**_

**That was definitely more than one word... ;) And I realized as I was getting ready to post this that it wasn't run by my beta which really sucks because she actually speaks French... I apologize in advance if the translations are off. I used one of those online ones that are barely ever trustworthy. **

**Enjoy! **

* * *

Tutoring

"Kurt, this makes _no_ sense."

Blaine threw down the textbook in frustration, looking up to where the younger boy sat typing away at an essay. He took a moment to admire how gorgeous his roommate looked when he was concentrating, then realized Kurt was talking to him.

"Blaine, I explained it to you five minutes ago. How have you forgotten already?"

"Because I don't understand written French!" Blaine rolled onto his back and stared at the roof. "It's complete gibberish to me, it's kind of like -" he searched for an appropriate word, noting Kurt closing his laptop out of the corner of his eye.

"Like another language?"

"Yes!" Blaine heard Kurt start sniggering as he blushed. "Shut up, that was cruel. It's like you and math. You don't get that easily."

"No, but I keep trying until I do get it. You give up after five minutes." Blaine sat up, kicking his legs over the side of the bed and facing his exasperated friend. "Honestly, Blaine, I don't get it. You can speak French nearly as well as me and you write it coherently. But you can't understand it when someone else says or writes it?"

Blaine shrugged. "I can't help the way my mind works. Besides, we can't all be fluent like you. Can you give me more practice stuff, please?"

"The textbook has plenty of practice sentences."

"But they don't have practice listening stuff." Blaine gave Kurt his best puppy-dog eyes. "Please?" He smiled happily when Kurt sighed and agreed, knowing full well that he didn't want to learn French so much as hear his friend talk French because that was _hot_.

"Okay.. let me think... Je n'ai jamais eu le courage pour le dire auparavant, mais je crois que je vous aime."(1)

Blaine blinked, trying to wrap his head around the words and not be distracted by the sexy French accent Kurt had just used. "Um..."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Give me that." He took the paper from Blaine's hands and quickly wrote it down. "When you have an answer, in French, let me know. Meanwhile, I'll be studying _A Man For All Seasons_." He opened his laptop again and busied himself typing.

Blaine looked down at the piece of paper that had the words Kurt had just spoken on it. He opened his mouth to complain about how difficult it was, then snapped it shut again as he processed the last few minutes. There had been a look on Blaine's face that he had only seen once before, when he was telling Blaine about the Karofsky thing. It looked like he was drawing up the courage to say something big. He snuck a peek at Kurt who was biting his lip in concentration and decided he'd work all damn night if he had to, but he wanted to know what that message said. He skimmed over it one more time, noting the word _courage_ and then his mind caught on the word _aime_. _Isn't that to do with love...?_

Blaine pulled out his dictionary and set to work.

* * *

Kurt typed away hurridly, pretending to work on his essay but actually instant messaging Mercedes.

_He's translating it now, I can't believe I did that - K_

_Well white boy, it's the moment of truth. Listen, I've got to go, shopping with Q today but text me and tell me how it goes. If it doesn't work out, we'll have a Gossip Girl sesh, okay? - M_

_Alright. You two have fun - K_

_Same to you ;) - M_

Kurt pressed his lips together to supress a laugh, closing the window. He had just started getting back into his essay when he heard a soft gasp from Blaine. _Don't look up, don't look up.. _he chanted to himself, focusing on his computer screen until he knew Blaine wasn't looking and felt safe in sneaking a peek at him.

Blaine was scribbling furiously at the bottom of the page, his brow furrowed. Kurt's heart sank as he interpreted the concentration as Blaine trying to find the best way to break the bad news to him. The silence dragged on until Kurt couldn't bear it anymore. He was just about to scream _Just tell me already! _when Blaine looked up and caught his eye.

"Kurt. Je crois que je vous ai aimés pour toujours."

Kurt stared at Blaine as the words filtered into his brain and automatically translated for him. Blaine pushed the piece of paper over to him and he read it twice, trying to comprehend what he was _sure_ his brain had gotten wrong.

_Kurt, I think I've loved you forever_.

And then he was out of his seat, laptop discarded, rushing over to Blaine and before either of them knew what he was doing, he kissed him.

Brittany's lips had tasted like rootbeer. Karofsky had the remnant taste of cheeseburger, something Kurt could never stomach after that day. But Blaine... his lips tasted a little like coffee, but so much like something Kurt couldn't put his finger on. _Blaine tastes like ... Blaine._

And then the taste of Blaine receeded as he pulled away, linking his hands in Kurt's. "Well, I was all set to look up, "Will you be my boyfriend?" in French and then take it from there, but you seem to have other plans."

Kurt nudged him playfully and they sat in comfortable silence for a moment, both lost in their thoughts until Kurt broke it.

"You know, you still have your French exam tomorrow."

Blaine groaned, glaring at the textbook on the floor. "I don't want to..."

Kurt winked at him. "I'm sure we can come up with a suitable _reward system_." He deliberately made his voice as alluring as possible and watched with amusement as Blaine's eyes glazed over.

"You know, I'm suddenly in the mood for learning French verbs."

* * *

**(1) ****I translated this off a website (and the one below it), checked it twice to make sure it would make sense when it translated back and then copied it here. If it's wrong, I apologize but I don't know French. Also, the page this was on had an advert for creating avatars and there was a Chris Colfer one! Seriously! Uh, anyway, the translation is: I've never had the courage to say so before but I think I love you.**

**I would pay good money for that piece of paper with their confessions of love in French on it. Along with the film strip from a few chapters back, that blazer signed by Darren Criss, a "Keep calm and warble on" shirt and Darren Criss. Only one of those things is actually for sale, and I plan to get one ASAP! **

**(I also plan to get the "Keep calm, it's going to be totally awesome!" shirt. A Very freaking Potter Musical FTW!)**


	35. Water

**Time to talk to you guys about something important. Now, I love getting prompts. I adore them. But I need to say something about AU prompts. I'm all for them too, but I am struggling when I get a prompt that's going to take a long time to develop a relationship. Like, Kurt and Blaine meeting for the first time and leading to a first kiss. That's going to take a _lot_ of development. I don't mind doing a few of these occasionally, but this is a story of oneshots. They're not meant to be thousands of words long. If you guys really want to see something in particular like that and you know it's going to be long, I'd request that you send me a message and ask if I can write a separate oneshot about it. I love writing so usually I'll agree, I'm just feeling pressure to put longer AU style oneshots in here and I think it'll take away from what this story is really about. **

**Also, if you guys ever see something in here and think 'I wonder how that continued after the kiss' or 'I wonder how that all began', feel free to message me and ask for a oneshot that gives more detail. A lot of the time I hate cutting stories off where I do and I could write all day, but I cut them off because again, this is a series of oneshots. I've already had someone ask for the origin of the road trips in my RoadTrip chapter and another person ask what drunken things Blaine said about the Warblers that Kurt alluded to in Fair and I'm looking forward to writing both :) so feel free to do that, but I do reserve the right to say no if I'm too overworked. **

_**This comes from yeah. she sure is beautiful **_**and similarly prompted by **_**wynnie the pooh: it would be really awesome if Kurt and Blaine kissed in water, like at a water park or a water party somewhere.**_

**Squee! ****This was also loosely prompted by_ 'Pink. Vampire. Skittle'_ except their version was slightly more ... *cough* erm, risque? Anyway, sorry to disappoint but I didn't make Kurt smoking hot... I mean, he is. But I didn't make the whole story about him taking his shirt off and Blaine jumping him. If I had, it would definitely be shorter and the rating would need to go up. Speaking of ratings, what do you guys think it should be on so far? **

**The water park is very very loosely based on Wet 'n' Wild in Australia.**

**Angela's back and she's editing again! She was only gone for one day... but I still missed her! She's my hyperactive buddy.. we've currently in the middle of A Very Potter Musical Quote-Off... it's totally awesome. **

**P.S. The second chapter of _A Very Klaine Musical _is on its way! **

* * *

Water

"WE'RE HERE!"

Kurt winced, pulling a headphone out of his ear and switching off his music. Blaine took the other one and handed it back to him, rolling his neck to try and ease the tension before grinning at Kurt.

"Excited?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "No, not really. But I think there's enough excitement to go around." He waved a hand to where all the Warblers were eagerly scrambling off the bus, pushing each other to be the first off.

"It's a water park, Kurt! How can you not be excited?" Blaine was hopping up and down in his seat, waiting for Kurt to stand up as the bus cleared.

Kurt smiled at his overexcited boyfriend, still trying to get used to that word in his head. It was only three days since a nervous Blaine had come into his room and spilled out his heart, right in the middle of Kurt's essay. Ever since then, Kurt had worried about how he was supposed to act around a boyfriend Blaine but it appeared they would, for now, just be friends who held hands and hugged more often than normal. And Kurt was okay with that.

"It's just water, Blaine. 75% of the planet is made of it." Grabbing his bag, Kurt finally stood up, Blaine following suit. As they stepped off the bus and eyed up the almost-deserted water park, Kurt felt a stab of nervousness. He quickly hid it as his boyfriend took his hand, almost pulling him in.

"Look, Kurt, it's all ours!" Blaine spun in circles, looking at all the empty rides and Kurt couldn't help but laugh. David's request to his parents for his seventeenth birthday was to have the entire park to themselves for the day and somehow - Kurt didn't _want_ to think how much something like this would cost - they had arranged it. Another quick talk (and probably another donation) to Dalton secured the use of one of their buses for the day and the entire Warbler group was off for a day of fun.

Well, fun for most.

"Come on, Kurt, let's put our stuff down and go get changed." Blaine was dragging him to the changing rooms and Kurt attempted to breathe calmly, knowing the inevitable was coming. They chucked their bags on the bench with the rest of the Warblers' stuff and Blaine grabbed the sunblock out before turning to Kurt.

"Hey, I'll need you to put this on my back - what's wrong, Kurt?"

Kurt snapped to attention and tried to smile, but Blaine had caught on to him. Putting the sunblock down, he stepped over and pulled Kurt into a hug. Kurt waited until his hands had stopped shaking then pulled away, sitting down on the bench, Blaine following suit.

"What is it? You're not scared of water are you? Because you could've told me, I wouldn't have made you come -"

"No, it's not that." Kurt sighed. "I guess you would have found out eventually." He reached for the bottom of his shirt, pulling it over his head and refusing to look at his boyfriend.

"Tell me about them?" Kurt looked up, surprised. Blaine's voice was so gentle and understanding that Kurt found himself sharing stories he never thought he'd have to bring up again.

"Most of them are from various dumpster tosses where somebody didn't judge it properly and I hit something sharp, or locker slams. This one here," Kurt pointed to a large scar running along his left side, "is from getting pushed into an open locker door. Azimo. And that," he gestured to his shoulder where a large faded mark was, "Karofsky. When he grabbed my shoulder and -" Kurt trailed off, ducking his head again.

Then he jumped because a set of fingers were gently tracing the scars along his chest. He looked at Blaine who was staring into his eyes intently. "You're beautiful, Kurt."

Kurt felt himself choke up slightly as Blaine ran his hand over his shoulder, then took it away and reached for his own shirt. Pulling it over his head, Kurt couldn't hide a gasp as Blaine's torso was revealed. "You too -?"

Blaine nodded, biting his lip slightly and Kurt knew he wasn't the only one who was insecure about his body. Stepping forward, he reached out hesitantly to touch the scar on Blaine's collarbone.

"Edge of a classroom door, four months before I left." Blaine answered his unspoken question before turning around to show the long thin scar that travelled halfway down his back, Kurt sucking in his breath at the sight of it. "And that was from the flight of stairs that prompted my transfer."

Blaine had told him the story of what had happened, but he had never seen proof of it. Kurt ran a hand down the scar, feeling Blaine shiver slightly at the contact before turning around again and taking Kurt's hands. "You're definitely not the only one. There are other boys out there who have come from bullying situations too. They've all got their own scars. Not all of them are physical scars - though you will see a few - but they know what it's like. Nobody's going to stare or say anything, I promise." He smiled at Kurt before it turned into a smirk. "Now, are you going to help me with my sunblock or not?"

Kurt swallowed, suddenly feeling his heart beating in his ears. "Um.. sure," he stammered out, grabbing the bottle as Blaine turned back around. He uncapped it and squirted a small amount onto his hands, hesitating slightly before touching Blaine's back.

_Oh sweet Gaga, he's so warm!_

Kurt felt Blaine tense slightly, then relax completely into his hands. They were both aware that this was the most skin-on-skin contact they had experienced in their relationship so far and Kurt desperately tried to keep his mind on the fact that it was innocent. But still, it was _Blaine_ and his skin was so _soft_ and -

"All done!" Kurt removed his hands from Blaine's back. As he grabbed the sunblock and rubbed it into the rest of his body, Kurt took a moment to cool off, not knowing that Blaine, still facing the other direction, was doing the same. He turned around and they smiled, breaking the tension quickly.

"Do you need yours done?" Blaine asked, and his hands were hovering so invitingly that Kurt was glad he hadn't done his sunblock before he left like normal. He nodded, turning around and then -

_Oh. Oh. Wow._

Kurt didn't even know time had passed before Blaine's hands left his back. He realized his eyes had drifted shut and opened them quickly, turning around to catch a slightly flushed looking Blaine. Kurt cleared his throat and finished putting on his sunblock while Blaine busied himself grabbing their towels. "Shall we?" he gestured, holding an arm out to Kurt who rolled his eyes.

"Lead on, good sir!" Kurt took the arm with a flourish and the two wandered out of the change room.

* * *

Chaos.

"I never knew eighteen boys could make enough noise for a couple of hundred," Kurt said, staring at Wes and David fighting Nick and Thad in the water. The rest of the boys were off experiencing the rides and Kurt looked around trying to take it all in. There were five different thrill-seeker style hydroslides, a huge wave pool, as well as various other slides, games and pools, each of which were emitting the sounds of various Warblers screaming and yelling.

"That's the Warblers for you. So what's your favourite ride here?" Blaine was also surveying the park, wearing a pair of bright pink sunglasses that Kurt would usually abhor but on Blaine they looked surprisingly good.

"I've, uh, never been." Kurt admitted quietly. Somehow, Wes heard him through the noise and stopped dead, throwing David off his shoulders accidentally. Or possibly on purpose. Kurt wasn't sure.

"YOU'VE NEVER COME HERE, KURT?" The other boys all turned as one to stare at the now-embarassed Kurt who nodded quickly.

"Dude, you _have_ to let us show you around!" Thad jumped off Nick's shoulders and ran over to Kurt, the rest following suit. "I know you and Blaine want to spend the day getting cuddly, and you can later, but for now let us give you the experience!"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Thad's choice of words, then glanced at Blaine who shrugged. "Alright," he agreed. "Where to first?"

"THAT ONE!" Wes took off towards a giant orange and blue slide, the other three boys in hot pursuit. Kurt winced and looked at Blaine who was doing the same.

"They're exciteable but they mean well. Let's go before they break something."

Kurt agreed and they followed at a more sedate pace, catching the other boys at the bottom of the ride where Wes was, as per usual, dishing out instructions. "Now, we can either go in three groups of two or two groups of three or a group of four and a group of two -"

"That sounds excellent," Blaine cut in. "Why don't you guys go on ahead?"

Thad began to make a comment before Nick slapped a hand over his mouth and started dragging him up the stairs that Wes and David had already begun to scale. Kurt looked up at the ride, then at Blaine who was grabbing a tube. "Um, what do you actually do on this?"

Blaine smirked. "I'm not going to tell you, because otherwise you won't go on it. Just... trust me?"

Kurt sighed. "Don't I always? Let's go." Grabbing the other side of the tube, he helped Blaine lug it up the stairs to where the other four boys were just disappearing over the side. Blaine set the tube down and gestured to Kurt to hop in before slipping in beside him and wrapping an arm around him. Kurt copied the gesture so they were both holding onto the handrails and before Blaine could let go, Kurt got a glimpse of the giant cone-shaped slide they were about to enter.

"Blaine, I've got a bad feeling about this. I think maybe we should - AHHHH! BLAINE!"

"ISN'T THIS FUN!" Blaine was laughing as the tube spun around the cone, Kurt screaming his head off.

"I HATE YOU, BLAINE! I HATE YOU, BLAINE!" Kurt repeated his screamed mantra until they reached the bottom, coasting to a stop in the water where the others were waiting in hysterics.

"Come on, wasn't that fun?" Kurt sighed, looking at his boyfriend.

"Yes, it was. But I still hate you!"(1)

"Come on, guys, there's like a million more rides!" David grabbed Kurt's arm while Wes grabbed Blaine's, dragging them in a chain towards the rest of the rides. Kurt mentally sighed and prepared himself for a long day.

* * *

Thanks to the other boys, they experienced every single ride possible, even when Kurt threatened them with bodily harm if they made him do it. And, to his credit, Kurt could admit he had enjoyed nearly all of them. They had now stopped for a late lunch before the other four were going to head back to do all the rides again.

"Hey, what's say we skip out and go find something else to do?" Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear and his face lit up, nodding frantically.

"Oh, let's do that one again!" The boys had come to a consensus on which ride to do and were now grabbing their stuff and heading off. "Wait, aren't you guys coming?"

Blaine gave Wes a _look_ and he quickly backed off. "Okay, well we'll see you later. Remember, the movie's showing in the wave pool at seven!"

The boys bolted towards the next ride and Kurt sighed in relief. "Thanks. They're great guys but I need a break."

"Same." Blaine smiled in that way that made Kurt's stomach flip, taking his hand gently. "Besides, I wanted to spend some time with you. We don't get enough of it at Dalton and I find myself missing you even when you're there."

"Blaine, that is possibly the cheesiest thing I've ever heard." But Kurt couldn't keep the smile off his face and he didn't really care. Blaine knew what to say to get to his heart.

"You know you love it. Anyway, what do you feel like doing? We've got an entire water park at our disposal, after all."

Kurt surveyed the park, looking for something to do. "Why don't we just swim for a bit?" he said, pointing to the standard pool that was currently empty. Blaine nodded in agreement and they headed over, dropping their towels beside it. Kurt was about to head to the stairs when he was suddenly reminded that he and Blaine were still holding hands. Forcibly. When Blaine jumped into the pool, dragging Kurt along with him.

"That was not fair!" Kurt yelped when he resurfaced. Blaine chuckled, pulling him across to the wall where they could sit together.

"Are you having fun?" Blaine asked and Kurt could see the hints of worry on his face which Kurt was quick to dispel.

"It's actually better than I thought it would be, and spending time with you has been wonderful of course." He smiled at Blaine, feeling his heart melt when Blaine smiled back.

"Good." Kurt felt Blaine's arm wrap around him and he rested his head on Blaine's shoulder in return, letting a comfortable silence drift around them broken only by the water lapping at their legs and the yells of various Warblers in the distance. Time flew by as they sat there, and Kurt's thoughts swirled around in his head, all coming back to Blaine. The relationship was going amazing so far and Kurt knew Blaine was holding back to make sure he was okay with the Karofsky thing before going any further physically. Kurt had done a lot of thinking over the past few days and had decided that he was ready. _But how do I make the first move? _His eye caught on the water and an idea sprung to mind.

"Come with me," he said, raising his head from Blaine's shoulder and gently pulling him out into the water. Blaine raised an eyebrow but followed him out a short way from the wall to where they were both treading water, the bottom of the pool just out of reach. Kurt turned to look at Blaine - _his_ Blaine - before taking a deep breath and ducking under the water, gesturing for Blaine to do the same.

Underneath the surface, Blaine looked possibly even more adorable than usual with his hair floating around everywhere and cheeks slightly puffed out from holding his breath. Kurt pulled him into his arms, aware of the water slowing everything down in his actions, then plucked up all of his courage and leant in.

Kurt could now truthfully say that his first kiss was wet, but thankfully not because Blaine was crying or had no control over his tongue. He could feel Blaine's lips under his, slippery because of the water but still _so beautiful_. He wanted to deepen the kiss but knew under their current situation it wouldn't work, so he pulled Blaine up. They broke the surface, still kissing, Kurt pushing Blaine towards the wall where they could sit down again, and Kurt found himself on Blaine's lap without quite knowing how he got there but he didn't know anything apart from Blaine's lips and mouth and everything was intoxicating and wonderful.

Finally, they broke apart, Kurt reveling in the way Blaine's cheeks were flushed and his eyes half-glazed over, as if unsure that it really had happened. A moment later, he focused on Kurt who was still staring at him. He opened his mouth as if to speak but nothing came out.

"Did I break you, Blaine?" Kurt chuckled but the voice at the back of his mind suddenly piped up; _what if he didn't like it? _

"You - I - we -" Blaine shook his head helplessly and now Kurt was starting to freak out.

"I'm sorry, I thought you wanted it too, I - I should go -" Kurt moved to go but was stopped by Blaine's hands on his hips.

"You talk too much," Blaine growled - _growled!_ - and leant in for another kiss. And now it was Kurt's turn to freeze before happily losing himself in the kiss, tangling his hands through Blaine's hair.

"KLAINE IN THE MAKING! Wes, you owe me $10!"

Kurt pulled away, sharing a look with Blaine before they both turned murderous glances on Nick who was being rapidly dragged away by Thad. Wes was mouthing apologies to them while David seemed unbothered. "We just came to let you know that dinner's all ready. Take your time though!" He went to say something else but Wes clapped a hand over his mouth and pulled him in the direction of the food.

"I suppose we'd better go, hadn't we?" Kurt said, making no indication of getting up.

"Probably," agreed Blaine, still staring at Kurt. "That was amazing, you know?"

"Yes, I do know. I was there." Kurt smirked at his boyfriend who was rolling his eyes. "But yes, it was. And we're definitely going to be doing more of that in the future, but for now the others are spreading rumors about what we're up to so we'd best go." This time he actually did move, reluctantly getting off Blaine's lap and hopping out of the pool. Blaine followed suit and they dried off before heading over to the barbeque that one of the crew members was working for them. Grabbing their food, they joined the rest of the Warblers sprawled around the lawn in the slowly setting sun. The boys finally looked close to tired out and so not much was said about Kurt and Blaine, which was just how they liked it.

Finally, everyone finished their food and headed over to the wave pool to watch the movie. Kurt and Blaine wandered along at the back of the group, arriving to find there was only one tube left. Blaine looked at Kurt for a second before smiling. "This gives me the chance to do this." He sat down in the tube then pulled Kurt into his lap, who squealed slightly then pretended he hadn't as he wrapped his arms around his boyfriend.

The movie showing that night was, per request of David, _Star Wars_. Neither Kurt or Blaine were huge fans, so while the rest of the boys had lightsaber fights and fell out of tubes, the two took the chance to cuddle and talk.

The night finally quietened down with most of the boys running out of steam and settling in to watch the movie. In the dark, Kurt looked at Blaine, barely able to make him out. He leant in to kiss him quickly before murmuring, "I love you," against his lips. He felt Blaine smile as he whispered "I love you too."

* * *

**(1) This is what happened when I forced my friend onto this ride. It was freaking hilarious.**

**My fluff meter is off the chart for sappy endings lately. I also wasn't particularly comfortable with how this came out, it just seems a bit off to me. Angela agreed when she beta'd it, but we couldn't work out what it was. It didn't deter me enough not to publish, so there we go.**

**Oh and when Blaine rolled his neck, right at the start, did anyone else think of them backstage at Regionals? "I think it's adorable, I think _you're _adorable." I still literally squeal when I think of that moment because _seriously? _Cute to the max. **


	36. Revealation

**I have a job interview tomorrow! I'm nervous as hell but it's a good thing because I need money. **

**From**_** Kat3418 **_**and similarly prompted by **_**ChroniclesofNarniaGoTandSJA, Lozzipalooza X **_**and **_**TwihardGleek2011: OK so at the end of the episode is when they sing Born This Way, and Kurt is wearing the 'Likes Boys' shirt...what if Blaine and the Warblers were invited to watch and THATS when Blaine had his little revelation about Kurt? Because lets face it, Kurt is actually dancing in this episode and its much sexier than Blackbird...and showcases the deeper tones of Kurt's voice.**_

**The ideas I had when I saw this! Though I can't imagine Rachel ever voluntarily inviting the 'spies' in... Oh, and just because it helps the story go better, Rachel has already come in and told them she's not getting a nose job. So they're all there, and then the Warblers arrive.**

**By the way, ever since I wrote this, I haven't been able to think about the _Born This Way_ episode the same. I keep seeing my version of it. And I watched the video again and was surprised that the Warblers WEREN'T there. Sigh... Fanfiction is taking over my life.**

**Edited by SquirrelzAttack, who just posted a pretty gorgeous chapter to The Warbler Drabbles with the perfect amount of angst. Go, read, admire. **

* * *

Reveal-ation

"Blaine! Guys, you made it!"

Blaine smiled as he saw Kurt coming towards him, admiring for a second how good he looked when he wasn't in uniform. Kurt always did have the best fashion sense, even though he was just wearing a red checkered jacket and jeans. But his _hair __-_

"Hi Kurt!" The two human bullets Blaine called his friends came tearing past and engulfed the laughing boy in a hug. As the rest of the Warblers greeted Kurt, Blaine took a moment to get his head back together before stepping forward to hug Kurt.

"How are things?" Blaine pulled back, still holding Kurt's arms as if scrutinizing him for bruises. Which, in fact, he was.

"It's all fine, Blaine. You know I would've told you if things weren't going well." Kurt smiled and Blaine couldn't help smiling in return. He'd _missed_ that smile.

"Thanks for inviting us along, Kurt." Wes gestured to the Warblers who were all finding seats, chattering excitedly.

"Well, considering you guys aren't competition anymore, and I trust you won't steal our secrets and sell them to Vocal Adrenaline, you're very welcome here. Besides, today's performance is pretty special and we wanted you to see it."

Was that his imagination, or did Kurt's gaze linger on him a second longer there? Blaine shrugged it off as they all wished Kurt good luck and sat down. Blaine watched Kurt walk backstage, seeing the white of his shirt peeking out underneath the back of the jacket and wondering what was written on it. Kurt had told him about the assignment the other night when he had invited him along.

"_It's going to be amazing, Blaine. We all have to put something on that we were born with and we can't change, or things about us that we're insecure about. Mercedes has been helping me with mine."_

"_Going to tell me what you put?"_

"_Not a chance. Just wait and see."_

Blaine snapped back to reality when he felt an elbow in the ribs. He turned to see Wes and David grinning at him and realized he had been staring at Kurt. "Sorry, got lost in thought there."

"Oh, I bet you did." David raised his eyebrows suggestively and Blaine chose to ignore that. _It's not like you have feelings for Kurt. Right?_

* * *

"Are they here?" Mercedes asked the second Kurt walked backstage.

"Yeah. 'Cedes, I don't know about this anymore -"

"Kurt Hummel, don't you even think about backing out! You pulled enough strings to be able to do this, you're damn well going to do it! I spent _hours_ working on that shirt for you."

"Okay, okay!" Kurt raised his hands. "I'll do it."

"That's my boy. He's going to love it anyway. Show me the shirt?" Kurt opened his jacket to reveal his white LIKES BOYS shirt and Mercedes nodded approvingly. "Good. Now get out there and start the show!"

* * *

Kurt walked out in front of the curtain, standing centre stage and the whispering stopped, Blaine sitting up a little bit straighter. "Welcome, Warblers, to the New Directions performance of _Born This Way_. We hope you enjoy."

The music started and Kurt stared straight out into the audience.

"_It doesn't matter if you love him,_

_Or capital H-I-M,"_

_No, Blaine, Kurt did not just point in your direction. He pointed to the Warblers in general. _David whistled from beside him and Wes yelled "That's our Kurt!"

"_Just put your paws up, _

_Cause you were born this way, baby."_

Blaine smiled as the girls pulled the sides of Kurt's jacket apart to reveal the large print letters on his shirt. LIKES BOYS. Of course. On either side of him, Wes and David cheered loudly. And then -

Blaine felt himself going numb. _Kurt - he can __**dance**__. _

Tina began to sing from in the middle but Blaine paid no attention to her, focused completely on Kurt. How had he never noticed that Kurt was so ... so ...

_Hot?_

Blaine blinked. But now that the word was there, it made so much sense. _Yes, Kurt Hummel is hot._

Mercedes took over the lead vocals and Blaine took a moment to appreciate her voice before Kurt started shaking his hips and Blaine was gone. Mercedes put her hand under Kurt's chin and he _smiled_ and Blaine was surprised he wasn't a puddle on the floor already. This was _incredible_.

Then the rest of New Directions came out on stage and Blaine gratefully focused on the rest of their shirts. He laughed when he saw Mike's CAN'T SING shirt, Kurt having told him about that awhile ago - "Seriously, Kurt? How can he be in a _Glee club_ and not be able to sing?" - and noticed nearly everyone else had their jackets zipped up still.

And then Kurt strode to the front of the group, ditching the jacket completely and chucking it into the audience and even though Blaine knew what was coming next, he still shivered when the words came out of Kurt's mouth.

"_Don't be a drag, just be a queen_

_Whether you're broke or ever green,_

_You're black, white, beige, chola descent,_

_You're lebanese, you're orient."_

The rest of the boys stepped up beside Kurt, removing their jackets. The other Warblers were muttering about the different shirts but Blaine only had eyes for Kurt.

_How have I never noticed you before?_

Now the boys swapped with the girls, letting them reveal their shirts. Blaine briefly noticed LUCY CABOOSEY on Quinn's shirt and decided he had to ask Kurt about that one later. The group merged together again, Kurt in the middle. Blaine could see that Kurt's expression had changed and he looked suddenly nervous. Apparently Wes had noticed it too as he leant over and whispered to Blaine, "What do you think's up with Kurt?"

"_I'm on the right track baby, I was born to be brave!"_

And with that word, Mercedes and Brittany each grabbed a side of Kurt's shirt and pulled. It must have been held on with velcro at the back as it came apart instantly. For a second, Blaine thought he was about to see a shirtless Kurt and wasn't sure if he could handle that. Instead, another shirt came into view.

LIKES BLAINE

Blaine wasn't aware of the rest of the performance. He knew that Rachel and a couple of the teachers had come onto the stage with their shirts. He knew the vocals were amazing. He also knew that the other Warblers were cheering and David was nudging him. But he didn't care. All he saw was Kurt and that shirt.

"_I'm on the right track, baby, I was born this way, hey!"_

The song ended and the Warblers were on their feet, Blaine included. The New Directions kids were cheering and hugging each other, the Warblers clapping as loud as possible.

Blaine didn't even realize he'd moved until he was halfway to the stage. Mercedes was hugging Kurt and saw him coming. She quickly released him and pushed him in Blaine's direction as he scaled the steps and came to a stop in front of Kurt. The rest of the group stayed a couple of steps back and the auditorium grew silent, waiting to see what would happen.

Blaine opened his mouth, trying to find the words. A few seconds of silence passed, until he gave up completely, stepping forward to take Kurt's face in his hands and kiss him. He had no words, so he tried to put everything into the kiss. _I'm sorry it took me so long to realize that you're so amazing and sexy and wonderful and I want you to be mine._

Apparently it worked, because Kurt pulled away flushed and breathless, his face lit up. "Took your time," he murmured, laughing softly.

Blaine shrugged, smiling at the gorgeous younger boy as the rest of the room erupted in noise. Blaine knew he was going to be grilled later, but right now he didn't care. He looked down at Kurt's LIKES BLAINE shirt and suddenly got an idea -

"Hey, Mercedes. Can you make me a shirt?"

* * *

**Three guesses what's going to be on that! :)**

**Oh, I loved this. (Is it weird that I love my own work?)**


	37. Rebellion

**So... I gave in. Against every inclination, I wrote a Facebook fic. I've already written three chapters of it too :/ so the first chapter will be going up in the next little while - possibly tonight. Not sure. If you're in to that sort of thing, go ahead and check it out. If you're not... well, don't. **

**I'm at the point where I have started rejecting quite a few prompts because things start getting either repetitive or incredibly AU. I'm still taking prompts but the amount that I actually do is significantly less. As such, I kind of don't have the energy to message everyone back and say 'no, I'm not doing your prompt.' I'm really sorry, but I have so much to do anyway if I want to get a chapter a day happening still. Now, I'm aware that some people would, if I don't do their prompt, write it themselves. So if this is you, let me know when you prompt that you'd like to know whether I'm doing it or not and if I'm not, I'll let you know so you can write it yourself. Cool? Cool. I'm really tired so if this doesn't make sense, my apologies. **

_**This comes from A very gleeky witch: In the episode Comeback, Klaine and the Warblers didn't star at all. So, I thought that maybe, Kurt was worried that he was losing himself at Dalton and wasn't being himself, so he rebels. He wears his hair like he does in Born This Way to school, shirt untucked etc. etc. And Blaine see's the real Kurt and likes what he sees.**_

**I've been checking through my various stories and so far my roomate pairings are always Kurt/Blaine & Wes/David or Kurt/David & Wes/Blaine, unless I write the boys in single rooms. I've only ever changed that once in my oneshot **_**Nightmare**_** where I wanted a bit of variety. I mean, their roomates were never specified as far as I know, and these are all oneshots so I like changing it up a bit. Just a random note. **

**Now, my French is non-existant. My last chapter where I used French, within ten minutes of posting I had two people immediately correcting me. Obviously, they were lovely about it and I was thankful, I just couldn't be bothered re-uploading to change it. But I took pre-emptive strikes on this one and asked _Soizic567_, who was the first person to correct my French, to translate these sentences for me. So now they're actually correct! A huge thank you :)**

* * *

Rebellion

"Morning guys!"

Blaine sat down at the table, grabbing his coffee as Wes and David murmured greetings. He looked around the room for a second, his smile fading slightly. "Where's Kurt?"

David looked up tiredly. "He's on his way. He was spending extra-long in the bathroom this morning so I just left him to it after he promised he wouldn't be late. Speaking of late -" he checked his watch and took the last bite of his breakfast. Wes and Blaine followed suit, grabbing their things and heading off to their first period class. On the way, Blaine pulled his phone out to text Kurt.

_Hey, everything alright? You're going to be late - Blaine_

The reply came as they were just about to enter their French classroom.

_Yeah, be there soon - Kurt_

Blaine raised an eyebrow at the brief reply but sat down at their usual seat, saving Kurt's place for him. Their teacher walked in and began to call attendance, stopping at Kurt's name. "He'll be here in a minute, I think," Blaine said to a raised eyebrow.

One minute turned into ten and still no sign of Kurt. Blaine was just about to ask to go to the bathroom so he could check up on him when Kurt appeared in the open doorway.

Blaine stared. Instead of its normal style, Kurt's hair was sticking up and had clearly been styled that way. His blazer was undone, showing that his shirt was untucked underneath and his tie loosely draped around his neck. He caught Blaine's eye and smirked before focusing his attention on the startled teacher.

"Monsieur Hummel? Tu as trop dormi?" (1)

"Non, j'étais juste occupé. Désolé je suis en retard"(2) Kurt replied in perfect French. Ever since Kurt had arrived at Dalton, Madame Lutard had loved him. The rest of the boys could speak passable conversational French, but Kurt was in a class of his own. It was mostly because of this that she let his explanation slide, gesturing for him to take a seat. Kurt slid into the seat next to Blaine, completely ignoring him as he pulled his books out. Which was probably a good thing, Blaine realized as he snapped his mouth shut and tried to pretend he wasn't staring at Kurt.

Their two hour French lesson basically consisted of Kurt and Madame Lutard conversing while the rest of the class took notes. Or, in Blaine's case, pretended to take notes while watching Kurt out of the corner of his eye. Once the initial shock had worn off, he had taken in Kurt's appearance and now couldn't look away. Blaine knew Kurt had been struggling to settle in, used to being an individual. But he hadn't realized the uniform had gotten to him so much that he would rebel against it. And that _hair_ - Blaine knew he would have to have a serious talk to Kurt about following the rules and not rebelling, while running his hands through that gorgeous hair and -

_Woah. Where did __that__ come from?_

Blaine blinked, trying to focus on his French which he quickly realized was impossible. Something had changed inside him since Kurt had shown up to class an hour ago and he needed to work out what it was.

_Okay, Blaine. So you were fine until Kurt got here. Is it that his appearance offends you?_

Blaine snuck another look at the younger boy who looked so adorably dishevelled -

_No. It definitely doesn't offend you. And since when have you called Kurt 'adorable' or 'gorgeous'? I mean, it's not like you -_

Blaine gasped before he could stop himself, unwittingly drawing the attention of both Kurt and the teacher. "Monsieur Anderson? Tu vas bien?"(3)

Blaine blushed, stammering out his reply. "Oui, ça va, désolé."(4) He got a scrutinizing look before her attention returned to Kurt who had also been looking at Blaine curiously. He mouthed _we'll talk later _before turning his attention to taking notes.

Mercifully, the rest of class went by without any further interruptions, though Blaine now couldn't keep his mind off the boy sitting right next to him. He was so lost in thought, he didn't even hear the bell ring or the rest of the class file out. Kurt shook his shoulder gently and he jumped, looking around at the empty room.

"Is it study hall already?"

Kurt nodded. "What were you so busy with?" He looked down at Blaine's book and the numbers he had been scrawling in the margin. "11, 21, 18, 20. Are you doing math?"(5)

Blaine flipped the book shut quickly before Kurt could figure out the significance of those numbers. However, this drew Kurt's attention who looked at him curiously. "Blaine? Are you alright? You seem a bit off today..."

"Why are you dressed like that?" As soon as the question was out of his mouth, Blaine bit his lip knowing how harsh it had sounded. _Not that there's a problem with it! _he added internally.

Kurt, however, appeared unfazed. "Because I'm sick of being a Dalton robot?"

"Kurt, do you know how many school rules you're breaking?"

"None." Blaine blinked in surprise and Kurt sighed, pulling out the rulebook. "Let's see... white shirt, got that. Tie and blazer must be worn unless a special mandate is given by the principal(6), mine are both being worn. Hair must be kept short and off the shoulders, mine's fine. What I'm breaking is the stereotype... Blaine?"

Blaine had lost track of what Kurt was saying half way through his talk, his eyes being drawn to the hair. Kurt chuckled as Blaine's hand half-hovered then dropped as he realized what he was doing. "You can touch it if you want," he said, taking Blaine's hand and putting it on top of his head.

_Soft. So... so ... soft._

"Blaine? What's going - _mph!_"

Blaine had grabbed Kurt's tie and pulled him in. One hand was still in his hair as they kissed, the other loosely holding the unknotted ends of Kurt's tie. He knew the second that the shock wore off, as Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, deepening the kiss. Blaine pulled back slightly, whispering, "You are so _hot_," against Kurt's lips before he pulled him back in. He felt Kurt laugh slightly as the kiss decreased in intensity, Kurt's hold around his neck loosening. Finally, they broke apart, Kurt looking slightly dazed and Blaine knowing he looked the same.

"We should go. Don't want to be late for study hall after all." Blaine sighed but reluctantly gathered his stuff together.

As they walked out of the room, Blaine felt Kurt's hand brush against his as he leant over to whisper, "I was considering wearing it _without_ the shirt..." He winked and sauntered ahead of a stunned Blaine.

Blaine groaned, knowing there was no way he'd be concentrating in the rest of his classes.

* * *

**(1) Did you oversleep?**

**(2) No, I was just busy. Sorry I'm late.**

**(3) Are you alright?**

**(4) Yes, I'm fine. Sorry**

**(5) Someone else did this idea in their story and I loved it. But I have no idea who it was so if you're reading this and you did this first, credit goes to you. I don't take any ownership of it. **

**(6) This was the rules at my old school - all girls. Very fussy. We wore kilts! :D**

**Cause if the guy I liked (if there was one) dressed like that, I'd probably throw myself at him too. **


	38. Holiday

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: I haven't seen New York. I won't be seeing New York any time soon. I still haven't seen Funeral. So please, I don't want to hear anything. Not even prompts that don't give things away but are set in the episode. My beta is already kinda dying from not being able to message me about it and it's horrid knowing so many of you know what happens and I don't. I will let you know if and when I see it, okay? Thanks guys, I really do appreciate the zipped lips.**

**We're nearly at 1000 reviews and when I get there, I will flail and party and go crazy. **

_**From A very gleeky witch: Set in Silly Love Songs. After Kurt says "I think I have a new favourite holiday!" Blaine overhears and thinks that this would be the perfect chance to try something he's always wanted to.**_

**I sat staring at this going "Um... what does Blaine want to try?" I think I'd been writing a bit too much that day. And then I pulled it open the next day and sat there again and couldn't work out where to take this. And then I realized how simple it was...**

**A lot of people didn't actually understand what the numbers meant in the last chapter. I guess that's just my inner nerd coming through ;) It's just basic alphabet to numbers code. So 11 = K, 21 = U, 18 = R and 20 = T.**

* * *

Holiday

"I think I have a new favourite holiday!"

Blaine froze in the act of grabbing spoons, turning slightly to see Kurt staring at the plush figures with a fondness totally opposite to his previous look. _What changed?_

Humming, Kurt grabbed their coffees and sat down at the table. Blaine brought the spoons and sugar over, before excusing himself to the bathroom. Making sure Kurt wasn't looking, he slipped out the front door, sitting on the closest bench.

_So, _Blaine thought to himself, _why is Kurt suddenly happy about Valentines Day?_ He thought over their conversation and what could have been said to make him change his mind. _All I did was mention I wanted to sing to Jeremiah -_

But wait. Had he mentioned Jeremiah's name? Blaine racked his brain, trying to think about whether he had brought up his friend's name or not and realized quickly that he hadn't. _So, I mentioned I wanted to sing to a guy for Valentines Day, and now Kurt's happy..._

Blaine started, almost falling off the bench in shock.

_Kurt wants me to sing to him._

_Kurt likes me._

Suddenly, the idea of singing to Jeremiah seemed laughable. Jeremiah, with his messy hair and callous, almost abrupt attitude. Jeremiah, the most confident and experienced gay person Blaine knew. Jeremiah, who Blaine had fancied himself in love with.

No way. Jeremiah was nothing compared to Kurt. Kurt with his sarcastic, witty, but still caring personality. Kurt, the out and proud guy who had never had a boyfriend. Kurt, who Blaine had never even thought to imagine as more than a friend, but the idea seemed more and more wonderful the more he thought of it.

In fact -

Blaine's phone started buzzing and he started, jerked out of his thoughts. He grabbed it out of his pocket and frowned when he saw a text from Kurt.

_Blaine, I usually don't bother someone when they're in the bathroom, but you've been gone for about ten minutes. Everything okay? - Kurt_

Blaine considered the text for a second, before deciding to go on impulse.

_Yeah. Can you come outside for a minute? - Blaine_

He knew Kurt would be staring at his phone, eyebrow raised, before grabbing their coffees and heading out the door. He'd be walking over now and - sure enough, the door opened and Kurt stepped out, eyeing up Blaine who was still sitting there.

"Blaine?"

"Kurt." Blaine knew he was smiling like a goofball and Kurt had no idea what was going on.

"What are you doing out here?" Kurt set down the coffees and sat down next to Blaine, looking confused. "Are you feeling sick?"

"No, I was just thinking and - Kurt, I realized something."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Do tell."

"I don't want to sing to you on Valentines Day."

Kurt's face fell. "Oh. That's alright, that's your decision -"

"Ugh, no, not like that." Blaine sighed. "I suck at this. I was thinking about singing to you, but I realized that you're used to me singing and it's not exactly special anymore. So I wanted to try something else."

"Okay?" Kurt looked at him and Blaine's eyes flickered to his lips, before he leant in and captured them with his own.

He felt a muffled murmur of surprise before Kurt's hand was hesitantly touching his face and he was kissing him back. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, pulling him closer as Kurt's other hand tangled through his hair, running down the back of his neck. After a few moments, Blaine pulled away, still holding Kurt close to him. "I have to be honest with you, before I figured things out I was actually planning to sing to a guy named Jeremiah."

Kurt furrowed his brow in what Blaine considered to be the most adorable way. "Who's Jeremiah?"

"Oh, this guy who works at The Gap. He's got incredible hair. I was planning to have a Warbler Gap Attack and everything, I just didn't know how to ask Wes, and then..."

* * *

**So, yeah. Shortest yet? I think so. But it was blocking me from moving on :/**


	39. Santana

**Get your flailing hands ready with me...**

**ONE FREAKING THOUSAND REVIEWS! *flails crazily***

**Guys, I honestly can't believe it. You're all wonderful, amazing people for giving me so much love, because not a single one of those is a flame. I ... I really don't have words. I wish I did, because then I could ramble on and on... but nope. None. Just a humongous thank you. **

**Still haven't seen New York. Already got a review that told me something about the episode, so now I'm begging. Please, please, nothing. I'm hopeful I might be able to see it in the next few days, but I don't know. There's still the chance that I won't be able to see it at all or not in the near future, but while there's still hope, please nothing. Thank you.**

**Also, to all of those who are or know of those who are affected by the tornadoes at the moment, my condolences go out to you. I know it's not much but we've been watching it on the news here and it looks just horrific. And I know I have a lot of American readers... :/**

_**From A very gleeky witch and (sort of) similarly prompted by Broken Gold: Kurt discovers Blaine went to Burt about "The Talk" thing and decides to prove to Blaine he can be sexy. In the most platonic way, of course. *rolls eyes***_

**I don't quite know how platonic I made it... ;)**

* * *

Santana

"Kurt?" There was a knock on his door and Kurt put down the pamphlet he was reading, trying to control the blush on his cheeks.

"Come in." The door opened and his dad came in, carrying a plate. He set it down on the desk and went to leave before hesitating. "Kurt, you tell that kid Blaine that he's a good friend. Not many guys would do what he did for their friends and I treated him badly for it and I shouldn't have."

"Wait, what did Blaine do?"

"Do you think I would've thought of pamphlets myself, or known where to get them?" Burt shrugged, already halfway out the door. "He told me that you needed some more information, so I got it for you. See you in the morning kiddo."

Kurt stared at the door then fell backwards onto the bed. _Blaine told my Dad to give me THE TALK? What the hell?_

He knew it all came back to the sexy lessons where Kurt had admitted to not knowing anything, then getting annoyed when Blaine tried to teach him. _And now he thinks you're such a sad case, he got your dad to get you pamphlets._ Kurt groaned, staring at the ceiling.

Kurt knew he wasn't particularly sexy. All his life, if he had heard anything positive it was about how adorable or cute he was. Brittany and Mercedes both called him beautiful. But nobody said he was hot or sexy or anything like that. He knew it was his downfall, in fact Santana had told him as much in one of her bitch sessions - that was where he had gotten the baby penguin comparison from.

_Wait_. Kurt sat up, remembering back to that conversation. _What else had she said?_

"_Kurt, right now you have the sex appeal of a baby penguin which is why no guy wants to get his freaky on with you. You need lessons from someone who knows her sexy."_

Could he actually lower himself to take sexy lessons from Santana Lopez? Kurt deliberated for a second before his eye caught on the pamphlets and he remembered the look on Blaine's face during their talk. Grabbing his phone, Kurt found Santana's number and hit call.

* * *

"Alright, Hummel, you're in luck. Brit and I were having a sleepover tonight, so you get the help of the two sexiest girls at McKinley. And we have some experience to go off because you've made out with Brittany."

"Well, she made out with me, actually," Kurt interjected, feeling slightly uncomfortable. He was sitting on the end of Santana's bed, facing her and Brittany who were curled up together against the pillows.

"He has really soft lips."

Kurt blinked. "Um, thanks?"

"That's a good thing, Hummel. It'll be in your favour when your boy toy finally realizes what he wants and goes in for some action." Santana flicked her hair back, linking pinkies with Brittany. "So, let's get down to business. I can't teach you sexy."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Then why did you get me over here?"

"So we can have a threesome?" Santana and Kurt both turned to stare at the blonde girl who had spoken. She shrugged. "I've kissed you both before."

And now Kurt was looking at a slightly-uncomfortable Santana who stared back defiantly as if daring him to judge. He laughed. "Santana, I'm _gay_. You think I'd judge you?"

Something shifted in her face and she nodded. "Right. Anyway, I can't teach you because sexy isn't something you learn. It's already a part of you, you need to learn how to harness it. For example, I'm sexy because I show my assets and flaunt what I've got. I'm a bitch and I don't take no for an answer and for some reason that turns guys on. Not all of them, but it works for me."

Kurt was already shaking his head. "Blaine's super polite. He hates that kind of stuff."

"Alright, how about Brittany then? She's sexy because she's sweet but you can tell there's a tiger hidden under there."

Kurt coughed uncomfortably, remembering his makeout sessions with the girl. "Um, yes. But I don't think that'd apply to me either."

"Why don't you just kiss him?"

Once again, the attention was on the blonde girl. "It worked for me. Kurt was pretty sexy when we kissed."

Santana looked at her appraisingly. "Brit Brit, you might just be onto something. All you've got to do is get your lips onto his."

"Santana, I can't do that."

"Why not?" Now both girls were staring at Kurt and he felt himself blushing.

"I don't think I'm brave enough. What if he doesn't want that? I know he doesn't like me in that way, especially after the last few days -"

"Wake up, Kurt!" Kurt snapped his mouth shut in shock. _Did she just call me Kurt?_ "A gay guy does not spend an hour with another gay guy trying to teach him to be sexy if he doesn't want something out of it! You think Blaine just taught you that so you were informed? He taught you that so that one day down the track, he can finally make a move on you and you won't freak out. He wants a relationship with you, he just wants you to be ready. And considering you're both out and proud, and you _can_ be together, why don't you just do it?"

Kurt looked at Santana's hand which had closed around Brittany's, and suddenly understood her frustration. "Okay, I'll do it. When?"

"Right now. Is he at Dalton?" Kurt nodded and Santana jumped off the bed to grab her keys. "Great, I'll drive. Come on Brit, we're going to Dalton."

"Now?" Kurt spluttered. "But - I.."

"Come on, Hummel. You know I don't want to miss this action. And if I don't come, I can't trust you to do it."

Kurt sighed, allowing himself to be pulled out of the room.

* * *

"It's 10:30! You guys can't come in here, it's past curfew!"

"Lighten up, Hummel." Santana turned off the engine and jumped out. "You're gay. They won't care, and we're good at hiding anyway. What number is Blaine's room?"

"201. But -"

"Great, we'll meet you there." Santana took Brittany's hand and they ran into the building. Kurt rolled his eyes at the two pyjama-clad girls, thankful he had the sense to keep his day clothes on before making his way into Dalton. He navigated the stairs to Blaine's room, a route he had taken many times before. Halfway there he stopped, remembering a vital fact. Pulling out his phone, he sent a quick text to Santana.

_Santana, Blaine has a roommate - Kurt_

A reply came a few seconds later.

_Already taken care of. Hurry up! - S_

Kurt rolled his eyes, quickly making his way along the hallway to Blaine's room. He saw Santana waiting a few doors down and tiptoed down to her. "Where's Brittany?"

"How else do you think I was going to get that other guy out? They'll be back soon." Kurt shuddered, trying not to think about what David and Brittany were getting up to. "Now, go get him."

"Santana, I don't know - wait!"

But Santana was already pushing him through the doorway to where Blaine was sitting on his bed working on an assignment. He looked up to see Kurt standing there and smiled. "Hey, Kurt. I thought you were staying home for the weekend .. and who's that?" He looked over Kurt's shoulder to where Santana was.

"I'm nobody. Kurt's got _something_ for you."

Kurt glared at Santana who gave him another shove. This time he wasn't expecting it and ended up tripping -

Into Blaine's lap.

_She so planned that!_ Kurt thought furiously, before taking in the scene right in front of him. There was Blaine. Blaine's eyes. Blaine's lips. Blaine looking so adorably confused and slightly _hopeful?_

Before Kurt could back out, he leant down and pressed his lips to Blaine's.

He felt the sharp intake of air, then suddenly Blaine was kissing him back, wrapping his arms around his waist. Kurt mentally debated with himself for a second before giving up and letting go. His hands snaked into Blaine's hair, gently pulling at it as he deepened the kiss, opening his mouth slightly. And then Blaine did the same and he could _taste_ him and Kurt _moaned_ because this was _so amazing_. He shifted slightly in Blaine's lap, angling his head so he could kiss him properly. He could feel Blaine's heart beating fast and knew his was doing the same and Kurt could probably do this all night, except - _Santana_.

Reluctantly, very reluctantly, Kurt pulled away. They were both breathless, Blaine staring at Kurt as if he had never seen him before.

"So, Anderson. Is my boy sexy or what?"

Kurt didn't even bother turning around as Santana's voice wafted over from the doorway. Blaine was still staring at Kurt as he answered, "Hell _yes_."

"He has soft lips, doesn't he? That's what I liked about kissing Kurt, his lips are very soft."

Kurt groaned, turning around to see Brittany and David in the doorway behind Santana. "Brittany, I thought you were distracting him." He made no move to get off Blaine's lap and felt his heart skip when Blaine's arms wrapped around him again.

"Once I realized what she wanted, I had to tell her I was flattered but spoken for. And apparently, so is Blaine." David smirked, before turning serious. "And that's awesome, but you're going to be in so much trouble if you get caught with these two. So take them home, then you can come back and have more couple-y moments with Blaine. Preferably in your room."

Kurt chuckled, feeling Blaine do the same behind him. He turned his head to kiss him quickly one more time before standing up and gesturing to the two girls to follow. As they were leaving, Brittany turned back to David.

"If your girlfriend ever gives you your voice back, you can call me. Kurt will give you my number."

As Santana dragged her out, Kurt heard the sound of David hitting his head into the wall.

* * *

**I think David, in all of his craziness, would have been driven a little bit crazy by Brittany. I didn't write much of her lines because I can't do her any justice. **


	40. Fundraising

**Still haven't seen New York. I'm putting this in every authors note because I know if I don't, someone will assume I have seen it and prompt something to do with the episode. Trust me, when I have seen it there will be much flailing. From the unfortunate spoilers I've heard, I know there's apparently going to be at least one flail-worthy thing in there. DON'T tell me what it is, okay? **

**Did you know you're all possibly the best readers an author could ask for? Just saying... :)**

**This isn't edited, unfortunately, and I think it needed to be :/ Angela went out of town, she's road tripping it up while I spent three hours today walking around town - in ankle boots nonetheless - trying to find a job. Now my feet want to fall off and I'm still unemployed. Back to original topic. So Angela didn't have time to edit before she left and that means tomorrow night and possibly the next night's chapters will be unedited too. Hopefully it isn't too horrid. **

**New crackfic coming up soon as well as the second chapter of FOIDH, which is written but I figured you guys get _Kiss_ every night so you might as well wait on something! If you haven't read it, feel free to go and check it out if Facebook based stories are your cup of tea. If they're not... well, don't check it out. Cool beans :) **

_**From a very long string of prompts by A very gleeky witch: Set between Sexy and Original Songs. David and Wes get sneaky, make a kissing booth and get Kurt or Blaine to do the dirtxy[sic] work, feigning innocence when they force the other part of Klaine to, "help raise money for the bus to Regionals".**_

**This is all the more awesome because my Warblers are always rich. Rich enough that they could hire a private helicopter for every member of their group if they wanted to. So having poor Warblers is a change and a half... even if they're not really poor. Cause they're not. Not really. I'll stop talking now.**

* * *

Fundraising

"Kurt, Blaine, we need you guys to help us out with something."

Blaine cringed, knowing that voice. He went to run away but Kurt grabbed his arm, turning to face the two boys coming towards them.

"Wes, David. What can we do for you?"

"Well, you see, Kurt, we've got a bit of a problem, don't we David?"

"Yes, we do, Wes. Would you like to tell them about it?"

"You guys are worse than the Weasley twins! Just tell us." Blaine rolled his eyes at his friends antics.

"We can't afford to pay for the bus to Regionals."

Blaine was shocked into silence, which allowed Kurt to chime in. "Wow. I wouldn't have expected that of Dalton, but I know how it feels. McKinley always has to do fundraisers to get the money together. Did I tell you about their last one?"

"Yes, you did, and that's where we got our idea from." David smirked, holding up a hand to stop Blaine who had finally found his words. "Our sister school is visiting this weekend for the day and we usually put on some events for them. We were thinking this year of holding a kissing booth, rotating a few Warblers through it, and we wanted to get you guys to help us out with it."

Blaine snapped. "So, do tell me, Wesley, why have you come to the two most openly _gay_ guys in Dalton and asked _them_ to help?" He felt Kurt's hand on his arm, squeezing it reassuringly as he stared at the other two boys.

"That is a very good question, actually. Why us?"

Wes and David glanced at each other, both looking uncomfortable. "Well," Wes finally said, "I say this in the straightest way possible.. but you're the two best looking guys at this school."

Blaine blinked. He hadn't been expecting that. Glancing across to Kurt he saw the younger boy in the same state of confusion. _I mean, Kurt's beautiful yes, but me?_

Apparently Kurt was mirroring his thoughts as he blurted out, "Me? I mean, Blaine's gorgeous but -" He stopped, eyes growing wide as he realize what he had said.

Blaine glared at Wes and David and they quickly left. He turned to Kurt who was looking at the ground, blushing. "Hey, look at me. It's okay." Kurt looked up and Blaine smiled. "I take it as a compliment, and you're pretty good looking yourself too."

Kurt's blush doubled in intensity and he scuffed a shoe across the ground - something Blaine found highly endearing. He took Kurt's hand. "Come on, we'd better go tell Wes and David that we're doing this - are you okay with it?"

"If it's for Regionals, yes. I can handle kissing a few girls."

* * *

"How many girls _are_ there?" Kurt stared wide-eyed at the buses pulling up, stuffed full of excited looking girls.

"I don't know. I didn't expect this either." Blaine swallowed nervously from beside the kissing booth. He and Kurt were both rostered on for later in the day so they were just chatting to Nick for the time being who was also eyeing up the hundreds of girls piling into Dalton. Except the look on his face was pure bliss.

"They're stunners, guys! This is going to be awesome!"

Kurt and Blaine looked at each other and rolled their eyes simultaneously before smiling. "Shall we find something else to do until it's our turn?" Kurt asked.

"Definitely. I just need to stay away from the girls completely, because of that stupid bet Thad has going." Blaine rolled his eyes as he thought of the bet that the Head Warbler had thought it would be funny to implement - seeing how many phone numbers Blaine would end up picking up by the end of the day. He wasn't meant to know about it, of course, but David hadn't _quite_ mastered the act of keeping his mouth shut.

Blaine looked at Kurt who was suddenly looking sheepish. "You bet on it, didn't you!"

"I was going to tell you. Everyone else did bets under 50 so I thought you should go out of your way to see how many numbers you can get so I can win. I'll take you out for coffee after?"

Blaine was about to say no until Kurt looked at him, almost pleading with his eyes. "Okay, but you have to come with me. What did you bet, by the way?"

"Oh, 140. But that shouldn't be a problem, there's lots of girls here. Look, here come some of them now!" Kurt was ignoring the glare Blaine was sending his way as the girls stopped in front of him.

"Um... here." The girl in the front quickly pushed a slip of paper into his hand, giggling as she turned to the rest of them who followed suit before running away laughing.

Blaine stared at them, dumbfounded before he felt the pieces of paper being pulled out of his hand. "Great, that's seven already. You're good at this."

"Good at what, exactly? And why didn't any of them give their number to you?"

Kurt sighed. "Because I scream '_gay!'_, Blaine. You, however, could go either way and the girls want to take advantage of that just in case you play for their team."

Blaine groaned. It was going to be a _long_ day.

* * *

Two hours and 124 girls later, Blaine collapsed onto a bench near the kissing booth. Kurt sat down next to him, emptying the pieces of paper out of his pockets and putting them into Blaine's bag. "I think I won!" he said happily.

"If I weren't completely gay, that just turned me." Blaine groaned, looking at the pile of paper in his bag. "What am I meant to do with these?"

Kurt shrugged. "I'm sure Nick and Thad would appreciate them. If not, Puck's always desperate, he can have them."

"And that wasn't even the worst of it! Now we have to do that kissing booth."

"I'm sure it'll be fine. I mean, you've kissed Rachel, I've kissed Brittany. We can handle it." As if on cue, a dazed looking Jeff left the booth, coming over to them.

"Man, you guys are missing out, being gay and all. That's one hell of an experience!" He wandered off, leaving Kurt and Blaine looking at one another apprehensively.

"Right, I guess I'm up then." Kurt stood up and slipped behind the booth, turning back to continue talking to Blaine while he waited. He didn't have to wait long though, as a group of girls arrived almost instantly, putting their money on the counter eagerly. Kurt glanced at Blaine who was looking amused before sighing and leaning in to kiss the first girl.

Blaine frowned. _What?_ But there it was again, when he kissed the next girl it felt like a pinprick in his heart. _Is that... jealousy?_ Sure enough, every time Kurt kissed a girl over the next hour, Blaine felt more and more jealous. _Blaine, they're girls for crying out loud! Just because you haven't gotten your act into gear and told Kurt how you feel doesn't mean he can't kiss other people. _He briefly entertained the idea of going to Kurt and kissing him then, but refrained, knowing Kurt had enough to deal with anyway.

Finally, after three more girls had walked away giggling, Kurt flipped the sign and all but ran out of the booth, collapsing next to Blaine. "That was horrible!" he exclaimed. "I don't even know how many -"

"84. So much for screaming _gay_, huh?"

Kurt blinked. "Wow. I should tell Puck about that, he'd be so proud." He smirked, nudging Blaine. "Alright, Casanova, you're up."

Blaine groaned, hauling himself to his feet. "This is going to be torture."

And it was. Half an hour in, Blaine knew he had already kissed over a hundred girls. Kurt had gone to get him a drink which he desperately needed. He saw him coming back as he kissed the last girl in his line - who tasted like heavily applied strawberry lipgloss, _gross_ - and smiled gratefully. "Thank you so much," he said as Kurt put the bottle on the booth, appearing to hesitate for a second before putting a dollar note down too.

Blaine looked at the money, confused. "I said you could give him the change."

"This isn't change."

Blaine stared at the note for another second, then looked up to see Kurt looking nervous but determined. Still, he had to check. "Are you sure about this?"

"Blaine, if us kissing means we'll get to Regionals, I will _happily_ do it." For a second, Blaine felt the sting of rejection, then he realized what Kurt was really saying.

"Take one for the team, right?" Blaine smirked, unable to keep it from turning into a full-out grin.

"Absolutely," Kurt murmured before leaning in to kiss him.

After kissing a hundred girls and feeling nothing, Blaine's lips suddenly responded to the feeling of Kurt's as if they _knew_ this was what he had been waiting for. Kurt didn't taste like lipgloss or lollipops or popcorn, or anything really, which was a very welcome break. But it wasn't just that, and Blaine knew he couldn't kiss another girl that afternoon - or ever - because this was too perfect to tarnish.

Kurt pulled away, leaning back over the booth with a smile on his face that Blaine couldn't help mirroring. "So," he asked, taking the money off the booth. "Worth a dollar?"

"Definitely," Kurt said, cheeks still slightly flushed.

"Well I should probably point out that we did that wrong. I was supposed to kiss you after all."

Kurt raised an eyebrow before fumbling in his pocket. He pulled out another dollar and laid it on the booth. "We can't have that now, can we?"

Blaine grinned and leant back in.

* * *

The end of the hour found both boys standing behind the booth, chatting away. Apparently a lot of the girls had seen the two boys kissing earlier and spread the word. So now, the only people coming to the booth were ones who wanted to clarify the rumor for themselves.

"Well," said Blaine, checking his watch, "I think we're good to go."

"Who's on next?" asked Kurt, looking around for a Warbler to take over.

"Um, it says Wes has the final slot." Blaine checked the piece of paper on the bottom of the booth then looked up to see an evil look in Kurt's eye. "What are you planning?"

Kurt leant in to whisper in Blaine's ear. His eyes widened when he made out what Kurt was saying and he began to laugh. "Oh, that's evil. Here he comes now."

Sure enough, Wes came wandering up to the booth, allowing a grateful Kurt and Blaine to escape. They walked behind one of the buildings, giving Wes time to settle in and get a few kisses before putting their plan into action. Walking back around, they walked up to the front of the booth, standing in front of Wes.

"Hey guys, having fun?" There was silence and Wes frowned. "What are you -"

Kurt and Blaine both slapped their hand down on the booth, each holding a one dollar note. Wes looked at their hands then the expressions on their faces and paled. "You - you guys wouldn't."

Kurt looked at Blaine smirking. "Do you want to go first?"

"I think the pleasure should be yours."

Wes cringed and shut his eyes. Blaine gave Kurt another quick look and they leant in, kissing Wes' cheeks simultaneously. He cracked open an eye, then gave a sigh of relief, still looking mildly disturbed that two guys had just kissed him.

"That's just a warning. Mess with us again and you'll get a lot worse." Blaine glared at his friend for a bit longer, then his gaze softened slightly. "Since I know full well we can afford a bus to Regionals and this was just a plot to get me and Kurt together, I think that money should go towards the winner of that little bet you guys set up. Don't you think?"

"Um, yeah. Okay. I almost forgot about that actually, have you got any yet? Because the girls are leaving soon so you'd better -"

Blaine grabbed his bag and upended it on the booth, letting all the pieces of paper float out to the astonishment of Wes. While he was distracted, Kurt leant behind the booth and grabbed the money tin.

"I think this is mine then. Just what I need to take my boyfriend out to dinner tonight. Thanks Wes!"

The two boys linked arms and walked away laughing, leaving a disturbed Wes behind.

* * *

**This was the sixth story I'd written in a row so I think my mind was going a little bit hazy... And that image popped into my head of Lea and Diana kissing Chris in this way; two straight girls kissing a gay guy, why not two gay guys kissing a straight... guy. Yeah. Anyway...**

**So I'm tempted to keep rambling because I'm tired and lonely but none of you want to read that. So I'm shutting up. Until next chapter! **


	41. Sleep

**So all my whinging has actually paid off in a way I never thought it would. I got a message from _I'llrockyoursocks _last night saying that she had the episodes I wanted on USB and would I like her to post them to me? So of course I said; no, that's cool, thanks.**

**...**

**Okay, I kinda freaked out and ran around in circles for a bit before saying yes I most certainly WOULD like the episodes. So in a few days, I'm going to get a USB with a whole lot of Glee including the New York episode PLUS AVPM/S! I can't even believe it. So still haven't seen New York, but I will be soon! (so that's a repeat of my NO NY PROMPTS message) Everybody go send _I'llrockyoursocks _some love :)**

**[The other reason I'm telling you all this is because if I disappear anytime soon, I'm gonna need one of you to call the New Zealand cops and tell them some random has probably kidnapped me because I gave out my address online. Cheers ;) no offense, _I'llrockyoursocks_, promise!]**

**Water for Elephant has only just released here and I went to see it tonight. I read the book a few weeks back and I'm always iffy about book-to-movie films because they always skip parts and stuff. But it was lovely :) I highly recommend it. Also, I'm posting another oneshot soon. Just saying. **

**Onto the story. Prompted by**_** Full-Empty-Spirit**_** and similarly prompted by **_**The Codebreaker and Broken Gold: What if Blaine and Kurt were having a sleepover or something and Kurt fell asleep first and Blaine thought he looked so adorable that he couldn't help giving him a little kiss on the lips? And then Kurt wakes up?**_

**I wanted to do a sleepover at Kurt's place cause his room rocks, but Burt is so not going to let that happen... so Dalton it is.**

* * *

Sleep

_Hey Kurt :) are you coming back to Dalton tonight or tomorrow? - Blaine_

Kurt looked at his phone, brow furrowed. He usually always came back on a Sunday night, so getting this text on a Saturday afternoon was a bit odd. _Does this mean he wants me back tonight?_ Kurt thought as he walked downstairs.

"Hey Dad, what are we doing tomorrow?" Burt looked up from the television.

"I have to go into the shop all day, but I think Carol was going to take you shopping. Check with her when she gets back, she's just gone to get groceries."

"Sounds good, thanks Dad." Kurt went back upstairs, grabbing his phone.

_Tomorrow afternoon, Carol's taking me shopping :) why's that? - Kurt_

The reply came back almost instantly.

_I need to ask you a favour. Can I call? - Blaine_

_Sure - Kurt_

A few seconds later, his phone started playing _Teenage Dream_ and Kurt answered. "Hey Blaine, what's up?"

"Wes and David are. The latest _Mortal Kombat_ game came out yesterday and they've managed to get a copy already. They've been playing it all day and I know they'll play all night too. David said it was cool with him, but I was wondering if I could sleep in your room tonight?"

"That's fine with me, Blaine." Kurt smiled, hearing the frustration in his friend's voice.

"Thanks. And I - well ... you know, well I don't really want to sleep on David's bed, unless I have to. So can I -?"

"Of course you can." But Kurt could feel his heart beating faster at the thought of Blaine sleeping in his bed.

"You're a lifesaver, Kurt. Anyway, I'll leave you to it. Have a great weekend with your family."

"Thanks, see you tomorrow."

Kurt hung up, flopping back onto his bed. Try as he might, he couldn't get the image out of his head - Blaine sleeping in his bed, Blaine curled up under his blankets, probably not wearing a shirt... Kurt shook his head, jumping back off the bed and heading downstairs. As he made his way down he heard the sound of the front door opening and headed in that direction to see Carol juggling a few bags. He immediately grabbed them off her and headed into the kitchen.

"Thanks sweetie." Carol went to say something else but was stopped by a sneeze. Kurt took a close look at her and noticed how pale she looked.

"Carol, you're sick."

She shook her head and tried to protest. "No, I'm fine, it's just -" She broke off into a fit of coughing and Kurt clucked his tongue.

"Come on, you're going to bed. I'll bring you some medicine." He took her arm and led her down to the bedroom, making sure she got into bed before going and rifling through the medicine cabinet. He brought her back all the requirements and set them down beside her.

"I'm sorry sweetie, I don't think we'll be going shopping tomorrow."

"That's alright, you just rest." Kurt backed out of the room, heading downstairs to his dad. "Carol's sick," he announced.

Burt jumped up like the house was on fire. "What's wrong with her?"

"Just a cold, possibly flu. Nothing serious, she's in bed now with medicine."

Burt relaxed and sat back down. "Okay, good job kid. Guess you won't be shopping tomorrow. What will you do with yourself then?"

"I don't know, hang out with Finn maybe?" But Burt was already shaking his head.

"Finn's at Puck's tonight and all day tomorrow. Something about a new fighting game."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Of course. Well.. maybe I should just head back to Dalton tonight then."

Burt frowned. "Sorry Kurt, wish we could spend more time with you."

"It's alright. I'll hang out with the other guys there and see you guys next weekend." Kurt headed upstairs to grab his overnight bag, pulling out his phone to text Blaine. The other guys would be playing _Mortal Kombat_ but he could hang out with Blaine. Kurt opened the text and saw their previous conversation. Blaine was going to be sleeping in his room tonight. They could definitely hang out then and -

_Blaine was going to be sleeping in his room tonight._

Kurt stared at the phone for another second before locking it and chucking it in his bag. He grabbed his keys and headed in to say goodbye to Carol before hugging his dad and jumping in the car. He deliberated again whether he should text Blaine and tell him he was coming or not, then decided to surprise him instead. Putting the keys in the ignition, he realized his hands were shaking and decided he needed a second opinion. Plugging in the phone, he activated his bluetooth and called Mercedes as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Hey white boy, what's happening?" Mercedes voice filled the car and Kurt smiled.

"Mercedes, I need your advice."

"Shoot."

"Well, Blaine's going to be sleeping in my room tonight and -"

"Hold the phone!" Kurt jumped, hitting the brakes a little harder than necessary. "You didn't tell me you were an item! And you don't think you're moving a little too fast...?"

"Mercedes, not like that! His roommate has _Mortal Kombat_ and he doesn't want to listen to them all night. So he was going to sleep in there while I stayed home, but now I'm going back because Carol's sick and everyone else is busy and I haven't told him I'm going back yet -"

"Okay, calm down Kurt." Kurt realized his hands were still shaking and took a deep breath. "So, you're going back to share a room with the guy you're crazy about. Apart from that, what's the drama?"

"I - I don't know. What are we supposed to do?"

"I'll pretend that question couldn't be taken in an incredibly suggestive way. What do you and Blaine normally do when you hang out?"

"I don't know, watch movies?" Kurt headed onto the freeway, flooring it as he tried to clear his head.

"Well, do that then." Kurt raised an eyebrow.

"It really is that simple, isn't it?" He knew Mercedes was rolling her eyes on the other end. "Thanks 'Cedes. What are you up to tonight?"

"Me and Quinn are watching _Gossip Girl_. She says hi by the way." Kurt smiled at the strange friendship but gave his hello to Quinn, chatting for a bit longer before saying goodbye to Mercedes and hanging up. He took the ramp off to Westerville, keeping his breathing calm. Before he knew it, he was in the Dalton car park. As he wandered up to his room, he could hear the sound of laughing and gunfire coming out of Blaine's room and cringed, giving it a wide berth.

Kurt hesitated outside his door, unsure of whether to just walk in, before knocking quietly and pushing open the door. Blaine looked up from the bed, hastily wiping his eyes. "Kurt! Hey, I - I thought you were staying?"

Kurt stared at him. Blaine was curled up on Kurt's bed and his eyes were all red. He was holding the TV remote and Kurt turned to see _The Notebook _frozen on the screen. "I know, it's pathetic. I just felt like watching something and it was there." Blaine ducked his head, embarassed.

Kurt walked over and sat next to him. "You're doing pretty well. I'm usually an inconsolable wreck by this point." Blaine chuckled and hit stop, letting the picture fade to black.

"So, you're back?" he asked, stretching his legs out next to Kurt's.

"Yeah, Carol got sick?"

Blaine grimaced. "Is she okay?"

"Just a cold, she'll be fine. Dad had to go to the shop and Finn.. well, Puck got _Mortal Kombat_ as well so nobody's going to see him for about a week." Kurt laughed. "So I thought I'd come back here and give you some company."

Blaine smiled which quickly turned into a frown. "So ... does that mean you want the room back? I mean, I don't mind if you do -"

"No, I'm not going to kick you out." Kurt elbowed Blaine who was looking relieved. "I'm not that heartless. Besides, I brought something back with me." He grabbed his bag and pulled out a stack of Disney movies, watching Blaine's eyes light up. "We have _Mulan, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Best_ and _Aladdin._"

"You're awesome, Kurt." Usually when Blaine said things like this, Kurt would just smile and shrug them off. But the fact that they were sitting so close together, alone in Kurt's room meant that Kurt blushed before hastily jumping off the bed to put _The Little Mermaid_ in the DVD player. As the opening music played, Kurt hopped back on the bed next to Blaine and they sat in a comfortable silence to watch the movie.

* * *

Half way through _Mulan_, Kurt paused the movie and looked at Blaine. "I'm starving. Aren't you?"

"Yeah," Blaine admitted, stretching. "What do you feel like eating?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't really want to go anywhere. Can we order in Chinese or something?"

"Sure." Blaine grabbed his phone, flipping through until he found the app for the local Chinese place.(1) He typed in his order then handed the phone to Kurt so he could do the same. They were advised that the order would be there within half an hour so they decided to head outside to wait.

Once they got outside, Blaine grabbed his wallet out of his pocket. "I'll go to the store and get us drinks and stuff. Anything in particular you want?"

Kurt shook his head. "Whatever you pick is fine."

Blaine jogged across the road to the store, picking up drinks and the brand of salt 'n' vinegar chips he knew Kurt loved. He stopped by the confectionary to grab a few packets of Red Vines before checking out and heading back to Kurt who was sitting on the ground. Kurt snorted when he saw the Red Vines, but grabbed the chips eagerly. "Thanks," he said, catching Blaine's eye.

"You're welcome." Blaine sat next to him and tried to ignore the flipping feeling in his heart, focusing on looking out for the delivery van. If he was being honest with himself - and he didn't seem to do that often anymore - he was nervous about spending the night in Kurt's room. Past experiences had shown that he was cuddly when he slept, which was usually humorous to others when they woke up to find him curled around pillows. But there had been an occasion where he and Kurt had fallen asleep watching movies and Blaine had woken in the middle of the night to find Kurt in his arms. He had gently pulled away, putting a couple of pillows between them and slipped back to sleep, thankful that Kurt hadn't woken up.

"Blaine?" Blaine jerked out of his thoughts when a hand waved in front of his face.

"Sorry, drifted off there. What were you saying?"

"Food's here." Kurt pointed to the delivery van and Blaine jumped up to grab their food, Kurt following behind. They headed back to the room and sat back on the bed - Blaine noticed that they had ended up closer together but wasn't complaining - to eat, starting the movie from where it had left off. The food rapidly disappeared between renditions of _I'll Make A Man Out Of You_ and _Honor To Us All. _Blaine didn't quite have the courage to sing _True To Your Heart_ and noticed Kurt chose not to sing it either. _Someday, I'll sing that to him,_ he decided as the movie ended and Kurt jumped up to put in the next one. As he sat down, he playfully kicked his legs over Blaine's, who just shrugged, secretly reveling in the contact.

As _Beauty and the Beast_ played on, Blaine noticed Kurt starting to look more tired. He shuffled in closer and Kurt put his head on his shoulder with a small murmur. Blaine bit his lip to keep from sighing and instead focused on the movie.

By the time it had finished, Kurt was fast asleep on Blaine's shoulder. As he looked down, Kurt murmured something in his sleep and snuggled in closer, wrapping his arms around Blaine's waist. Blaine sucked in a breath because now Kurt was essentially sleeping in his lap. His face was slightly upturned and Blaine could see how peaceful he looked. He was so close that Blaine could easily lean down and kiss him.

_Nu-uh. Don't go there, Anderson._

But now that the thought was in Blaine's mind, he couldn't get rid of it. It would be so simple and his lips were so inviting. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep until he could get his mind off it and he wouldn't get his mind off it unless -

_You can't do that. You can't. _

And then, as if Kurt was reading his mind, he shifted slightly and murmured, "Mm, Blaine..."

Blaine felt his heart beating faster. Kurt had just said _his_ name in his sleep.

Before he could think about it any more, Blaine leant down and gently pressed his lips to Kurt's. He kept it short, knowing Kurt could wake up any second, but still couldn't hold back the sigh that escaped when he pulled away. He stared down at Kurt for a few seconds longer before looking away with a goofy smile on his face.

_I just kissed Kurt_.

Blaine's mental celebration was cut short as Kurt shifted against him, unwrapping his arms and lifting his head. He turned back to see Kurt squinting at him in the light. "Blaine?"

"Yeah. You alright? You fell asleep."

"Sorry." Kurt rubbed his eyes, still staring at him as if he wasn't quite sure he was actually there. "I just had this dream..." He stopped.

"Oh? What about?"

"I - no, it was nothing." Blaine saw the flush making its way up Kurt's face and took a chance.

"You dreamt I kissed you, didn't you?"

Kurt froze, staring at him. "Yeah. How did you ... oh." And Blaine saw the look that crossed his face and his heart sank.

"I'm so sorry, Kurt, you just looked so peaceful sleeping there and I couldn't resist. I know you're angry at me now, I'll go back to my room and -"

"Blaine. _Shut up_." Blaine snapped his mouth shut because somehow, inexplicably, Kurt was smiling. "The only reason I'd be angry is because you didn't wake me up so I could experience it properly."

_Oh._

"So..." Kurt appeared to be waiting until Blaine finally caught on. He smiled and ducked his head again, bringing their lips together. And this time, the second kiss was better than the first because Kurt was responding, gently moving his lips against Blaine's. They kept it sweet and simple, knowing they had plenty of time to take things further later.

Pulling away, Blaine looked down at Kurt whose eyes were drifting shut again. Tucking his arm under Kurt's legs and keeping the other around his waist, he shuffled them back to where they could lie against the pillows. Blaine lay down and pulled Kurt up against him. He curled into Blaine, nuzzling his nose into his shoulder and sighing happily. Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt tighter, reveling in the feeling of having someone in his arms.

"Blaine?" Kurt murmured quietly.

"Yeah?"

"This is like that last time when we were cuddling in our sleep and you thought I was asleep and moved away. I wish you hadn't. You were comfortable..." Kurt's voice drifted off and Blaine shook his head.

_Kurt Hummel, you are so freaking adorable, _he thought as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**(1) I know they have apps for pizza delivery, I don't know about this. Consider it far fetched if you wish.**

**Gosh, I can't just have them have a normal sleepover, can I? No, we get Blaine in tears over _The Notebook_, Red Vines, Disney and a crazy Wes and David. We all know where my mind is - firmly in fluff land.**

**By the way, thank you so much for all the positive feedback on the last chapter. I was so iffy about posting it because it didn't feel right (kind of like this one, I think it's because they're unedited) but to get so much love made me feel great. So thanks :) **


	42. Flatmates

**IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE**

**Hey guys :) so I've been talking about capping for a little while and did the poll and all that. I've made a decision that the story itself isn't capped just yet, but I am capping what types of prompts I take. I now no longer take prompts prior to Original Song - I think I've covered pretty much every possible scene and it's starting to get repetitive. I am also not taking outrageously AU prompts. I don't want things like them not knowing each other beforehand and meeting because then I have to do a huge story and I'd rather make them oneshots instead of a part of this. If you've got what you think is a great AU idea that you'd like to see me write, PM me up and I'll let you know what I think, okay? **

**So I'm taking prompts from Original Song to Funeral and will be taking to New York once I've seen it - NOT YET. No spoilers yet, thanks guys :) you've done a wonderful job at keeping the lips zipped and I appreciate it a lot. I also may be capping at some point, but for now it's still going :) **

**Edited by Angela! :) well... no, she said she couldn't find anything to edit except my spelling of lasagne which is how I spell it here so I'm leaving it. **

**From the lovely**_** ActingLikeGarfieldOnaMonday: I was thinking that it could be later on in life where Blaine and Kurt share an apartment but are just friend[sic] until Blaine realizes he is in love with Kurt.**_

**This is a series of oneshots inside oneshots. It'll be a series of days and moments in the life of Kurt and Blaine, leading up until that fateful day when Blaine gets his act together ;) it sort of spans a few years but there's no real time frame. I mention seven years at the end, so that's about how long they've known each other, not how long the story goes for. I'd say three or four years, if it matters.**

* * *

Flatmates

"Honey, I'm hoooome!" Kurt shut the door behind him, pulling off his coat and hanging it on the rack. He wandered through to the small kitchen where Blaine was sitting, working on an assignment.

"Hey, how was your day?" Blaine looked up with a smile and Kurt noticed how tired his friend looked.

"Great, they gave me my own article today." Kurt was still buzzing with excitement but had toned it down when he saw Blaine's exhausted state.

"Kurt, that's awesome! Well done." Blaine smiled then quickly covered his mouth as he yawned. "Sorry."

"Have you been working on that all day?" Kurt sat down next to Blaine, looking at the notebook with his messy scrawl in it.

"Yeah, I've got another four thousand words to do, then I can type it up."

"You look exhausted." Kurt gently reached over and took the notebook away. "You need a break, otherwise you're going to burn out. Come on, I'll make you some coffee and we'll watch _Family Guy _re-runs so you don't have to think. You can have this back tomorrow morning."

Blaine looked as if he was about to argue, then sighed. "Okay." He stood up, stretching and Kurt tried not to notice the way his shirt stretched across his chest as he did this. He turned to walk into the living room, then stopped. Turning back, he reached out and pulled Kurt into a quick hug. "Thanks for taking care of me. I really appreciate it." He released Kurt and wandered into the living room, collapsing on the couch with a sigh.

Kurt shook his head and walked over to the counter, switching on the coffee maker. _That boy will be the death of me_, he decided as he grabbed a couple of cups from the drawer. "What do you want for dinner?" he called, realizing it was his turn to cook. After hearing no reply, he poked his head around the kitchen door and stopped as he realized Blaine had already fallen asleep on the couch. One hand was sprawled on the floor and his mouth was slightly open. Kurt stared for a minute longer before slipping back into the kitchen to start a lasagne, moving quietly as to not disturb his gorgeous sleeping flat mate.

* * *

"Kurt?"

Blaine poked his head into Kurt's room, frowning when he realized it was still dark. He had woke up at his usual time of 6:30, pulling himself out of bed and expecting to have to fight for the shower as he did every other morning. Finding it deserted, he made the most of it, showing before slipping into the kitchen to make a pot of coffee. After drinking his first cup and waking up some more, he realized it was 7 and Kurt still wasn't out of bed. He knew it was a work/study day for both of them and Kurt needed to be up so he headed over to the younger boy's room to check on him.

"Mhhh." A groan came out of the room and Blaine stepped in, seeing a huddle of blankets that was hiding Kurt.

"Hey, you've got to get up. Time for work."

The blanket came back to reveal an extremely pale Kurt and Blaine involuntarily took a step back. "Woah, you okay?"

"No. I was up all night throwing up. I'd be surprised you didn't hear me if I didn't already know you sleep like a log." Kurt groaned again, curling tighter into himself.

"I'm sorry, Kurt. If I'd known, I wouldn't have woken you. Can I get you anything?" Blaine felt a twinge of guilt as he looked down at the boy who looked incredibly unwell.

Kurt went to answer but clapped a hand over his mouth, any remaining colour draining out of his face. Springing out of bed, he pushed past Blaine and bolted into the bathroom. The sound of retching could be heard and Blaine immediately went to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and heading into the bathroom.

Kurt was leaning against the wall, still white and breathing heavily. Blaine knelt down next to him and handed him the glass before grabbing a facecloth and dampening it to put on his face. Kurt sighed at the cool feeling and raised his eyes to look at Blaine.

"Thank you," he murmured quietly and Blaine couldn't help but smile at how vulnerable he looked.

"You're welcome. I'm sorry you feel so crap. Is there anything else I can do?"

Kurt shook his head, then hesitated. "Well, I could use some help getting back to bed. Only if you're okay with that -"

"Of course." Blaine took the facecloth back and put it on the sink before wrapping an arm around Kurt and gently helping him up. As soon as he was standing, however, his legs gave way and he would have fallen if Blaine hadn't been there.

"Woah, okay. I don't think you're going to be able to walk." Blaine weighed up the options as Kurt leaned against him tiredly. "I'm going to carry you in, alright?"

It was testament to how tired his normally overly-independent friend was that he simply nodded, allowing Blaine to scoop him up in his arms and take him to his room. _He's so light,_ Blaine marveled as he effortlessly carried Kurt to his bed, putting him down gently and pulling the cover over him.

"Alright, I'm going to get you some water because you're seriously dehydrated. Do you fee like you could eat anything?" Kurt grimaced and shook his head. "Okay, I want you to try and get some sleep, I'll grab a bowl in case you need it and another cloth to cool you off. Do you need anything else?"

"Don't you have class?"

Blaine remembered that he did, then shrugged it off. "You're more important. I'll be right here when you wake up."

As he stood up, he heard Kurt murmur something as he drifted off to sleep, but he was unable to catch it. Something about _wonderful _and _perfection_. Blaine forgot about it almost immediately, just glad his friend was getting some sleep.

* * *

"I WANT YOUR LOVING, I WANT YOUR REVENGE, YOU AND ME COULD WRITE A BAD ROMAAAAANNNNNNCCCCEEEEE!"

Kurt sashayed around the living room, belting out the song at the top of his lungs as he cleaned, his iPhone playing in the dock behind him. He twirled around to pick up a couple of magazines, shaking his hips as he did so.

"WOAH, OH, OH, OHHHHHHHHHH! CAUGHT IN A BAD - AAH!"

Kurt finished his spin facing the doorway where Blaine was standing with his arms crossed, smirking. He immediately dropped his arms and stepped over to pause the music. In the silence, Kurt could see Blaine trying not to laugh and leveled him with his best glare.

To no avail. Blaine snorted, then cracked up laughing. Kurt huffed and stormed past him into the kitchen, chucking a few paper into the garbage and staring out the window. He heard Blaine enter and come to stand beside him. "I'm sorry, Kurt. I wasn't laughing at you, really."

"Right, you were just laughing at the immaculate condition of the living room because it's laughable that it could be that clean." Kurt rolled his eyes and opened the fridge, looking for something to make for dinner, coming up empty.

"It's - no, it's just good to come home to you, you know?" Kurt tried desperately not to think too much into that as Blaine continued. "I sit there in lectures all day with stuffy boring people and I think to myself 'Why did I decide to do law?' And then I come home and you're here with your contagious excitement and I just wanted to break into song with you."

"Why didn't you?" Kurt felt the warm fuzzy feeling inside him growing. Even if Blaine never saw him as anything more than just a friend, at least he was the kind that made his day better.

"I - don't know." Blaine shrugged.

"Well, let's make up for that." Kurt grabbed his hand and pulled him back into the living room, flicking through his iPhone quickly before finding the perfect song. He hit play and watched Blaine's eyes light up.

"_Rising up, back on the street,_

_Did my time, took my chances." _

Kurt pulled Blaine into the middle of the room, spinning him around in a circle as he laughed and picked up the song a few lines later.

"_Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past,_

_You must fight just to keep them alive,"_

The two boys eyed each other up for a second before smirking and bursting into song.

"IT'S THE EYE OF THE TIGER, IT'S THE TRILL OF THE FIGHT,

RISING UP TO THE CHALLENGE OF OUR RIVALS

AND THE LAST KNOWN SURVIVOR STALKS HIS PREY IN THE NIGHT

AND HE'S WATCHING US ALL THROUGH THE EYEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

OF THE TIGER!"

Kurt collapsed to the floor in the middle of the room, laughing too hard to continue. Blaine sank down next to him in a similar state. After awhile, they quietened down, the only sound in the room being the song playing in the background. Kurt looked up at Blaine who was staring across the room, a smile playing on his face. _Tell him, tell him now!_

"I want pizza for dinner," Blaine announced as if he had come to a very important decision. "And then we're going to watch _16 And Pregnant_ all night."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, sitting up. "Feeling spontaneous are you?"

Blaine nodded, still looking thoughtful. "Yeah, I think I am."

Kurt smiled and went to grab the phone book.

* * *

"Kurt, you're being unreasonable!"

Blaine huffed out a breath, glaring at his flatmate who was sitting at the table.

"I'M being unreasonable? Blaine, you're the one standing there yelling at me!"

"I'M NOT - I'm not yelling." Blaine made an effort to quieten down but he felt the anger simmering beneath the surface. _Why is he doing this?_

"Yes you are, Blaine. You're angry at me because I don't want to take money from your parents to buy my portfolio things, which is ridiculous because it's my choice."

"Kurt, you can't afford it otherwise, why can't you just let them help you?" Blaine sighed angrily. He couldn't understand why Kurt wasn't willing to accept help, after all it was an incredibly generous offer of his parents to make to someone who was just their son's flatmate. He didn't have time for this anyway, he had his own loans to work out and then final assessments for the year - perfectly enough to deal with without his friend's dramatics.

"Because I don't want them to!"

Blaine's patience finally ran out. "Damn it, Kurt!" He slammed a hand on the table, then immediately realized it was the wrong thing to do. _Oh crap..._

Kurt jumped as if he had been hit and Blaine knew the noise was replaying in his head over and over again. Before Blaine could say or do anything, Kurt was out of his chair and bolting towards his room.

"Kurt -!"

The door slammed shut and Blaine heard the lock click. He sat down, all the anger evaporated and put his head in his hands.

_What the hell just happened?_

Now that the frustration had cleared, Blaine could see he was definitely in the wrong for getting so angry at Kurt and he needed to make it up to him. But he knew there was no way he was getting into Kurt's room now while he was upset.

Blaine's eye fell onto his notebook and he grabbed it, quickly scrawling a note down.

_Kurt,_

_I can't put into words how sorry I am. You were right, I overreacted. It's your decision whether you take money or not, I just hate to think that you might not be able to move into a proper internship because you can't afford to. You're incredibly talented and I want to see you go places because I know you love it so much._

_I'm so sorry I lost my temper. I know that was the worst thing to do and I wish I could take it back but I can't so all I can do is ask that you please, please forgive me. I don't know what I can do to make it up to you but I will literally do anything. Just please come out of the room so I can at least give you a hug and tell you it's going to be alright, because it will. Nobody can hurt you here and I know I brought that back too and I won't even try to say I'm sorry because I'm literally in tears right now so I hope that's proof enough. _

_Please come out?_

_Your stupid flatmate and hopefully still friend,_

_Blaine_

Blaine sniffed, wiping his eyes as he finished writing the letter. Upsetting Kurt was one of the things that hurt him the most, and yet he seemed to be able to do it far too often. Granted, their last fight was the previous year, but it was still far too recent in Blaine's book.

Standing up, Blaine walked over to Kurt's door and stopped outside. He could hear the sound of muffled sobs from inside and slipped the piece of paper under the door, waiting until he heard Kurt walking over to pick it up. He sunk down, back against the wall and waited, just hoping that Kurt would open the door.

A few minutes later, he heard the lock click. Blaine jumped to his feet as the door opened to reveal a red-eyed Kurt who still had tears running down his cheeks. Blaine fought to hold his own tears back as he held out his arms, letting Kurt step into them. He wrapped his arms around the boy, allowing Kurt to cry out all of his frustration and hurt.

Finally, Kurt sniffed and stepped back, looking up at Blaine.

"I'm sorry I yelled," Blaine said quietly.

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have gotten so mad. I get where you're coming from, I just -" Kurt sighed. "Blaine, you know I'm independent. I want to feel like I got to where I am myself."

Blaine nodded. "I know that, Kurt, and if that's really what you want then I can respect that. I just want to see you succeed. Can we talk about that later?"

"Yeah. I guess we need to talk about -" Kurt left the sentence hanging.

"I'm not going to push it. I know it still hurts. Just know that I will _never_ hurt you like that." Blaine was hit with the memory from last year, of finding Kurt slumped against a wall in the alleyway outside their flat, his arm hanging at a sickening angle... he pushed it away, focusing on the Kurt in front of him.

"I know. I guess I just need more time."

"Take as long as you need." Blaine hugged him again, rubbing his back soothingly. _Forget assignments, forget loan applications. This boy needs to be cheered up and that's my top priority right now._

* * *

Kurt sighed, staring out at the night sky. He shivered and pulled his jacket closer around him, still feeling the cool air whip at his skin. He knew his hair was messed up but didn't care much. _It's not like anybody's paying attention to you in there._

Blaine's classmates had thrown a huge 'We're only one year away from being lawyers!' party in one of the students apartments. Everybody was allowed to bring a plus one so Blaine had invited him to come along. But after spending ten minutes socializing and trying to see where Blaine had disappeared to, Kurt had found himself sitting on a couch with a drink in hand, wondering how long it would be until they could leave. He had deliberated just leaving, but was still edgy about walking the streets alone at night after the incident, even though it was a couple of years back now.

After awhile, Kurt had made his way out to the relatively ignored balcony. Occasionally someone would come out to smoke a quick cigarette - Kurt wrinkling his nose up at the smell - but for the most part, he was alone. He knew he could easily go back in there and make himself have a good time - after all, there was alcohol. But Kurt had barely touched the stuff since his high school experiences and didn't exactly want to make a fool of himself in front of Blaine's high class friends.

_At least Blaine's enjoying himself_, he thought. Blaine had certainly seemed in his element, mingling with all of his lawyer friends and immediately becoming the centre of attention. As such, Kurt didn't mind giving his friend a few hours to have fun. He mentally pulled up a few of the design ideas he had been working on and started working on how to make them better for his submission on Wednesday.

The door slid open, Kurt not bothering to turn around to see who else needed to work on destroying their lungs. _The belt would look good in grey, possibly black? ..._

"Hey, Kurt."

Kurt turned to see Blaine standing next to him, staring out into the night. "Hey. What are you doing out here?"

Blaine turned to him. "You're out here," he said as if that made things clear.

"But the party's in there, your friends, fun stuff, you know?"

"Yeah. But you're out here." And with that, Blaine turned to look over the balcony again, missing the strange look Kurt was giving him.

_Don't read into it, Kurt_.

But try as he might, he couldn't shake the feeling that something was changing between himself and Blaine.

* * *

"Hello?"

Blaine sighed in relief as Kurt picked up the phone. "Kurt! Hey, it's me. I wanted to ask a favour."

"What's up?"

"Well," Blaine looked around at the pouring rain. "It's silly but my umbrella broke and I forgot to pack lunch today, so I was hoping if you were at the apartment -"

"Are you on campus now?" Kurt interrupted.

"Yeah. In my sociology room."

"See you in ten." The line went dead and Blaine pocketed his phone, staring out the window of his abandoned sociology classroom. He smiled as he realized not a single other person he knew would come out of their way on their day off in the pouring rain to bring their flatmate lunch. _I'm lucky to have Kurt_, he thought to himself. Sitting down at a desk, he pulled out his notebook and began to work on the outline for his final assignment.

After fifteen minutes, there was a noise at the door and Blaine looked up to see Kurt standing there carrying two umbrellas and a bag. "Sorry it took so long, I couldn't find the spare umbrella and then I thought maybe I should toast the bread so it's warmer, not that it'll be warm now -"

Blaine strode across the room, taking the items out of Kurt's hands and putting them on the desk before pulling him into a hug. "You're wonderful, you know that?" he whispered, feeling Kurt shiver slightly.

"I've always known that," Kurt replied and Blaine chuckled, releasing him to check inside the bag. Sure enough, Kurt had packed all of his favourites, as well as a few extra things. Blaine looked up with a raised eyebrow. "Well I haven't eaten yet, so I thought maybe I could stick around?"

"Of course." Blaine gestured to the empty room. "You can join me and all of my friends."

Kurt chuckled, pulling up a seat and grabbing his lunch out of the bag, handing half of a sandwich to Blaine. As Blaine sat down with him, he took a moment to think over the past few years and the times that things like this had happened, where Kurt had dropped everything to come and help him.

_I'm so lucky to have Kurt._

* * *

"You're kidding, right?"

Kurt laughed at the incredulous expression on Blaine's face. "Nope, totally self-taught. The internet is a wonderful thing."

Blaine whistled. "I sat through years of French lessons at Dalton to get anywhere near passable, and you taught yourself?"

"Yup. Your turn." Kurt leant back against the couch, absent mindedly tracing patterns on Blaine's arm which was casually draped around his neck. They had been getting themselves into positions like this for awhile now and neither of them made any attempts to change it. Kurt was loving the contact, even if Blaine only saw him as a friend.

"Hm. Okay, got it! The first time I ever watched _Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,_ I was with the Warblers and I had to leave at the end because I started crying during Dumbledore's funeral."

"Already knew that." Kurt smirked as Blaine spluttered in outrage.

"I KNOW I didn't tell you, who did?"

"David." Kurt traced dots up Blaine's arm.

"How did he - oh, nevermind. Of course David and Wes knew everything that happened at Dalton. Except..." he hesitated for a second. "Here's one that nobody else knows."

Kurt turned his full attention to Blaine, letting his hand rest lightly on his arm.

"I spent my first six months at Dalton crushing on Wes."

Kurt tried. He really did. But his mind had other ideas.

"You - you crushed o-on Wes!" Kurt burst into laughter, collapsing into Blaine's side. To his credit, Blaine laughed as well and Kurt could _feel_ it right next to him -

"Yeah, and I knew he was straight too. I never told him or David, I probably should sometime to see their reaction." Kurt straightened up slightly as his laughter eased, still leaning against Blaine. As he thought of his next statement, he casually allowed his hand to tangle in Blaine's, smiling softly when Blaine didn't pull away. _Tell him now! It's something he doesn't know about you for sure. _The voice in his head piped up and Kurt considered it for a second. He opened his mouth -

"I slushied myself once."

_Damn._

"Really?" Blaine turned to look at him, puzzled. "Why?"

"Well it was all because of Finn..."

* * *

"Hey Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

"How long have you been in love with me?"

Kurt froze and Blaine saw the panic in his eyes. He took his hand and squeezed it gently, watching Kurt draw up as much courage as he could.

"Since Dalton."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?" Kurt nodded, looking down at the couch. "I don't get it, because I think I've only known that I'm in love with you for the past few months and it kills me every time I can't tell you. You're a lot stronger than I could ever be if you could go years without saying anything."

Kurt raised his head, catching Blaine's eye. "I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not at the same time. It always felt like it was just a matter of time, you know?"

"Yeah, I do." Blaine smiled before leaning in to gently kiss Kurt.

_Finally_, the small voice in his head piped up. _You've waited seven years for this._

Blaine smiled against his flatmate/friend/boyfriend's lips as he deepened the kiss, feeling Kurt respond eagerly.

Finally.

* * *

**I knocked this over at the end of a very long writing day. I had written nine stories in a row and somehow I ended up producing this which I love to pieces. I don't know how I did it, considering this one is over 4000 words and the others weren't exactly short either...**

**Those last two scenes are within a few minutes of each other by the way, just in case that wasn't clear. Not that it's important, I just like it that way :) **


	43. Conspiracy

**So my beta and I were chatting tonight and we found out we both like guys with the same name which we've added to the ridiculously long list of things we have in common (seriously, it's scary). Then we started talking about what they look like and I said mine looks like Riker Lynch who plays Jeff (blonde Warbler). Then she mentioned he was gay which I hadn't known beforehand and I decided to go searching to see whether Telly Leung (Wes, my favourite Warbler besides Blaine of course!) was gay and was going to break my heart too. Well, apparently he is too and I was momentarily depressed... until I saw he's released an EP. I freaked, Angela freaked and I'm gonna go find it and listen to it ASAP! And continue my quest to find a straight Warbler.**

**Why does the straight guy play the gay guy and the gay guys play straight guys? I don't understand...**

_**From EternalTearsOfBlood **_**and similarly prompted by**_** Enaid Mora: In Silly Love Songs, **__**what if Kurt really was the one Blaine wanted to sing to? And the whole **__**Jeremiah thing didn't happen...**_

**It's a Warbler conspiracy! :D that was seriously the first thing I thought when I read that prompt. At first I thought I should just go with the Jeremiah thing not happening at all. And then the more I thought about it, the more I just wanted a huge conspiracy. So this eventuated.**

**_akatrixie_ received this chapter for being 100th prompter, because she said #42 was the meaning of life. I completely agree, Warbler conspiracies are the meaning of life. Well, they appear to be the meaning of mine right now... no, I kid. My meaning of life is always God :)**

**Still haven't seen New York! Thanks guys :) and onwards we go!**

* * *

Conspiracy

"Wes, we do not need spy theme music. We are _not_ spies."

"But we're on a mission!"

Blaine sighed as his friend began humming the _Mission Impossible_ theme song for the fifth time that day, David joining in happily from his other side as they led the Warblers towards The Gap.

"A super secret mission that isn't as it appears -"

"David. Shut _up_." Blaine looked over his shoulder to make sure Thad still had Kurt occupied at the back of the group; sure enough, the sound of Kurt talking about his latest outfit and Thad pretending to care drifted up towards them. "The point of it being super secret is that it's a _secret_. So please stop talking about it unless we get caught out before we can even complete the..." he sighed, "mission."

Wes and David both nodded, looking serious for a moment before Wes broke into a grin. "And once it's over, you and Kurtie-pie," Blaine winced, "can be happy!"

"That's if he feels the same way."

"Of course he does!" David linked arms with an unwilling Blaine. "I mean, when you said you were singing to Jeremiah today, he kinda looked like you'd stood on him."

"Yeah, and you were wearing rugby boots. Sharp ones." Wes added, before suddenly stopping and turning to face the Warblers.

"Alright, Warblers, listen up!" The group converged around the three boys, Kurt trying and failing not to look upset by what they were about to do. "Today is very important for Blaine. So we're all going to follow his instructions, no matter what, okay? We've practiced and got our positions all ready, but Blaine might want to make a few changes once we get in there. Pair up and let's go!"

The group of chattering boys quickly made their way into The Gap - Thad dragging Kurt in - leaving the council members and Blaine behind. "You ready to do this?"

Blaine looked up at the sign, taking a deep breath. "Yeah. Let's go."

Walking in, Wes and David immediately began assembling the Warblers while Blaine ducked off to the left as directed, walking up to the teenage boy stacking shirts. "Jeremiah?"

"Hey Blaine! Good to see you again. You ready?"

Blaine shrugged. "Are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Of course it is!" Jeremiah put a hand on his shoulder. "It's all cleared with my manager, the customers will enjoy it and Kurt - he'll love it."

"Okay. Thanks Jeremiah."

"Any time buddy." He smiled before stacking the last of the shirts and quickly slipping off to behind the counter. Blaine headed over to the rest of the Warblers, checking everyone was in position and getting a few last minute nods and winks of encouragement. Finally, he made his way to where Kurt was standing.

"That's him over there," Blaine pointed in Jeremiah's direction.

"I can see the appeal. That's quite a head of hair." Kurt sounded his usual sarcastic self but Blaine could hear the twinges of hurt under the surface.

"Yeah, if we got married, The Gap would give me a 50% discount." Blaine nearly lost it trying to get this out, especially after seeing the look on Kurt's face. "Hey, I need you to change positions."

"Oh, okay. Where do you need me?" Kurt looked around at the rest of the Warblers who were naturally drawing attention from the customers.

"Here." Blaine took his arm and led him to a stand right in front of the counter.

"But isn't this where -?"

"Shh." Blaine winked. "Show's starting."

He backed up a couple of steps so he was standing in front of the counter. Turning to look at Jeremiah, he winked at him before the Warblers broke into their harmony.

"_I gotta take a little time_

_A little time to think things over_

_I'd better read between the lines_

_In case I need it when I'm older"_

Jeremiah walked around the counter to stand next to Blaine, as they both turned to face the shop. Blaine caught Kurt's eye who was still standing right where Blaine had put him.

"_Now this mountain I must climb_

_Feels like a world upon my shoulders"_

He felt Jeremiah reach over and put his hands on his shoulders, squeezing them quickly before pulling away.

"_In my life, there's been heartache and pain_

_I don't know if I can face it again,"_

And as Blaine turned to Jeremiah, he was truly asking him. _Can I face it again? _Jeremiah nodded, still smiling.

"_I want to know what love is, _

_I want you to show me,_

_I want to feel what love is,_

_I want you to show me."_

As he sang the final line of the chorus, Jeremiah grabbed his shoulders again, turning him as he pointed towards Kurt. Blaine's eyes widened as if he had just realized Kurt was there, stepping forward. He heard Jeremiah moving back to where Wes and David were standing, completing the circle the Warblers had formed while he was singing.

Blaine took another step towards Kurt who was looking around hesitantly as if trying to work out what was going on.

"_I'm going to take a little time,_

_A little time to look around me,"_

Blaine spun around in a circle, looking at the rest of the Warblers who were all grinning. He turned back to face Kurt and shrugged.

"_I've got nowhere left to hide,_

_It looks like love has finally found me."_

Another step forward. And now he was close enough that he could reach out and take Kurt's hands, but he waited, wanting to be sure that Kurt was okay with this. So far he was standing stock-still, completely stunned, and Blaine could only hope it was the good kind of shock.

"_I want to know what love is_

_I want you to show me_

_I want to feel what love is_

_I know you can show me,"_

Blaine stepped forward again. Now he was right in front of Kurt who hesitantly looked him in the eye. The Warblers all stopped, leaving Blaine to sing the final chorus in the silence of The Gap.

"_I want to know what love is_

_I want you to show me"_

He reached out, gently taking Kurt's hand.

"_I want to feel what love is_

_I know you can show me."_

In the silence that followed, Blaine spoke. "Kurt, I love you. And in my usual fashion, I couldn't just come out and say it. So this is my way of letting you know. I hope you love me back."

He stopped there, for once taking Wes' advice to keep it simple and hope for the best. A moment of silence passed, then a whisper. "I do. I - I love you too, Blaine."

Blaine felt the smile break out across his face and, before he could lose his nerve, he took the final step in, leaning towards Kurt to softly press their lips together. He heard Kurt whimper slightly as he kissed him back, pressing himself against Blaine. As much as he wanted to keep going, Blaine knew they had an audience so reluctantly drew back. Staring into Kurt's eyes, he smiled before calling out, "Okay, go ahead guys."

The room exploded in cheering with Warblers high-fiving and talking excitedly. Kurt frowned, turning to look at the guys who were all swarming in to pat them on the back and congratulate Blaine.

"What - what's going on?"

Blaine chuckled as Jeremiah walked up and wrapped his arm around him in a half-hug. "Kurt, this is Jeremiah. He was the lead soloist for the Warblers before I came along. He's also the one who helped Wes and David concoct this marvelous display so I could get my act together and tell you how I feel."

"Nice to meet you, Kurt." Jeremiah held out his hand for a still-shocked Kurt to shake. "Sorry about the cloak and dagger, but Blaine wasn't sure if you felt the same way, so we figured bringing another guy on the scene would be the best way to figure it out. And before you ask, yes I am gay but I'm not after your boyfriend. I have my own."

Blaine felt the grin split his face again at that word and saw Kurt doing the same. "I suppose you're forgiven," he said, eyeing up Wes and David who had wandered over. "And by the way, I knew something was up. I heard these two humming _Mission Impossible_ again."

Blaine rolled his eyes, but couldn't keep the smile off his face.

* * *

**Catch the AVPM reference! I do that way too much... so this time, first person to get it gets a prize! (though it's kinda sad. I wrote this, then when I put it in the uploader, I'd actually forgotten what my reference was and had to read through the whole thing again to find it... and then again before I published it... )**


	44. Movie

**If I haven't mentioned it yet, my job interview from last week fell through and I didn't get the job. But I have another interview tomorrow! Nervous as anything... those of you who pray, please pray for me because I seriously need this job if I'm going to go to uni next year. Thanks :) and thank you all for the continued support in my job hunting.**

**I've had a lot of reviews saying 'I couldn't find the AVPM reference in the last chapter!' Well, first, my apologies because it was actually from AVPS. :/ but I did get one person who got it! _AVeryPotterFangirl _got it, right at the end when Blaine's introducing Jeremiah to Kurt and saying 'he helped us concoct this marvellous display' which comes from the scene where Lucius is putting on the display with his Death Eaters and Harry walks in and goes 'what a marvellous display. I'm very impressed.' So yeah... yay to her!**

**I also had a lot of outrage that both Riker and Tully are gay. So I did my research and this is what I found. Out of the eight Warblers who's actors are actually known, theres five who are gay (actors of Kurt, Jeff, Wes, Thad and Trent), one of undetermined sexuality (David) and two straight (Blaine, Nick). In fact, Curt Mega who plays Nick is married! Of course, all of this was found from Google searching it so it's not 100% accurate... but isn't it weird that right when we first meet them, the guys laugh at the idea that they're all gay, when it turns out that a good majority of the Warbler actors are? And of course, the openly gay one is straight and the ones who apparently have girlfriends are mostly gay. Angela wasn't impressed because she likes to write Jeff/Nick and to find out that all of the other Warblers seem to be gay except the one she likes to write as a gay guy.**

**By the way, I was listening to _Born This Way_, the Lady Gaga version and I thought of the Glee version of course... and when I stopped mentally salivating over Chris Colfer with that hair... and shirt... yeah. After that, I started thinking about what I'd put on my shirt. I know the answer, but I want to hear from you guys first. What would you have put on your shirt if you were doing the BTW performance? Send me some answers and I'll post mine tomorrow! (Authors note is long enough here already and mine takes a bit of explanation...)**

**Onwards we go! From **_**wynnie the pooh: In a cinema**_

**You guys seem to love Wes and David almost as much as Klaine! I'll admit it, so do I. In fact, people have been messaging me frequently wanting to know when they'd get to see the next insane Wes and David fic. Well, here it is. Insane. Incredibly insane for that matter. **

**I'm making good on my promise I made twenty chapters ago - the dirt that Kurt has on these two is going to come out.**

* * *

Movie

"Kurt. Kurt. Kurt. Kurt."

"David, if you poke me ONE MORE TIME -"

The blankets were pulled back off Kurt and he yelped as the light hit his eyes. Blinking furiously, he made out a smirking David standing beside his bed and reached out to swat him away.

"Don't make me use it against you."

The threat worked. David pouted but moved away. "Seriously, Kurt? How long are you going to hold that over my head?"

"Until you stop annoying me or I have to use it." Kurt pulled himself out of bed and walked to his wardrobe, searching for something to wear.

"I could just deny it, you know."

Kurt turned to smirk at David. "Sure. But pictures speak louder than words, don't they?"

He turned back to his clothes, mentally counting. _3... 2... 1..._

"You got a PHOTO?"

Kurt began to laugh. "Did I forget to mention that fact? Sorry." He continued to survey his closet. "Why did you wake me up anyway?"

There was silence behind him, then - "Kurt, don't tell me you've forgotten."

Kurt froze. "Oh. That's today isn't it?"

"Yep. We're leaving in an hour."

Kurt turned to look at David with wide eyes. "Today is my first proper date with Blaine and you only gave me ONE HOUR to get ready?" Without waiting for an answer, he grabbed some clothes out of his closet and bolted into the bathroom, slamming the door on David's amused chuckles. He ran through his shower routine quickly before pulling on his outfit of choice and finishing his moisturizing routine. Stepping out of the bathroom, he sat down at his pseudo vanity (schoolwork could be done somewhere else, he needed room for his hair products) and set to work.

"Kurt, you look fine. Kurt, you look fine. Kurt -"

"David, shut UP! I heard you the first time." Kurt flicked his hair again, applying a bit more moose to the ends and smiling as it finally obeyed. He knew Blaine loved his hair this way after showing him the video of the performance _Empire State of Mind_ and seeing his boyfriend's eyes glaze over. He hadn't worn it that way since, waiting for a special occasion and deciding today was the right time.

"Kurt. We have ten minutes to get downstairs so we can leave so we might get there on time. So stop primping, Blaine loves you no matter how you look."

Kurt rolled his eyes but couldn't help the smile that crossed his face. Standing up, he grabbed his bag and he and David left the room, heading over to Blaine and Wes's. David went to open the door but Kurt grabbed his wrist before knocking.

"Come in!" Blaine called.

David bounded in first. "Woah, David actually knocked?" Wes said, looking up from his calculus textbook.

"No, Kurt did." Blaine replied, focused on looking through his bag for something. "David never knocks, Kurt's too polite for his -"

Kurt felt his heart speed up as Blaine's eyes locked with his and his boyfriend stopped, mouth agape. The second of triumph he felt was immediately forgotten as he eyed up Blaine's hair. _It's ... curly... like, super curly... like, ..._

"O-kay! We know you both look good, so can you stop having eye sex already?"

Reluctantly, Kurt turned his attention from Blaine to glare wordlessly at Wes before stepping towards Blaine. "You look amazing," he murmured as the older boy pulled him into a hug.

"So do you. That _hair - _wow..."

"Same to you, I never realized it was so... _curly_." Kurt reluctantly pulled away from the embrace, letting his hands twine themselves through Blaine's as he looked at his boyfriend.

"Guys, you're cute and all but we need to go. I'm NOT missing the movie because of you!" Wes and David were already standing at the door and as Kurt turned around he saw they were having a silent tug-o-war over David's car keys. He immediately stepped over and grabbed them, chucking them in his bag.

"Oh no, not after last time. Either Blaine or I are driving this time."

Wes and David simultaneously pouted, then looked at each other. "Dude, that was scary." David said to a wide-eyed Wes who was nodding.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Are we done? We've got a movie to see after all." He felt Blaine come up behind him and take his hand and the two headed out of the room, Wes and David following behind, bickering once again.

* * *

"I want popcorn!"

Kurt sighed, looking at an equally frustrated Blaine. "It's like having children, isn't it?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "This is our punishment for being gay. We can't have children of our own so we get to adopt our crazy friends."

"Kurt! You haven't bought the tickets yet! What if they're sold out!"

Kurt raised his eyebrow at a panicked David. "David. Look around. It's 10am on a Wednesday morning. Every other school is in, ours is the only one with a teacher conference today. There's pretty much nobody else here, and the movie has been out for two weeks already. I _think_ we'll be fine."

"But you don't know that!" As soon as the sentence was out of his mouth, David was distracted by the food again and raced over to where Wes was ordering.

"Want to ditch them and go see something else?"

Kurt turned to Blaine, an embarrassed smile crossing his face. "Well... I've been wanting to see this for awhile actually... of course, if it's too dorky for you then we can go see something else, that's -"

"No, of course I want to see it!" Blaine flushed and lowered his voice. "I guess we can put up with them can't we?"

"Yeah, I think so." He headed towards the unoccupied counter, sparing a look of sympathy for the frazzled employee who was rushing around to Wes and David's every whim - "What flavour is your popcorn? I don't care if it's popcorn flavoured, I want to try it! Can you chocolate coat it?"

"Hi, can I get four tickets to -" he looked at Blaine quickly. "Four for _Rio_."

To her credit, the girl barely batted an eyelid, taking his money and handing him the tickets. "You and your friends have fun," she said before eyeing up Blaine. "Um, hold on, let me grab your receipt."

"Oh, I don't need -" Kurt trailed off as the girl scribbled something on the back before handing it to Blaine. "Okay. Thanks."

As they walked away, Blaine looked at the back and snorted with laughter. "What?" Kurt asked, looking over at the piece of paper.

_Call me: 509-294-3781. Sami._

Kurt laughed. "Face it, Blaine, you charm them all."

"You're the only one I want to charm." Kurt shivered lightly as Blaine's hand found his again and he desperately forced himself not to turn around and smirk at the girl at the counter. _He's mine._

They were just about to enter when Blaine stopped and sighed, before putting two fingers in his mouth and whistling. Kurt turned to him quizzically and Blaine just smirked, pointing behind him. Kurt turned to see Wes and David running over with hands full of popcorn, ice creams, drinks and other various confectionary items. "Kurt, we got you gummy bears."

Kurt grabbed the bag eagerly as Blaine chuckled. "Shut up or I won't share."

Blaine immediately stopped laughing. "I'll be good."

They handed the tickets to the bored employee at the door and headed in, finding the theatre completely empty. Kurt heard a noise behind him and turned to see Wes and David dropping their purchases on a seat before taking off around the theatre, running laps. He turned incredulously to Blaine who was watching them wearily. "It's worse when there's other people in here," he said.

"They do that when -?" Kurt shook his head. "Okay, should we find seats then? Preferably _away_ from the Tweedles."

"The what?" Blaine started walking along one of the middle rows.

"You know, Tweedle-dum and Tweedle-dee?" Kurt sat down and slung his bag into the seat beside him, Blaine doing the same on his other side.

"Huh. I've never thought of calling them that, but it fits doesn't it?" Kurt nodded, eyeing up their friends who were loudly discussing the merits of each seating position, before turning back to his boyfriend who was looking at him. In the dim of the movie theatre, Kurt could see Blaine lick his lips and Kurt felt his heart racing as he looked down then back into his boyfriend's eyes which were so _inviting_ and -

"So, who's excited for the movie?" David's head popped between them from the row behind and Kurt groaned in annoyance, turning to face the unwanted interruption.

"You guys are NOT sitting there." Kurt's tone made it clear that it wasn't up for discussion, but Wes still decided to argue.

"But we want to be close to you guys! Who else will we talk to about the funny parts?"

"Um, each other?" Blaine shook his head. "You two are pathetic. Go sit somewhere else."

"You can't make us, Blainey!"

"I can." Kurt raised an eyebrow at David who suddenly stood.

"Yeah, okay. Come on Wes, let's go." He grabbed his friend's hand and dragged him away as he grabbed their snacks.

"But David!"

"Wes, he's got dirt on us, remember? Is it worth it for a seat?"

As the sound of bickering drifted up behind them, Kurt sighed before hearing Blaine chuckle softly beside him. "Are you ever going to tell me what you've got on them?"

Kurt shrugged, taking Blaine's hand as the theatre dimmed further. "I like knowing I can get them to do whatever I like. So not yet."

The previews began to play and Kurt tucked his feet up, enjoying having the entire row to themselves so he could let his feet sprawl onto the other chair. He leaned against Blaine's shoulder, keeping their hands together on the armrest as they discussed which movies they would want to come and see. Behind them, they could hear Wes and David doing the same, albeit louder.

"BLAINE!"

Kurt felt Blaine sigh. "Yes, David?" he said, raising his voice the appropriate amount for it to travel across an empty movie theatre, a concept that David hadn't seemed to have grasped.

"BLAINE, I WANT TO SEE THAT ONE!"

"David, it doesn't come out for another week. And why don't you tell Wes about it, he's right next to you!" Kurt chuckled, lifting his head to see his boyfriend's exasperated expression which quickly evaporated when he looked down at Kurt. And suddenly they were so close again and he was just waiting for Blaine to move in -

"I THINK HE'S ASLEEP!"

Kurt dropped his head back onto Blaine's shoulder angrily, feeling Blaine lean down to press a quick kiss to the top of his head. "I know they're a pain, maybe if we ignore them they'll go away."

"Fat chance. At least the movie's starting." Kurt gestured to the screen where a couple of colourful birds had appeared, much to the delight of David and an apparently-still-awake Wes. He snuggled a little closer to Blaine's neck, enjoying the closeness of his boyfriend as they began to watch.

Half way through the movie, Kurt made a very important discovery. He was sitting up, eating the gummy bears and feeding some to Blaine, when he suddenly had a thought. Moving their still-clasped hands off the armrest, he gave it a nudge and resisted the urge to cheer when the armrest moved. He took his hand from Blaine's who turned to him questioningly until he pulled the armrest all the way up.

The gummy bears were instantly discarded as Kurt shuffled closer, leaning into Blaine's chest with a contented sigh. He felt Blaine's arm wrap around his waist, his fingers gently resting against his side in a way that made a shiver run up his back. In turn, he wrapped his arm around Blaine's back, keeping his other hand resting on Blaine's chest.

"Comfortable?" Blaine whispered.

Kurt turned his head up to look at him again. "Very," he whispered back. In the dimness of the theatre, he could still make out Blaine's eyes which were completely fixated on him, something burning in them. "Blaine, if you hesitate again, you know they're just going to interrupt."

He saw Blaine swallow, then nod. And then his face was moving in closer and Kurt closed his eyes, and then he felt a pair of lips on his and everything just melted. He couldn't care less that they were in a movie theater with a kids movie playing, with their dorky and annoying friends watching (and probably the employee running the film too). All he knew was Blaine's lips, and Blaine's arms around his and his hands _finally_ running through Blaine's hair and everything was Blaine and everything was _perfect_.

"OH MY GOSH, WES!"

Kurt pulled away, ready to turn and _scream_ at the two boys for not being able to keep their mouths shut and had they _seriously _never seen anybody kiss before or something -?

"I THINK HE'S GOING TO FLY!"

Blaine began to laugh and despite himself, Kurt joined in. "They're morons aren't they?" he said, when he finally got his breath back.

"Yeah they are. I guess our first kiss wouldn't have been the same without them."

Kurt couldn't stop the grin breaking across his face at Blaine's words and saw his boyfriend doing the same. He deliberated whether to pick up where they left off, then decided against it, settling back against Blaine's chest. _We've got plenty of time to do that later, when we don't have the idiot twins watching._

* * *

"Wes, buddy, it's okay. It was a happy ending!"

Kurt and Blaine made their way over to a couch where David was trying to console a sobbing Wes who had bolted the second the credits had started rolling, followed quickly by David. (Kurt may have taken advantage of the empty theatre to steal a few more kisses from Blaine but nobody needed to know that, did they?)

"It - It was so ... so _happy!_" Wes burst into fresh tears, curling into David who was looking slightly awkward but still patted his friend on the back, looking up at the two boys who had joined them.

"So, did you guys _enjoy_ the movie?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and didn't need to look to know Blaine was doing the same. "David, you don't need to go there."

"Oh, but I want to. Could you tell me your favourite part? Oh wait, you didn't exactly pay attention to the movie, did you?"

Wes had stopped crying and was sporting an identical smirk, albeit tearful.

"David... I'm warning you..."

"Aw, aren't they just so cute together, Wes? They're both angry, they match!"

"Okay, David. Three strikes and you're out. Blaine, last term I caught these two in my room making out."

There was silence. Wes had stopped smirking and was suddenly very interested in his shoes. David's mouth was opening and closing with nothing coming out as he looked frantically from Kurt to Blaine. And Blaine - Blaine's face was turning bright red as he attempted not to laugh.

"Are you serious?" he managed to squeak out. "When?"

"That weekend you went home and I came back early. I walked into my room expecting it to be empty and instead found -" Kurt quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened his photos. "- this." He handed the phone over to Blaine who stared at it incredulously, then looked up at his two bright-red friends.

"So, 'straight as rulers,' huh?"

"I - yes... _Kurt!"_

Kurt raised his hands innocently, fighting back his laughter as Wes looked up. "Okay, it was because of me. As I told Kurt when he interrupted our moment - oh hell, that sounds gay." Blaine sniggered as Wes' blush grew more pronounced. "When Kurt _found us_, I told him that I had been with my girlfriend earlier that day and she said I was a bad kisser. So I was telling David about it and he suggested I try it out with someone else who could tell me whether I was bad or whether it was her. And then we realized that we were at an all-guys school and the only guys who would even consider it would be you two."

Kurt and Blaine immediately began to protest. "Wesley, I'm flattered -" Blaine began, still smirking.

"We just don't see you that way. But at least someone does." Kurt finished, gesturing at David who was still trying to find something to say.

"Shut up would you? So then David said "Well, what about us?" And I was against it at first but then I realized that it wasn't _that_ bad of an idea and we _thought_ nobody would find out. But then of course Kurt had to come back early and take a _photo_ which until now I didn't know existed and I'd steal his phone and delete it except I just know he's got it backed up somewhere else."

Kurt nodded smugly as the two boys sighed. Blaine looked at the two for a second and Kurt knew he was deliberating whether to let them away with it or get some revenge for what happened in the theater -

"So, David? Was he a good kisser?"

Kurt couldn't help himself. He burst into laughter and leant against Blaine who had also begun to chuckle, staring at the two embarrassed boys. "Oh come on Blaine, I don't think we need to know that - hey, Wes, did your girlfriend find out before you broke up?"

"NO! And she never will!" Wes suddenly looked panicked and Kurt held up his hands.

"Okay, it's alright, I won't say anything, to anyone. That is, as long as you guys keep your mouths shut about what happened in there when we get back to Dalton and stop making the inappropriate jokes and comments about us to anyone who will listen. And that includes my McKinley friends on Facebook. Clear?"

David and Wes looked at one another before nodding. Before Kurt knew what was happening, Wes had reached over and snatched the car keys out of his hand and the two bolted towards the door laughing.

"Idiots through and through," Blaine said, slipping his hand into Kurt's.

"Yep. But they're our idiots."

* * *

**Because if I had friends like that, I'd be damn possessive of them too. MY idiotic Warblers, thank you very much ;)**

**I wish the armrests moved in every movie theatre. I went on a date and ended up with bruised ribs from leaning against the damn armrest so I could have my head on my guy's shoulder. So inconsiderate :/ and he didn't end up being worth it in the end. **

**Oh, and Sami's phone number is completely made up. By Angela - phone numbers over here are only eight digits, so I got her to make me one. If by some absolutely bizzare coincidence she managed to make it your number or a number of someone you know, tell me. Because that'd be freaking awesome. Also, the name Sami is half in tribute to Darren's song _Sami_, and half in tribute to _SamiMarianna_, because I love her :) **


	45. Betting

******My interview was... _strange. _I was asked to write a paragraph 'extolling the virtue of trees.' And I still have no idea what the company is. So... um, yeah. I wrote about trees today! (And my mind just jumped to a story where Klaine are trees... I need to get out more)**

**Thanks so much for all the feedback on what you'd all put on your shirts if you did the _Born This Way _performance. Combined, we'd be: ****_Egghead/Un peu fort, Opinionated, Chunky Monkey/Lebanese, Wide Load/Smart Blonde, Abnormal/Likes Both, Chubby Butt, Heteroflexible, Giant, Obsessive/Insecure, Miss Nobody, Trans, No Rhythm, Bipolar, Obsessive Fangirl/Hobbit, Coward, Not Good Enough/Not Pretty, Insecure, Awkward, Nose/Pigeon-Toed, Hermione, Looney Luna, Big Girls, Short _... and mine, which would be _Self Harmer_**

**Thank you all for being so open and honest, and just remember that these things may be the way you were born, or the way you think you were born, but they don't define you. And you're ALL beautiful, inside and out :) I know it's cliche, but it's so freaking true and I need you all to understand it. The fact that you were willing to put your insecurities up just because someone asked you to, it's fantastic :) I'd hug you all if I could. Instead, how about some fluff? ;)**

**From**_** Captain Holly Short of the LEP: So I was thinking that the whole of New Directions should have bets going on when they will kiss and how and actually be there when it happens...but I thought it would be funny if it was set AFTER Original Song and Klaine had already kissed so what ND thought was their first kiss was nowhere near. And then there's the confrontion scene (which are always my favorite). **_

**I love :) but I think Kurt would've called Mercedes straight after it happened and let her know all about it. So I thought I'd better have an overseer. This negates **_**Born This Way**_** and beyond as well.**

* * *

Betting

"Did you see the chemistry between them on stage? Clearly something's going to happen soon!"

Mercedes walked into the choir room to see, as usual, the rest of the group arguing. "What's the drama this time? Someone get cheated on again?"

"We're talking about Kurt and Blaine." Quinn looked up from her sheet music, rolling her eyes. "Rachel thinks it's only a matter of time before they kiss but Mike thinks there's still going to be ages until they realize."

"Ah." Mercedes fought to keep the smile off her face as she sat down. "What about everyone else?"

"Well I think they'll get there in a matter of weeks," Quinn looked around at everyone else. "Puck says within the month. Finn -"

"Finn _doesn't_ want to think about that." Finn shuddered. "So my vote goes for never."

Quinn rolled her eyes again. "Anyway, we're all a bit divided, though I don't know why we're even arguing about it."

Mercedes smiled as an idea came to mind. "So why don't you all bet on it then? You could even get into specifics on where and when."

Apart from Finn, everyone else looked interested in the idea so Mercedes walked over to the whiteboard, drawing up a table. "Okay, let's see..."

After ten minutes and a few squabbles, Mercedes stepped away from the whiteboard, surveying her work. "Everyone okay with this?" There were nods all around as they all examined the board.

**Rachel - One week; onstage**

**Quinn - Three weeks; Kurt's house**

**Tina - Five days; Tina's party**

**Santana & Brittany - Two weeks; Dalton**

**Lauren - Three days; Blaine's house**

**Puck - One month; Kurt's house**

**Finn - Never**

**Mike - Six weeks; Breadstix**

**Sam - Two weeks; Breadstix**

**Artie - Five days; Tina's party**

"What about you, Mercedes?" Quinn asked.

Mercedes smirked. "I'll be the impartial judge. And, if none of you win, I'll take the prize. Now, everyone chuck in a couple of bucks." She grabbed a bag and passed it around the room, making sure everyone contributed something. "Okay, we'll see what happens."

"What if we're not there though?" Rachel brought up a very valid point. "How will we know?"

"We all know Kurt's going to run screaming to Mercedes the second he gets some action. She'll have to let us know who wins."

Mercedes nodded at Santana. "Yep, I'll be sure to tell you when one of you wins." She pulled out her iPhone and snapped a photo of the board before rubbing it off as Mr Schue entered. Sitting down, she quickly attached the image to a text and sent it off to Kurt. A few seconds later, a reply buzzed in.

_What's that for? - Kurt (and Blaine insists on his presence being acknowledged also)_

Mercedes smiled at the signature before replying.

_ND thinks they know you guys well. They're just missing a few facts - M_

Halfway through Puck's rendition of _Brown-Eyed Girl_, her phone buzzed again.

_Well, we'd better give them what they want. I assume you're staying quiet until it all blows over? P.S. Blaine says hi. I actually cannot shut him up, he's an attention whore - Kurt and Blaine_

_Hi Blaine :) and yeah, I've got a good idea actually. - M_

_Do tell. - K&B_

Mercedes smiled as she typed away, watching the oblivious teenagers around her.

* * *

"Tina!"

"Kurt! It's so good to see you! Hi Mercedes! And it's nice to finally meet you, Blaine." Tina stepped back allowing Kurt, Blaine and Mercedes to enter the house. Mercedes smiled as Kurt made introductions, stepping through into Tina's den where the party was in full swing.

"Thanks for inviting us, even though this is your winning Regionals party and we lost." Kurt nudged Blaine in the ribs. "Well we did, Kurt!"

"KURT!" The majority of New Directions converged on the laughing boy, Mercedes and Blaine stepping away neatly to avoid being crushed in the mass. Mercedes looked at Blaine smirking.

"So, ready for tonight?"

Blaine smirked back, something Mercedes still wasn't used to seeing from the dapper boy. "Absolutely. Just let us know when it's time."

Kurt broke free of the group and made his way over to Blaine and Mercedes. "I think an hour is plenty of time for us to get 'buzzed'," he said, grabbing a couple of drinks off the table. "As long as Blaine only has one and we don't have a repeat of Rachel's party. Remember, we only want them to _think_ we're getting drunk."

Blaine raised his eyebrow. "Yes, mum."

Mercedes shuddered. "He'd better not be your mum! Don't want that mental image in my head, thanks." Kurt and Blaine looked at each other before bursting into laughter. Mercedes looked at the two happy boys and decided it was her cue to leave them be for awhile. Stepping away, she walked over to where Rachel and Puck were sitting.

"So, how are we feeling about our bet?" she asked, pulling up a seat next to them.

"I for one think that it is only a matter of days. Dalton are performing this weekend and I have heard rumors of another heart-wrenching duet between Kurt and Blaine. I don't think their emotions will be able to handle that, and they'll have to do something."

Puck rolled his eyes. "Although Berry is overly emotional as usual, I think she has a point. It'll probably be sooner than I thought, which sucks 'cause I wanted to use the money to take Lauren out. She's bummed cause she's already lost."

"You guys talking about the bet?" Artie wheeled up, a drink in hand. "I've got a good feeling about tonight, I mean look at them." He gestured towards the two boys who were sitting on the edge of the stage, laughing about something. "They're getting sloshed already."

Mercedes smiled as Kurt leaned against Blaine's shoulder briefly, before straightening up to gesture wildly about something. She knew they were happy together and part of her wished they didn't have to put on their act tonight. But they were both looking forward to it, and truthfully so was she.

* * *

"SPIN THE BOTTLE!"

Mercedes groaned, shoving a hand over Rachel's mouth. "_No_, Rachel. Not this time."

Rachel shrugged, pulling away and weaving across the room. Mercedes looked around at the various states of the New Directions group. Quinn and Finn were curled up on a couch together, chatting to Brittany and Santana who were sitting across from them. They all held drinks and were looking considerably looser than they had at the start of the night, but Mercedes knew they weren't quite drunk. Tina and Mike were another story, slumped in a corner giggling together. Rachel was dancing with an equally drunken Sam, while Puck and Lauren made out on one of the couches up the back. She turned around to see Kurt whispering in Blaine's ear, both of them smiling and decided it was time.

Standing up, Mercedes made her way over to the two boys, just as Blaine collapsed into Kurt's side in laughter. "He's not drunk is he?" she asked, gesturing to the hysterical boy.

"He's had a little," Kurt shrugged. "Just enough to make him cheerful."

"Hey, Mercedes." Blaine had finally calmed down and was sitting up again. "Time for us to put on our show?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I think so. Just stay there." Jumping up onto the stage behind them, she grabbed the microphone. "Okay, everyone! I think it's time for karaoke. Who's first?"

"ME!" came the yell from the back, Rachel standing unsteadily before Sam pulled her back down, shaking his head.

"Perhaps not. How about -"

"Us?" Kurt had jumped to his feet, pulling Blaine up. "We love singing, 'Cedes!"

Mercedes smiled and handed over the microphone. "Go for it boys." She jumped off the stage as Kurt picked the song and the music started playing. The rest of New Directions crowded in, pulling up seats or collapsing on the floor as the two boys started to sing, Kurt taking the lead.

_"Lying here with you so close to me,_

_It's hard to fight these feelings _

_When it feels so hard to breathe,_

_Caught up in this moment,_

_Caught up in your smile,"_

Mercedes felt Quinn sit down next to her, watching the two boys. "It's going to happen tonight, isn't it?"

"Something's going to happen for sure." Mercedes avoided lying outright as she continued to watch.

"You know something, don't you?" Mercedes was saved from answering as Blaine began to sing his part.

_"I've never opened up to anyone,_

_So hard to hold back,_

_When I'm holding you in my arms, _

_We don't need to rush this,_

_Let's just take this slow_

"GET SOME, KURT!"

Mercedes rolled her eyes, as did Kurt and Blaine. Kurt glared at Santana who was leaning unsteadily against Brittany, then they broke into the chorus, turning to face each other.

_"Just a kiss on your lips_

_In the moonlight,_

_Just a touch in the fire_

_Burning so bright_

_And I don't want to mess this thing up_

_I don't want to push too far"_

Mercedes realized Quinn was still waiting for an answer and turned to her reluctantly. "Yes, I do know something."

Quinn smiled. "I'm not going to ask. I was never a huge fan of going along with the bet, I just figured it would be fun. Plus, it takes a bit of a moron to look at them and not be able to see that something's already happened."

Mercedes looked to the stage where Kurt was singing to Blaine, their hands lightly twined together. "Yeah, it does."

"I'm just playing along because Berry's reaction when she finds out she's lost will be priceless. Especially because she's drunk." Mercedes chuckled along with Quinn before they turned their attention back to the boys who were finishing up their duet.

"_Just a shot in the dark,_

_That you just might_

_Be the one I've been waiting for,_

_My whole life,_

_So baby, I'm alright_

_With just a kiss goodnight."_

Kurt looked at Mercedes and she nodded. He smiled in return before leaning in towards Blaine, gently kissing him on the lips.

The room erupted. Tina jumped off Mike's lap and started cheering, "I WON, I WON!"

"You mean we won!" Artie rolled up grinning.

"HOLD THE PHONE!" Rachel came storming up and jumped onto the stage in front of Blaine and Kurt, who had broken apart by this point and were watching with amusement. "Look at them!"

Everybody looked. "Um, okay?" Santana finally said. "We were looking at the hot make out scene that you JUST interrupted, what in particular about it?"

"Look at where they're standing. THEY'RE ON A STAGE!" Rachel flailed her arms wildly. "That means I win TOO!"

"No way!" Tina began yelling at Rachel who jumped off the stage to get into her face. Artie and Mike tried to get in between them, Tina started crying and Rachel turned her ire to Mike who was all too happy to get into a fight.

"OI! SHUT UP!"

Everybody froze and turned to stare at Blaine who was watching them all amusedly. "Thank you. I think Mercedes has something to say."

Mercedes jumped up onto the stage, giving Blaine a smile. "Thanks white boy. Tina, stop your sobbing. Rachel, sit down and shut up. _None_ of you won."

"WHAT? But -"

"She said shut UP, Berry!" Santana marched over and pushed Rachel back down to the ground, sitting on her lap unsteadily. "Okay, she's not going anywhere."

"You going to tell us why, Mercedes?" Artie looked at her, one of the few who had stayed sober and could actually think to ask proper questions.

Mercedes turned to Kurt who smiled and nodded. "Because that wasn't their first kiss."

The room stayed silent to her surprise, allowing Kurt to step forward. "Blaine actually kissed me the week before Regionals. We've been dating this whole time."

"Why didn't you TELL us?" Finn called out from the couch, looking totally confused.

"Yeah," Puck added, a giggling Lauren on his arm. "Why the big secret?"

Blaine and Kurt looked at each other, Blaine raising an eyebrow as he turned back to address the group. "Guys... it was on Facebook."

Mercedes took the opportunity to hold up her phone, logged into Facebook and open to Kurt's profile where a photo of him and Blaine sat next to the sentence: 'Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson are in a relationship.'

"Well... crap."

Mercedes looked around at the rest of the inebriated group who were all grumbling and turning their attention back to their respective partners or inanimate objects. She caught Quinn's eye who was smiling softly, then turned her attention back to Kurt and Blaine who were staring into each other's eyes. She jumped off the stage and left them to it.

After all, she was shouting the three of them to Breadstix the next night. And New Directions were paying.

* * *

**I enjoyed this one :D wayyyy too much. Especially Kurt and Mercedes' texts with attentionwhore!Blaine.**

**The song is Just A Kiss - Lady Antebellum. Absolutely beautiful song, go check it out. And it was requested by _Kat3418 _for me to write it in to a scenario like this :) **


	46. Talk

**EVERYBODY PLEASE READ THIS:**

**Hi all. Now, this is the message that I know a lot of you were dreading, but it's time. *deep breath***

**I'm capping the story. **

**It's been amazing to see all the prompts that have come in, but guys I just can't keep doing it forever. As it stands right now, this story will be 153 chapters long and, I mean, wow... When I first posted the story, I thought 'there's no way this is going to take off. Nobody knows me on here.' I aspired to ten chapters. So to see 153... yeah. Mind blown. I've loved writing this, but I'm ready to move on and start writing stuff after the kiss. I want to actually take their relationship into further stages than just the initial moments. So there'll absolutely be more stories coming from me when this series is over, don't worry about that! Plus, there's still over a hundred more chapters so you may all get sick of it before I stop writing anyway...**

**Now, I still haven't seen New York and I pretty much know there's going to be prompts coming from there. So this is what I'll do. I don't know exactly when I'll see New York, but until then prompts are open for everything OTHER than that episode, but are not necessarily going to be written as a lot of prompts will be getting rejected. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I have been rejecting prompts for awhile now and I just need to because I can't write every scene put in front of me. Once I've seen New York and alerted you guys to that, I'll give another two days for the last of the prompts, then it'll be capped for good. After that, everything will be written and the story will be completed. Don't worry, I'm not going to bail out now and not write the prompts I've been given (except the rejected ones of course, sorry!), I'm seeing this through. **

**From**_** Chasing Aspirations: Oh and I just had another idea! The scene in 'Sexy' when Blaine's talking to Burt about Kurt could make him realise his feelings for Kurt... okay that sounds weird but let me explain- I basically mean he could be talking about how much someone as special as Kurt should never be put in a bad situation due to a lack of sexual knowledge (or something along those lines) and then he could find himself rambling a bit about how amazing Kurt is... and then he could have a moment of realisation about how he feels for Kurt... which of course would lead to him confessing his feelings and kissing Kurt?**_

* * *

Talk

Blaine tried desperately not to wring his hands as he felt Kurt's father staring him down. But he had come to say something and it needed to be said.

"Have you ever talked to Kurt about sex?"

"Are you gay, or straight, or what?" Burt was eyeing him up as if trying to figure out an ulterior motive for Blaine being there or whether he was somehow trying to make a dig at Kurt.

Blaine fought so hard to keep from saying _or what,_ but he knew he needed to make a good impression with Kurt's dad, especially when talking about this sort of thing. "I'm definitely gay."

"Okay, good. I mean, you know, whatever - but good for Kurt. He needs someone like you... to talk to." Burt wiped his hands off with the rag as Blaine breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

"Well that's kind of my point. I've tried talking to him. But he basically puts his fingers in his ears and starts singing."

"Well, when he's ready he'll listen."(1) Burt seemed to think the matter was closed, but Blaine knew he couldn't leave it there.

"Sir, I'm afraid he might not. And I know you want to keep your son safe, so all I ask is that you listen to what I have to say for a couple of minutes, no matter how much you might not want to hear it."

Burt put down the rag and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, kid. Talk."

Blaine took a deep breath and pushed all his nervousness back. "Your son is one of the most responsible teenagers I know. He doesn't get drunk, he doesn't go out to parties, he doesn't date for the fun of it. So there's a good chance that he won't find himself in the situation of being so drunk he doesn't know what he's doing and then waking up the next morning and finding he's made a huge mistake. However, if he does get in to that situation, it would be better if he had some knowledge of what's going on and what he could do to help himself."

Burt was looking concerned and distinctly uncomfortable so Blaine moved into what he hoped was safer territory and the more immediate concern.

"Now, that might never happen. But your son is gay, and I'm almost positive that one day he will end up in a good, consenting relationship with a guy." Burt coughed at the word consenting and Blaine felt himself flush slightly also, before focusing on the task at hand. _This is for Kurt._

"It'll be just like when any other teenage couple gets together. The hand holding and kissing will be good for awhile, but after a little bit of that, they'll probably want more together."

Blaine suddenly had an image of Kurt kissing another boy and a flash of white hot jealousy ran through him, giving him pause for a second. _What was that?_

Luckily, Burt was examining his shoes so Blaine could pass it off as embarrassment and continue on.

"Some day, your son will be ready to go further in a relationship with someone. He'll want to be intimate with them." And there was that damn jealousy again as he thought of Kurt being in a relationship with someone else. It didn't matter that the person was faceless, he wanted it to have a face and he wanted it to be _him_.

_Blaine, where the hell is this coming from?_

"I do know that." Burt spoke up. "I just - I don't want to know about Finn having sex. Why would I want to know about Kurt?"

"Because he doesn't know." Blaine was struggling to hold the conversation while dealing with the sudden onslaught of feelings he was experiencing. "Sir, you remember what it was like to be a teenager. Things just - happen. If Kurt's going to get intimate with someone, it's quite likely they won't sit down and discuss it before hand. Though Kurt is a very unique person so he may make it his priority to have that discussion, and I think that would be great and I admire that about him and -" Blaine clamped his mouth shut with difficulty. _Stop talking!_

But Burt had only picked up on what he deemed the important parts of Blaine's ramble. "You talking from experience kid?"

"No, Sir. I've - well, I've never had a relationship."

Burt's eyes lifted to look at him. "Oh. So it's all hypothetical is it?" Then his eyes narrowed. "Wait, you're not doing this to get with my son, are you?"

"No, of course not, Sir!" Blaine felt panicked. "Kurt's a wonderful guy, but I would never try and get him informed about sex just so I could have sex with him! I just - I worry about him. He's so innocent, and it's a beautiful trait he has, but he needs to know more about the world he's a part of. When I first learnt this stuff, it was incredibly awkward for me, but I knew that I owed it to the person I would someday be with to get it right for them."

He saw respect flash in Burt's eyes and continued, encouraged.

"I want the same for Kurt. I want him to feel that one day when someone realizes how amazing he is and actually asks him out, or maybe he'll ask them, he doesn't have to shy away from the relationship because he doesn't know what to do. I want him to be able to be the wonderful, gorgeous person he is and be comfortable with sharing that with someone else, because they'll be _so _lucky to have your son -"

"Blaine."

He stopped mid-ramble, feeling his face flush as he mentally ran through what he had just said and, more importantly, what he has just realized. _I want that with Kurt. I want a relationship with Kurt._

_I just told his __father__ that._

Blaine raised his head to look at Burt, expecting to see anger. Instead, he saw a reluctant acceptance and slight - _humor?_

"Well, kid, looks like you've worked something out there, hasn't it? This is the part where I should threaten you, but you look scared enough and I don't think Kurt would think much of it."

"No, I'm sure he wouldn't."

Burt and Blaine turned as one to see Kurt standing in the doorway to the shop, his arms crossed.

"Kurt," Blaine managed to stammer out before his words failed him and he began to pray for a hole to open in the ground.

"How long have you been standing there, son?" Burt asked.

"Since Blaine started talking about parties and stuff - and no, Dad, I don't plan to ever go there." Kurt looked between the two of them, eyes lingering on Blaine for a second before he shot his dad a look. Apparently he understood because he backed out, mumbling something about checking a car out the back.

Blaine eyed up Kurt, unable to read his face. "Kurt ... I -"

"Blaine." Kurt took a step forward and he gulped.

"You came to my dad," he stepped forward again, "and told him to give me a sex talk." Another step. "You then spent the whole conversation talking about me ending up with a hypothetical boy." He took another step and now he was only a couple of steps from Blaine who had begun to sweat. Kurt might be skinny but he could pack a punch (not that Blaine knew from experience. Oh no. Of course not.)

"Said hypothetical boy was so obviously you in your mind," he stepped forward again, closing the gap, "and you didn't even realize until now."

Kurt took the final step in, placing him right in front of Blaine. And now they were so close that their arms brushed together and Blaine swallowed nervously, looking up at the slightly taller boy.

"You are just - _wonderful_."

_What?_

Kurt leant in and kissed him.

_I'm going to wake up any second now, _Blaine thought sadly as he began to kiss Kurt back, _and this will all be over -_

And then Kurt nipped lightly on his bottom lip and the shock it sent through Blaine was enough to tell him that he was actually awake. Awake, and kissing Kurt.

Blaine felt his mind shut down again, but for all the right reasons this time as he focused all of his attention on Kurt.

After a little while, Kurt broke away, resting his forehead against Blaine's and smiling softly. "So, does this wonderful gorgeous person get asked to be your boyfriend or does he have to do it himself?"

Blaine chuckled, leaning in to kiss Kurt again quickly. "Kurt Hummel, would you be my boyfriend?"

"As long as you don't take me to any parties, you've got a deal. I don't want to see Dad get out the shotgun any time soon."

Blaine felt himself pale as Kurt began to laugh.

* * *

**(1) Transcribed from 'Sexy' to this point. I felt like this was enough of the original being directly quoted... plus, I couldn't find a transcript.**

**I quite like it when Kurt takes charge. *watches _4 Minutes _again and swoons***

**... oh, and that literally happened last night. I was watching that episode and by the end of it I was, for the first time, disappointed that he's gay. Sigh. I mean, I always knew he was sexy but that... guh. Anyways! **


	47. Rejected

**So, my lovely readers, I'm afraid I'm going away for a couple of days, to a place with no computers. Not that I'm that upset, me and my Dad are going 4WDing this weekend and it's gonna be awesome :D oh, and if you don't hear from me after awhile, assume that he got too reckless and we died, okay?**

**Anyways, that means I won't be posting a chapter tomorrow or the next day. So what I'm going to do is post three chapters tonight. If you have the self-restraint, save the other two for the two days I'm gone. If you don't, well then read them all but know that you won't be getting new chapters for the next two days. So this is day one. Hopefully I didn't get anybody reading backwards for some reason and came across this note after reading the first two chapters :/**

**Huge props to Angela who worked pretty darn hard to get these edited after I kind of sprung it on her that I needed three for one night. To thank her, you must go read The Warbler Drabbles, okay? There's some awesome Klaine stuff in there, Klaine lovers! :)**

**From**_** iWaldo **_**and similarly prompted by **_**Chasing Aspirations**__**: after Kurt gets rejected for the solo in Special Education**_

**A little bit of angst, but not much. Not yet.**

**And I still haven't seen New York. Just to be safe. **

* * *

Rejected

Kurt sat on the grass, staring across at the imposing figure of Dalton Academy. The first time he had seen the building, he was totally overwhelmed by the fanciness of it. While on his spying mission, he had taken the time to admire the tasteful displays and had decided there was definitely someone gay on the designing team when this place was built. The only downside back then had been finding his room to be so good that he didn't get the chance to decorate it.

Now, the building told a different story. A story of money and influence, of snobs and power.

Kurt had known he was different back at McKinley and he reveled in it. It made him stand out, made him someone special. Even when people were hating on him, he knew it was because they noticed him, because he was someone in a school of nobodies who pretended they were more. He was going to get out of that place and make a name for himself and be one of the few who did it, along with the rest of his Glee club. The rest were deluding themselves if they thought they were any more than Lima losers.

But Dalton was different. Kurt had always had high grades at McKinley, but he had been pushed into the average category here. All the boys here were studying hard, preparing for careers as lawyers, doctors, teachers... they were going to be successful people. And suddenly Kurt's dreams of getting into fashion design were almost inferior in comparison to what these people were going to accomplish. Suddenly he was just another kid in a blazer, and yes, he was going to leave this town and make something of himself, but they all were so what did it matter? He had lost his style from the uniform, and now he couldn't even showcase his voice? That was the final straw.

Kurt was all set to pull out his phone and call his dad when he heard someone walking up behind him. He waited, refusing to turn around as the person sat down next to him, silent for a few seconds, then -

"I'm sorry, Kurt."

He sighed, turning to face Blaine. "For what exactly?"

Blaine looked confused. "That you didn't get the solo, of course."

"Yes, but what exactly? Are you sorry I wasn't talented enough? Sorry I stood out too much? Sorry the others were better than me?" Kurt didn't wait for an answer. "Blaine, I'm going back to McKinley."

"Kurt! You can't do that!"

As he had expected, Blaine was immediately panicked. "You know what's waiting for you there, it isn't safe, that's why you came here."

"Yes, Blaine. I came here for safety. I also came here because I thought I'd be happy. I'm not."

"Because of a solo?" Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Kurt, isn't that a bit much?"

"Why should it be? Am I not allowed to want things at this school, just because I don't have the reputation or the family name or the money for it?" He watched Blaine and saw a fire ignite in his eyes that he had never seen before.

"Kurt, that's not what Dalton is about and you know it. We're about equality, which is why we do an audition process to get our soloist instead of choosing the best singer every time. Are you saying I get my solos because I have money?"

Kurt knew he was running the risk of offending his friend, but damn it all, he was just so _frustrated_ with this school. "No, Blaine, you're freaking talented, you know that. But you also have a reputation here, everyone loves you. Nobody knows me or cares about me here, I'm nothing special, so why would I get anything given to me?" He stood, turning away from Blaine knowing he was a few seconds from his first fight with the boy he cared so much about. Trying to fight back the tears, Kurt waited -

"Oh, Kurt. Do you really believe that?"

Blaine's voice was soft and understanding and for some reason that was worse than if he'd yelled back because now Kurt felt _guilty _instead. "Do I have a reason to believe otherwise?" he replied, feeling the fight drain out of him, replaced with resignation and loneliness. "I'm not noticed here, I'm just another blazer on the rack. At least back at McKinley, I was noticed. Even if they hated me, they hated me aloud. Here, I don't know what people think of me because nobody talks to me enough to let me know. Most of the school probably don't even know there was a new transfer."

Kurt felt a tear slip down his cheek, still resolutely facing away from Blaine. "Maybe I'm crazy, but I'd rather be noticed and hated for it than be treated with polite indifference because nobody knows me well enough to like or hate me. So I'll go back to McKinley and deal with the hatred. At least I'll be back in my element."

He finished his speech, trying not to let his voice tremble. _Please, walk away, _he silently begged. _Walk away now, don't look at me and see how much I __don't__ want to leave, don't want to leave you..._

"Kurt -"

"Save it, Blaine. I've made up my mind."

"No, you haven't." And it wasn't anger in Blaine's voice, or frustration. It was understanding. "You're telling yourself what you want to hear to feel better. You're validating yourself because you believe nobody else here is going to do it for you. And the reason you still refuse to look at me is because you're crying and you don't want me to know."

_Damn intuitiveness. _

Kurt turned around, because what else could he do? With tears still slipping down his face, he looked at Blaine, willing some of his anger to come back. "What does it matter, Blaine? I'm not going to get accepted here."

"Kurt, I mean this in the nicest way. Shut up for a minute."

Kurt raised an eyebrow because somehow Blaine _had_ managed to make that sound nice.

"Okay, now come and sit down with me," Blaine indicated the spot that Kurt had vacated and Kurt reluctantly sat down. "And now I can tell you how much was _wrong_ with what you just said."

Kurt went to interrupt ("Of course you would say that, you have to.") but stopped, looking at Blaine properly. This wasn't a boy reluctantly telling his friend he was important. There was passion in his eyes, enough to make Kurt snap his mouth shut and listen.

"Kurt, I know if you walked out now, the Warblers would be disappointed. First, you're our only real countertenor in what feels like forever. Your voice is wonderful and adds just what we need to our mix. You are an important part of the Warblers, maybe not in the same way you were at McKinley, but you are important."

"I make a good ukelele, don't I?" The bitterness was still in Kurt's voice and Blaine sighed.

"You make a good _Kurt_. Everybody's had their share of singing parts they don't like. You did at McKinley too, I know that." Kurt remembered back to the times of swaying in line and conceded that point.

"But it's not just your voice that matters to the Warblers. It's your personality." Blaine reached over and gently took his hand and Kurt nearly missed the next sentence. "I'll be the first to admit that we get boring and stuffy at time and our council meetings are a good place to catch up on sleep." Despite himself, Kurt chuckled slightly and Blaine smiled.

"Before you came, they were even more boring. Nobody had the courage to speak up... or speak at all, come to think of it. And then you came in and it was like a breath of fresh air, Kurt. You bring something to the group that - well, I can't even put my finger on it. It's sort of like you came along and everyone woke up and went, "Oh, that's what it's like to be alive." We're known for our performances, but you're known for your personality."

"Known by who?" Kurt knew the Warblers were well known around the school but surely not _him_...

"Dalton, of course." Blaine smiled and Kurt knew his disbelief was written all across his face. "You were the talk of the place the first few weeks, you know. Everyone wanted to know who you were, especially when you became a Warbler so quickly. They still talk about you occasionally, on weekends when you leave there can usually be a group of boys found commenting on how they would love to be able to wear jeans like yours and get away with them."

Kurt couldn't help but smirk. "Yes, I do have awesome jeans, don't I?"

Blaine chuckled. "That's my Kurt."

_Don't read into it, don't read into it, don't read into it -_

But now a flush was climbing up Blaine's neck and Kurt couldn't _not _read into it. He also couldn't help what came out of his mouth next.

"So, what would you think if I walked out?"

And in the way Blaine's eyebrow raised, he knew he was caught. But Kurt didn't care, a warm feeling creeping through his chest, because Blaine was caught out _too_.

"Well, I'd never keep you somewhere you don't want to be, which is why if you're determined to do this, I'll take you up to your room and help you pack. But I'd be incredibly disappointed, because I'm so used to seeing you here every day. It -" Blaine hesitated, his eyes still locked with Kurt's. "Well, spending time with you is the best part of my day. Every day. And I'd hate to _lose_ that."

The unspoken question in Blaine's sentence was clear to Kurt.

"So would I."

They stared at each other for a heartbeat before closing the gap, kissing like there was no tomorrow. Kurt gasped as their lips crashed together before drowning in the sensation of Blaine's lips on his. Their hands tangled around each other, Kurt cupping Blaine's cheek, hands in hair, mouths dancing together, and everything was just the two of them.

And then Blaine's lips disappeared and Kurt had to hold back a whimper, trying to chase them. There was a chuckle, then Blaine's lips were inches from his again and whispering, "So, still planning to leave?"

"Only if you don't get back here _right now_." Kurt knew he had growled but didn't care. And apparently it had done something for Blaine because his lips were back, pressing against his with intensity. Kurt returned the passion, feeling himself get pushed back until they were lying on the grass, still completely lost in one another's lips.

After their make out session had petered out to sporadic light kissing, Kurt found himself above Blaine, staring down at him. His face was flushed, hair sticking up everywhere and lips chapped.

"You are so _freaking_ beautiful." Kurt murmured, still slightly breathless. Blaine sighed in response and leant up to kiss him again.

"Kurt, I don't want you to just stay at Dalton for me." And now Blaine was growing serious, raising himself up on his elbows. "I want you to feel wanted here. I want you to believe that we do care about you and you're a part of the group."

Kurt smiled, leaning in to brush his lips against Blaine's softly. "I know. I'll get there soon enough. And I've got you to make me feel wanted while I settle in."

As if on cue, Kurt and Blaine's phones buzzed in sync and they pulled them out. They both had a text from Wes;

_Warbler party tonight. Girlfriends invited. - Wes_

But as Kurt looked at his text, he noticed the extra line.

_David and I need your help with outfits. Come to our room ASAP._

* * *

**I got a bit carried away with the kiss... ah well, I'm sure nobody's complaining ;)**

**I feel like I actually captured Blaine's character in this one, especially after watching Prom Queen. Instead of just comforting Kurt when he was upset, he actually talked things out calmly. And to be honest, I think that's why the kiss ended up being the way it was, because the whole thing seemed more real to me. Nothing overly dramatic happens but this is one of my favourites. **


	48. Jealousy

**So this is day two of my 'not here to post every day' chapters. Of course some of you are reading them all in one hit then are going to be mournful because you didn't get a new chapter. Sucks to be you ;) I'm currently upside down, or stuck in mud, or hanging off a cliff so I don't really care.**

**Still haven't seen New York. **

**From **_**Raindropshidemytears**_** and similarly prompted by **_**Shiomei**_** and **_**TwihardGleek2011: I was thinking maybe Kurt was talking to someone almost flirting and something in Blaine snaps and he storms over to Kurt and kisses him**_

**And then I had to find a way to do this without Blaine forcing himself on Kurt like Karofsky did. And then I thought of this and my crazy side came out to play.**

* * *

Jealousy

It had been four days and Blaine was ready to snap.

Oh, he wasn't possessive, not at all. He just wanted to look out for Kurt, he told himself as his fists clenched on the table, to make sure he didn't do something stupid and get hurt again.

And this was the epitome of _stupid_.

He heard Kurt laugh again and knew he was flicking his hair back, leaning forward ever so slightly as he listened intently ...

No, Blaine was _not_ jealous. And he was quite happy to admit that under normal circumstances, he would be jealous of Kurt flirting with another guy. It was just this guy in particular that was really boiling Blaine's blood and confusing the hell out of him at the same time. Because this _wasn't_ normal.

He heard a thump next to him and turned to see David, who was also watching. "It's ... well, _weird_, isn't it?" he said, making a face as he looked at the two boys.

"Yeah. Weird. Why do you think he's doing it?" Blaine tried not to look at Kurt as that laugh rang out across the room again.

"I don't know. But more to the point, why is _he_ letting him?" David looked as lost as Blaine as they, once again, turned to look at the pair.

"Oh, Wes, you're too funny!" Kurt laughed again as he leant in, putting a hand on Wes' arm who smiled back.

"I don't know, you're pretty funny yourself, Kurt." Wes then launched into another story, the younger boy riveted to his every word.

Blaine looked at David in horror. "Has Wes actually been in the closet this whole time?"

"If he was, he never told me." David's brow was furrowed and Blaine knew he was trying to think of when their friend had ever acted this way before. The answer was simple: _never_.

"I know his girlfriend dumped him last week, perhaps he's on the rebound?" David suggested half-heartedly.

"On the rebound to _Kurt?_" Blaine knew anybody else would take it the wrong way - of course Kurt was attractive and perfectly acceptable to be attracted to, Blaine could attest to that - but David just nodded in understanding.

"Well, Kurt is the most feminine of the guys here. But - no, I don't know. I've got nothing." There was a moment of thought, then - "Unless it's one of those things where it isn't about sexual preference, it's just finding the right person, and Kurt is Wes' right person?"

Blaine growled, and David wisely took that as his cue to shut up.

They sat in silence for a little longer, both trying to block out the sound of the shameless flirting at the next table. Blaine had thought yesterday was bad - after all, that was when the touching had begun - but this was a new level of weird.

He had noticed it when he had come back from spending the weekend with his family to find Wes and Kurt sitting on a couch with their heads bent together, laughing about something. He had asked where David was and Wes impatiently gestured to the other side of the room before whispering something else to Kurt. Befuddled, Blaine had gone to David who had told him that it had been going on _all day_; "I don't get it, it's like there's a joke that nobody else knows."

The impact had been dulled because of classes, but any time the boys were together, Wes and Kurt were acting like nobody else was around. At first it seemed like they were just getting to be good friends, but after a few days, Blaine knew something was seriously wrong.

He knew about Kurt's crush on Finn, and he himself had experienced crushes on guys who turned out to be straight. He knew that Kurt would take any sign as a positive one, and in the end it definitely wasn't Kurt he was annoyed at. It was Wes, for stringing him along so blatantly. But after four days of it, Blaine was just annoyed in general. In fact, one more suggestive move and he was going to snap.

"Oh, Wes, there's something in your hair."

_Like that._

Blaine watched Kurt lean over and gently brush Wes' hair out of his eyes, apparently pulling something out of it at the same time.

Blaine saw red.

Pushing back his chair with a screech, Blaine was across the room before Wes and Kurt could even look up. When they did, he expected to see confusion or frustration, at least on Kurt's face. When neither of those were apparent, Blaine paused for a second before remembering what he was there for.

"Do you want to tell us what the _hell_ is going on?"

Kurt didn't bat an eyelid. "Why don't you tell me what's going on, Blaine?"

"It looks like you two are flirting." Blaine's teeth were clenched so tight he could barely spit out the words.

"Maybe we are," Kurt replied, deliberately moving his hand to place it on top of Wes'.

_That was it._

Blaine grabbed Kurt's tie, hauled him to his feet and smashed their mouths together. He felt his lip split and the coppery taste of blood, but Kurt was kissing him back and that was all that mattered. As his anger left him, he suddenly realized what he had done and pulled away, bringing a hand to his mouth and stumbling back slightly. _And now Kurt's going to hate me forever and he will end up with Wes, even if he is meant to be straight, and I've ruined everything..._

"Finally!" Kurt turned away from a confused Blaine, pulling out his wallet. "Here, Wes. I probably owe you more but this is all I've got on me."

Wes took the money, rifling through the bills. "Nah, you're good. It's enough to take April to dinner tonight. Speaking of which, I'd better call her. Catch you guys later." He turned to walk away, then paused, turning back to Kurt. "It was fun," he said, winking suggestively before the two boys broke into laughter.

Blaine felt his eye begin to twitch as Wes left.

"But, I thought they broke up!" David was in a similar state of confusion, staring at Kurt like the world was ending and he was the only one who could stop it. "They broke up!"

"Well, how was I meant to flirt with him if he had a girlfriend? It would ruin the image completely, wouldn't it? Now, David, go away. I have to explain things to Blaine." Kurt made a shooing gesture with his hands and David left without a word, presumably to find Wes and question him some more.

Kurt turned back to Blaine who had dropped his hand and was staring at him with his mouth open. "You... but... I - _what?"_

Kurt chuckled, gently leaning forward to close Blaine's mouth. "You were taking too long. Something had to be done and Wes needed a bit of money... and he was bored, apparently. So we decided we'd flirt until you snapped. Simple, and effective."

"But... what if it hadn't worked?" Blaine was still trying to get his head around the situation.

Kurt shrugged. "Well, I would've had a task on my hands trying to turn Wes then, wouldn't I?"

Blaine lost all coherency and could only stare as Kurt laughed. "Relax. I'm not interested in Wes at all, and he's certainly not turning gay. Blaine, I knew you liked me and I didn't know how to make the first move. So it may have taken getting you jealous, but we're together now, so it doesn't matter."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I might have changed my mind." And with that, Blaine turned to walk away, allowing himself to smirk as silence echoed from behind him, until -

"Blaine! It was just a joke, I'm sorry! Blaine!"

* * *

**Because if two of your best friends are gay, you won't have as many issues with pretending to be gay yourself. Theoretically.**

**And before anybody asks, no, I will _not_ write a spin-off of this where Kurt ends up falling for Wes and turning him gay. That's just not in my comfort zone. Oh, and for any Santana fans, I'm planning to write a story based around her pretty soon, so keep an eye out. If you have me on Author Alert, it'll come up in a little while :) **


	49. Missent

**Day three of 'I'm still not here. Leave a message' **

**From**_** wynnie the pooh: something to do with a text message... that leads to a first kiss...**_

**I could have put this with my other text related conversation but sending important texts to the wrong person happens so often nowadays that it was going to happen here sometime... **

**Animal was playing on the radio as I wrote this and when it broke into the second verse, I was waiting for the Warblers to chime in as backup and was actually really disappointed when they didn't. My Glee obsession is controlling my life and music choices.**

* * *

Mis-sent

Kurt sighed, laying back on his bed and staring at his History textbook as if willing his essay to write itself. He had spent his whole afternoon on his own trying to get it done and had finally given up, admitting he needed help. Perhaps when Blaine got back -

Kurt shook his head, trying to keep his attention off his attractive friend. For the first time since Kurt had started attending Dalton, he hadn't gone home for the weekend. Burt and Carole had gone to visit Carole's sister and Finn was staying at Puck's place. So Kurt had stayed back, looking forward to seeing what Dalton was like on a weekend and being able to spend more time with Blaine.

But, in a strange twist, Blaine had gone home for the first weekend in a couple of months. He normally didn't as his parents were in the next state, but they had called him a few nights earlier, saying his younger brother was receiving some kind of award that weekend and they had already booked his tickets to come over. So, as usual, the two boys said goodbye on the Friday night, except this time it was at an airport - Blaine hadn't wanted to pay for two days of parking - and Kurt was left alone at Dalton. Sure, Wes, David and Thad had stayed, but they were in full Warbler council member mode, trying to organize everything for Regionals and while Kurt had attempted to hang out with them, he had escaped after half an hour of breaking down the lyrics of Pink's _Raise Your Glass_ and trying to figure out what every single word meant.

So now he found himself alone. Sighing again, Kurt sat up and grabbed his phone.

'_Cedes? What are you up to? - Kurt_

Mercedes had offered to let Kurt stay at her place for the weekend but he had declined, knowing her parents were still slightly uncomfortable with the idea of any guy sleeping in her room, even if he were gay.

_Shopping with Quinn. She says hi. What's happening, white boy? - M_

Kurt raised an eyebrow, still finding the friendship between the two girls a bit strange, but typed back, happy to finally have someone to talk to.

_Bored out of my head. Can't make this essay work and Warbler council are psycho about setlists so I'm not hanging with them - Kurt_

_What time is Blaine getting back? - M_

_A couple of hours. Wes is picking him up though, so I'll see him around 5ish - Kurt_

Kurt looked at the time on his phone. 1:13. He knew Blaine was sitting on a plane at the moment and his heart quickened for a second thinking of him before he pushed it down. He was well aware of how he felt for his friend, but also incredibly aware that Blaine saw him as nothing but another friend.

As if reading his mind, Mercedes texted again.

_You miss him, don't you? - M_

_Yeah, just like I miss you girls when I'm not with you - Kurt_

He thought he'd deflected that one pretty well, but apparently not.

_Yeah, right. It's exactly the same, isn't it Kurt? Come on, level with me, I know you like him - M_

_Well, crap._

Kurt thought he had done a great job at hiding his feelings from everybody. He had stubbornly refused to talk to anybody about Blaine unless they asked how he was, in which case it was a simple answer. But somehow, Mercedes had seen through it. He closed the text and put his phone down while he considered his options.

_It would be good to talk to someone about it,_ he thought to himself. _And Mercedes is my best friend_.

Okay, Kurt thought, grabbing his phone. He quickly opened a new text

_Okay, you're right. I've got feelings for him, but I know he doesn't feel the same way. And it shouldn't be this weird not seeing him because I never see him on weekends, but Dalton isn't the same without Blaine. So yes, I do miss him - Kurt_

His fingers hovered for a second before he pressed send. He sat there for a second, then smiled. It actually felt good to get it off his chest for once. Putting down the phone, he turned back to his History essay, trying to get it as close to finished as possible so Blaine, if he wasn't too tired, could look through it for him quickly when he got back.

A few minutes later his phone buzzed again

_Sorry, white boy. Shouldn't have pushed so hard. It's up to you, if you don't want to tell me yet you don't have to - M_

Kurt frowned.

_Didn't you get my text? - Kurt_

_Only your one of denial - M_

He looked at the message for a moment before deciding his phone had spazzed again and quickly typed in something of the same effect to his unsent message. A reply came through almost instantly.

_Well, he'll be back soon! I think you should tell him, personally, but that's your call. Anyway, just spotted a sale, we've got to dash. Stay strong white boy, love you - M_

Kurt smiled as he imagined the two girls fighting the crowds. He quickly sent back a goodbye text, then decided he'd better crack down on the essay.

* * *

Blaine stretched as he walked off the plane, feeling the satisfying pop of his tense muscles. He was used to flying but never got used to the stiff feeling sitting in the same seat for hours gave. Bypassing baggage claim - everything was in his carry on - he headed for the arrivals lounge where Wes was waiting. As he walked, he grabbed his phone out and switched it on, not expecting any texts. After all, he had only been in the air a few hours. But as soon as it activated, his phone buzzed and Kurt's name flashed up on the screen.

Blaine couldn't help the involuntary smile that crossed his face. He and Kurt had been texting for the better part of the weekend, especially through his brother's boring award ceremony. He knew he would have an essay to look over once he got back, and for anybody else this would bug him intensely but for some reason he didn't care too much when it came to Kurt.

His last text had been as he was getting on the plane, so Blaine figured this was sent a few hours ago before he had boarded. Instead, the message showed it was sent just over an hour ago. Blaine shrugged - probably ranting about the history essay, he decided - and opened the text, skimming through it before stopping in his tracks. He read it again, slowly. Then a third time.

Blaine knew that the text wasn't meant to have been sent to him. Most likely Kurt was texting Mercedes and had sent it to the wrong name. Therefore, Blaine should delete the text now and pretend he hadn't read anything. But -

_It's about me. _

"Hey, Blaine, you alright man?"

Blaine looked up to see Wes standing in front of him, waving a hand in front of his face.

"What's the phone fixation? You didn't get bad news did you?"

"No, I just -" he hesitated as they began walking out of the airport to Wes' car. "I found something out that I shouldn't have."

"What do you mean?" Blaine chucked his bag in the backseat then climbed in the front, trying to figure out how to word the situation without giving away Kurt's secret.

"I got sent a text from someone that wasn't meant to be sent to me. They were talking about me, and I found out things that I know they don't want me knowing and if they knew I know they'd probably freak out and never talk to me before I could get the chance to tell them it's okay and I feel the -" He snapped his mouth shut but Wes was already smiling knowingly.

"Kurt."

It wasn't a question. "How -?"

"Because you're both so obviously crazy about each other. And don't deny it," he added as Blaine went to argue. "You are, that's for sure. And he's just admitted that he is too so you can't say he isn't. The question is, what are you going to do about it?"

"I - I don't know." Blaine deflated.

"Well, you've got a 40 minute car ride to think about it." With that, Wes turned his attention back to the road and Blaine could tell he wasn't going to say another word the whole car trip. So Blaine settled back and began to think.

_Alright, so you like Kurt. You can admit that much. _Blaine had harbored feelings for the younger boy for close to two months now but had kept them to himself, reasoning that of course Kurt couldn't feel the same way.

_But he does, _his mind nagged at him. _So you like each other. He doesn't know you like him, if he'd known the text was mis-sent to you, he would've sent some kind of follow up. That means you get to make this play out however you want._

A smile crossed Blaine's face and Wes caught it out of the corner of his eye, looking over. "I assume you've got a plan?"

Blaine nodded. "I'm going to need your help though." Hooking his phone up to Wes' bluetooth, he pulled up his Warbler contact list and began to call.

* * *

Kurt sighed, looking at the clock again. 4:42. Blaine and Wes would be getting to Dalton any minute now and he was still deliberating over what to do when his friend actually arrived. _Should I hug him? We always hug but would it be weird? If I told him I missed him, would he take it weirdly or as friends, like how I tell Mercedes?_

His internal rambling was cut short by his phone buzzing. _1 New Message: Blaine._

His heart in his throat, Kurt grabbed his phone and opened the text.

_On my way up to your room now :) - Blaine x_

Kurt's eye lingered on the _x_ at the end of Blaine's signature and it stayed in his mind even as he put his textbook away and sat on the end of the bed nervously. Had he just changed his signature or did he mean it as more than friends or -?

"Keep it together, Kurt," he told himself tiredly. "You look into every single little thing like this and it never ends out in your favour. So deal."

Hearing the sound of footsteps, Kurt quickly jumped to his feet as Blaine entered the room, hovering in the doorway. He couldn't help the smile that crossed his face and saw a similar one cross Blaine's as he stepped further into the room.

"Hi," he said as he made his way towards Kurt.

"Hey," Kurt replied, slowing as he got to within a few steps of Blaine, trying to work out what to do. _Do I hug him? I don't know, what would 'friends' do?_

Blaine solved the problem by stepping in and wrapping his arms around him. "I missed you," he said and Kurt felt his heart stop.

"I - I missed you too," he stammered out, cursing his voice for going breathless.

Blaine pulled back and smiled again. "I'm going to drop my bag in my room, I'll be back in a minute. Can you look after my phone for me?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the request but obediently held his hand out. Blaine handed him the phone then turned and walked out of the room. Kurt noticed the screen was still glowing and inadvertently looked down before realizing it was open to a text. He was about to look away - no way he was invading Blaine's privacy like that - when he saw that the text had come from him.

_Okay, you're right. I've got feelings for him, but I know he doesn't feel the same way. And it shouldn't be this weird not seeing him because I never see him on weekends, but Dalton isn't the same without Blaine. So yes, I do miss him - Kurt_

Kurt stood frozen, staring at the phone in his hand. His first thought was that Mercedes had forwarded it to him and he was about to pull out his phone and scream at her, until he remembered that she hadn't gotten the text herself. Grabbing his phone, he opened his text history with Blaine.

Sure enough, there was the text, sent from his own phone. In his distracted state, Kurt must have hit Blaine's name instead of Mercedes. Cursing himself for his stupidity, Kurt began frantically thinking of excuses -

"I see you've read it."

Startled, Kurt looked up to see Blaine standing in the doorway, a knowing smile on his face. He stepped over to take his phone from Kurt, who gave no resistance and simply stared. "Was I right in assuming that was meant to go to Mercedes?"

Kurt nodded, still unable to find the words. Apparently he must have turned pale because Blaine took his arm and gently sat him down on the bed. "It's alright, Kurt."

"No, it's not," he whispered. To his shame, he felt the tears filling up his eyes and blinked furiously to keep them back. "I tried to keep that a secret for so long. Nobody knew, not even Mercedes. That was going to be the first time I'd told anyone." He felt a tear make its way down his cheek and wiped it away angrily, refusing to look at Blaine.

Kurt felt a hand under his chin gently lifting him to look Blaine in the eyes - eyes full of understanding, compassion and something Kurt couldn't comprehend. "I'm sorry this has upset you, Kurt. But I want you to give me two minutes to talk. After that, it's up to you what you want. If you want me to leave, I will. Just two minutes, okay?"

Kurt nodded, still staring into Blaine's eyes as he released his chin and sat back slightly.

"Kurt, when I got your text, I literally froze in the middle of the arrivals lounge. At first I thought it was a mistake, that it wasn't from you and my phone had glitched or something. Then I thought it was a joke." Blaine chuckled but Kurt knew it wasn't at him.

"Once I got my head around the fact that it was real.. Kurt, I couldn't keep the smile off my face. Because it meant that my previously considered unrequited feelings were actually returned. You like me back."

Kurt struggled to wrap his head around the words, scarcely daring to breathe. _Blaine likes me too?_

"I know what you're like with romance, and I know if you had ever worked up the courage to tell me, you would have wanted it to be a lot nicer than a text I shouldn't have received. So I want to give you a moment you can remember in the future, hopefully one we can look back on when we're old and still together and laugh about it."

A second later, humming came from the hallway and Kurt just had to laugh as he recognized Nick and Thad's harmony. "You recruited the Warblers?"

Blaine nodded as the other voices joined the mix. "Just for you," he whispered, before breaking into song.

"_Time,_

_I've been passing time watching trains go by_

_All of my life,_

_Lying on the sand, watching seabirds fly_

_Wishing there would be_

_Someone waiting home for me,"_

Half of Kurt's brain was mentally planning to purchase this song on iTunes the second he could and add it to his playlist of wonderful songs that made him happy. The other half was trying to comprehend that Blaine was singing this to him, _for_ him.

"_Something's telling me it might be you_

_It's telling me it might be you,_

_All of my life,"_

The Warblers continued harmonizing out in the hallway as Blaine stepped forward to take Kurt's hand in a cheesy gesture that couldn't stop him from smiling.

"_I've been saving songs and lullabies_

_And there's so much more_

_No one's ever heard before,"_

And it was true. Nobody else knew quite as much about Blaine as he did, and he felt a thrill as he realized that Blaine was _his_ to unlock and understand from now on.

"_Maybe it's you,_

_Maybe it's you,_

_I've been waiting for all my life."_

And now there was silence and Blaine was staring at him like he was the most important person in the world, and he didn't want this moment to end but now Blaine was looking worried and going to say something and Kurt didn't want _that_. So he did the only thing he could and made sure Blaine's mouth was completely occupied. With his.

Of course, every beautiful moment has to end at some point. Just as Kurt was beginning to deepen the kiss -

"I think they're kissing!"

The two boys broke apart. "Nick, you really need to work on your whispering," Blaine said, still staring into Kurt's eyes. There was a sound of someone being hit, then the shuffling of feet as the Warblers left the hallway.

"Thanks, guys!" Blaine called out, before turning his full attention to Kurt again. "Um, if it wasn't romantic enough for you, I'm sure there's other things I could do -"

He was silenced by Kurt's lips meeting his again.

* * *

**All Of My Life - Stephen Bishop**

**I'm back tomorrow! :) hopefully not sporting any major injuries or broken bones. Knowing me, I'll have broken my arm so I can't type... **


	50. Read

**I'm home, tired, muddy, sore in so many places and absolutely freaking exhausted. So as soon as I'm done here, I'll be off to have a long bath and then bed. Lots of time in bed. But I knew I had to give you guys a chapter tonight anyway and thought I'd come chat about my weekend instead of posting something without caring.**

**So I went with our 4WD club for a three day adventure (long weekend). We combined with another local club, but there were three other clubs and a motorbike group there so we had to share a few of our tracks. Nonetheless, it was an amazing weekend and I got to see some stuff I hadn't seen yet due to it being a harder grade, like vehicles rolling, complete breaks, three vehicle road trains to get broken vehicles out and so on. It was absolutely fantastic. **

**I also found that Glee has ruined my life. I couldn't get it out of my mind and everything seemed to remind me of it. The main two that come to mind are that I was wearing flannel and every time I thought of that, I mentally tacked on 'and singing Mellancamp,' to the end of it. And the best one was that we went down to this river to wash the trucks off and while they were playing, I jumped out and watched. It was that moment when the sun's just set and the last of the light is filtering out of the sky, and I looked across the river and Somewhere Only We Know popped into my head. It was actually a pretty beautiful moment. **

**And I've got 187 emails to work through. Thanks so very much guys. That said, it looks like Angela's missed me and spammed me a fair bit. I missed her too! And she didn't edit this so yeah... bear with. **

_**From wynnie the pooh: kurt is reading a book... and gets distracted by blaine making faces :P**_

**Adore. I was tossing up between intentional and stupid type distracting faces, or unintentional but still very distracting ones. Both definitely had merit. I figured a combination would work ;) **

**To disclaim now, all the things Kurt is reading are quotes from **_**A Man For All Seasons**_**, which I studied in my senior year of high school. I didn't bother putting in the names/parts because he's just reading it as a conversation anyway. I don't claim ownership of that play. And for anybody who hasn't read it, no there is not a character named Blaine, so when Blaine's name comes into it, that's Kurt's thoughts drifting away. I know it's a weird choice of book, but it works well enough.**

* * *

Read

"_My Master Thomas Moore would give anything to anyone. Some say that's good and some say that's bad, but I say he can't help it - and that's bad... after all Blaine really is the most selfless guy I know..."_

Kurt blinked, trying to keep his eyes and mind on the page in front of him. Today he had to re-read _A Man For All Seasons_ so he could get started on his essay. This would normally be easy to do but Blaine had decided they were going to study together. Which would also normally not be a problem except Blaine was studying math.

Blaine and math had never gotten along. Kurt knew he had received tutoring for it when he was younger but it just didn't stick in his head. Kurt normally helped him out, but his essay was due in a couple of days and he had to get it done so Blaine was struggling along on his own for the time being. Which, unfortunately, was incredibly distracting.

Currently, Blaine was chewing on the end of his pencil with his eyebrows furrowed as he examined the questions in the textbook. Occasionally he let out a sigh of frustration as he scribbled things down. And the whole thing was driving Kurt mad.

Oh, it wasn't that Blaine was _irritating_. Far from it. In fact, Kurt had to fight to keep from looking at him every few seconds because he was _there_. And frustrated Blaine was absolutely adorable in Kurt's opinion.

Like right now. Kurt looked up slightly to see Blaine pull a face at a question before scribbling away in his book, and he had to catch his breath because, while on anybody else that face would look petulant and obnoxious, on Blaine it looked _freaking cute_.

Kurt coughed and returned to reading his book. He flipped through to find the next relevant quote, forcing his concentration onto the pages.

"_All right, so he's down on his luck! I'm sorry. I don't mind saying that: I'm sorry! Bad luck! If I'd any good luck to spare he could have some but if it keeps him making those faces, I don't mind so much -"_

Kurt sighed and lowered the book a bit harder than he should have, causing Blaine to look up. "You okay, Kurt?"

And now he couldn't help but stare because Blaine was biting his bottom lip and looking at him with his brow all furrowed and _damn it all _if Kurt didn't just want to walk over there and kiss him right there and then.

"Yeah, I'm good. How are you doing?"

"Crap." Blaine said bluntly. "Trig sucks."

Kurt chuckled. "Hang in there. I'll look over it when I'm done here."

"Thanks. It's just so stupid. I mean, who needs this stuff anyway?"

"Um, engineers, architects, builders..." Kurt smirked as Blaine rolled his eyes.

"Oh, shut up you." He stuck his tongue out at Kurt before returning to his work, thankfully missing the way Kurt's eyes grew rounder at that action. _Blaine has a nice tongue... Kurt, get a grip!_

But now he was completely distracted by how that tongue could be put to better use. Even though he had no experience of his own, he had seen enough lip action from Fuinn, Bartie and Chang-Chang to know exactly what happened when two people's mouths met.

(And curse McKinley for making couple names, because of course Kurt had spent way too long planning exactly what kind of union his and Blaine's name could make. While Blurt had a strangely nice ring to it, Klaine was winning for him. But that was silly because he and Blaine would never be together. So he should probably never think about it, or practice writing their couple name. Not that he did that. Oh no.)

Kurt realized his book was closed and flipped it open to a random page, trying to take in the words.

"_As for understanding, I understand you're the best man I ever met or ever likely to..."_

Now Kurt _knew_ the book was conspiring against him. He also knew he was going a bit stir-crazy because books can't conspire, but he didn't care about that. All he knew was that something had to be done because he was going insane, especially when he looked up and saw Blaine -

Nibbling on his _finger_?

Kurt threw the book across the room and strode over to Blaine, doing the same with his.

"Kurt, what -?"

Kurt kissed him.

The second their lips met, Kurt felt himself jarred to reality and realized _he was kissing Blaine._ After all the time spent imagining this moment, it was finally happening.

Then he realized he was kissing Blaine without his permission.

Pulling away, Kurt began to freak out. "Ohmygosh, Blaine, I'm so sorry! I just - you were just so _distracting_ and ... and the pencil, and -"

But now Kurt had to consider that Blaine _might_ just be okay with it, considering he was now in Blaine's lap and their mouths were reattached with Blaine's arms around his waist. He did have to make sure though, so he reluctantly pulled away, staring into Blaine's eyes to look for any hesitancy.

"You know I was only pulling those faces to get you worked up," Blaine whispered, leaning in to kiss him lightly again. "I knew you couldn't resist me."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine's cockiness before giving in and surrendering to another kiss.

* * *

**I don't know what happened here. It's a very different style of writing for me, they just seem like different characters. I think I just wanted more variety to be honest. So if you don't like this one, I don't really blame you. I'm also too tired to re-edit. Sorry. **


	51. Virtual

**Prompt 50! Cooooool!**

**Oh hi there. How are you all? **

**Yeah, I'm bored. And I'm out of things to write about, except to say I HAVEN'T SEEN NEW YORK YET. Just to be sure of course.**

**So, this is something I was thinking about earlier today and I like hearing from you guys. So, tell me: Which Glee character are you most like? ****I'm Kurt on so many levels: much more into romance than anything sexual, obsessed with my skincare routine (and yet I survived a weekend 4Wing easily. Somehow it's different when I'm covered in mud, I lack the urge to care), a crier, fairly sarcastic when the need arises, can't keep my emotions off my face, one parent on the scene... yeah. I'm a Kurt. So tell me who you all are, okay? Okay! We could make a Glee club of readers!**

**The lovely Angela edited. I've found I'm managing to sway readers over to her story, which is good! Continue to sway, people, her stories are brilliant! :) and she's working on something top secret for me which you'll all get to see soon enough and probably sounds far more interesting than it really is, but yeah. That's cool!**

**Oh, and guess what? I met a guy! Well... sort of. Okay, usually on our 4WD trips I'm the only teenager who goes, but this time we joined with another group who brought along someone who I assumed was their son. He was taking photos on a professional-type camera so he caught my attention instantly. When we finally got around to talking, which took two nights and a few drinks at the pub (I'm of legal age and I didn't get drunk, just to clarify), I found out that he's from Germany and taking a gap year to travel NZ before going back. He was absolutely lovely and we've kept contact over Facebook and he got my number (yes, I gave my number to a German guy in a pub. Go me) so yeah. I'm happy :) Happy happy happy... **

**From**_** wynnie the pooh: kurt and blaine are online (skype or something of the kind) in their dorms so that the monitors don't find them, and then one or the other gets the urge to do some kissing... and it ends... however you wish it to!**_

* * *

Virtual

Blaine watched the screen, waiting for Kurt's name to pop up. He had said goodnight to his boyfriend a couple of minutes earlier, but knew they wouldn't be able to last long without talking to each other again. They had been to see an amateur production of _Chicago _with a group of Warblers and, while it had been a great night, a part of Blaine had wished that it were just him and Kurt. So he was looking forward to spending some time just talking to his boyfriend alone.

Sure enough, a chime rang out signaling that Kurt was online. Blaine immediately clicked his name and sent a video chat request, smiling as it was accepted straight away. He tapped his fingers on the desk, waiting, until the slightly blurry image of his boyfriend appeared on the screen.

"Hey you," he said, watching his virtual self speak the words a moment later.

"Fancy meeting you here," came across the screen, Kurt's trademark smirk not dulled by the pixellation. "Did you enjoy tonight?"

"The performance was brilliant, and spending time with you made it all the better." Blaine knew he was being sappy, but he didn't care. Neither did Kurt if his smile was any indication.

"Same here." The two boys stared at each other for a minute before Kurt spoke again. "So, what's happening with our practice tomorrow? Wes said something on the way home but I wasn't paying attention."

Blaine went to reply but was stopped by Kurt raising a hand. He obediently shut up and waited, knowing one of the monitors was walking past Kurt's room. While it technically wasn't against the rules for them to be on Skype after curfew, they could still be written up for noise violations, something Kurt had laughed about the first time he got one, then proceeded to pay Thad out for who felt distinctly uncomfortable about the whole thing - "But, Kurt, it's my job!"

Blaine heard the sound of footsteps passing his room and waited until they were completely gone before speaking again. "Okay, all clear. And I have no idea about tomorrow, I'm guessing we'll get a text. I'm not waking up early for anything though."

Kurt laughed and even though the sound was fuzzy, it still made a shiver run up Blaine's spine like every other time he heard it. He began to talk about the performance they had seen, but Blaine found himself tuning out as he stared at his boyfriend. There was something about Kurt that just made Blaine lost for words, which was a foreign concept to the usually controlled boy.

Like now, when Kurt's eyes would light up when he was excited about something and how he gave that gorgeous smile of his, and all Blaine could think about was how much he wanted to feel those lips against his. The feeling had been growing more and more and he wasn't sure how much longer he could wait to experience it.

He and Kurt had sat down and discussed their relationship when it first began, knowing they both carried scars from the past that needed to be dealt with appropriately. They both agreed to hold off on the physical for the time being while they built up a sufficient level of trust to take those steps, and it seemed to be working well. They had spent the night holding hands, the furtherest they had gone so far and Blaine still felt his heart quicken when Kurt's hand slipped lightly into his with a slight squeeze.

Blaine knew he was ready to take things further but was perfectly happy to wait for Kurt to be ready. After his past, he needed to know that this kiss meant something to both of them and wasn't going to be used to hurt him later, and Blaine was just doing his best to show Kurt every day that he cared about him and wasn't going anywhere.

"Blaine, I think your screen's frozen again."

Blaine snapped out of his stupor and realized Kurt had stopped talking. "Sorry, Kurt, what were you saying?"

"Where'd you go off to?" Kurt looked amused at Blaine's zoning out. "You looked very transfixed on something."

"I - I was." _Why not just gauge it to see how he feels? If it's no, you can forget you said anything about it..._

"Oh? What was that?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, still managing to make the gesture work over camera.

"You."

He loved the way Kurt blushed, trying to argue before Blaine cut in again. "I've been staring at you this whole time, just thinking about how gorgeous you are and how lucky I am that you're mine. And I've been staring at those lips of yours and thinking how perfect they are..." He let his sentence trail off, waiting to see how Kurt would respond.

And then Kurt did something so devilishly sexy that Blaine nearly fell off his chair in shock. He licked his lips, staring at the camera almost suggestively. "Well, why don't you come and find out?"

Blaine stared for a minute longer before hitting _end call_ and signing off, almost tipping his chair in his haste to get up. Pausing at the door for a second, he made sure nobody was outside before opening it and slipping down the hallway towards Kurt's room. Just before he could get there, the door opened and Kurt appeared in the hallway.

"Blaine? Did I take it too far?"

Blaine made a strangled sound in his throat before leaning in to kiss Kurt. He felt a moment of hesitance, then Kurt was kissing him back, wrapping his arms around his neck with a muffled sigh. Blaine reached up a hand to cup Kurt's jaw, running a thumb across it gently and feeling Kurt shiver.

Kurt broke away, keeping his lips against Blaine's as he whispered, "We should probably take this somewhere else, the monitors could walk past any second -"

"Yes, we could."

Blaine jumped, pulling back from Kurt and turning to see Wes and David standing in front of them, apparently having snuck up while the boys were occupied.

"Now, let's see what we've got here." David pulled out his copy of the rule book while Wes flipped open his notebook, clicking the pen eagerly. "Out of room after curfew times two, public display of affection times two -"

"Don't forget having girlfriend/boyfriend in room, as well as having someone in his room after curfew," Wes chipped in, scribbling in his notebook.

"He wasn't in my room!" Kurt argued, glaring at the two boys.

"He was going to be." Wes appeared unfazed by the hatred rolling off the pair. "And I bet he wouldn't have been heading back to his room, so better write Blaine up for not sleeping in his own room."

"I hate you, Wes," Blaine growled through clenched teeth, before he felt Kurt's hand on his arm.

"Well, Blaine, since they're writing us up for it anyway, I guess there's no harm in continuing where we left off."

Blaine smirked, glancing at Wes and David who were suddenly looking uncomfortable. "Very true. If they want to stick around and watch exactly how many times we break the rules, that's up to them." He winked at Kurt before closing the gap again.

"Alright, alright!" Wes interrupted, throwing his notebook at the back of Blaine's head. "We won't write you up if you just get back to your rooms - _separate_ rooms - and stay there."

Kurt pulled away. "Deal. Now get lost so I can kiss my boyfriend goodnight."

Wes grabbed his notebook and the two headed off down the corridor, David muttering about his innocence being taken from him. Blaine chuckled before giving Kurt another quick kiss and reluctantly unwrapping his arms.

"I'd stay, but they'll be checking my room in the next ten minutes. I'll see you tomorrow, yeah?"

Kurt smirked, turning to open his door and entering his room. "No, I'm sure I'll see you in ten minutes on Skype." He pulled the door shut behind him as Blaine chuckled, then quickly turned back to his room. After all, he missed his boyfriend already.

* * *

**I'm not sure how most boarding schools work in regards to monitors but I know at the one I went to as a day girl, the older girls would monitor sometimes and teachers would do it other times. Anyway, it works for my story to have it as Wes and David. Because it's Wes and David!**

**Oh dear, I'm a small child at heart. But we all are! :) anyways, review with your Glee person! **

**I heart you all. **


	52. Different

**So I asked you guys which Glee character you were last chapter and I got an overwhelming but slightly confusing response. Here's the down low ;) : We have (including me) five Kurt's, three Rachel's, four Tina's (didn't expect that!), four Blaine's, one Mercedes, one Finn and one Santana. We also have two Kurt/Mercedes, two Rachel/Kurt/Mercedes, a Kurt/Blaine, Kurt/Mike, two Kurt/Rachel's and a Kurt/Sam (see the pattern). Then we get into the people who just wanted to make my head hurt: a Kurt/Blaine/Tina/Brittany, a Kurt/Santana/Brittany/Artie and a Tina/Brittany/Mike/Rachel/Kurt/Finn/Santana. Phew! Oh, and Sam's little sister and Klaine's love child. **

**So, all we're really missing now is a Puck, Lauren and Quinn. And Sam's little brother if we want to get technical ;) I'll actually happily be Quinn instead of Kurt because there's a lot of Kurt's. So, my Glee family, let's get onto the chapter! **

**From**_** heal my bleeding heart: So in Thriller...Just after**_ _**the Lima bean scene with Mercedes and Rachel- Blaine will be mulling over how different Kurt is when he's not at Dalton, and that he likes this Kurt a whole lot more than he knew...and since you like open endings so much I'll let you take it from there.**_

**The majority of this takes place in Blaine's mind. 'Cause, you know, that's an awesome place to hang out. The four Blaine's would know that for sure ;)**

* * *

Different

Blaine watched Kurt hug his friends goodbye, chattering excitedly about a sleepover they had planned for the following weekend. After giving the girls his input about football regulations, Rachel's face had lit up and she was dragging Mercedes out of there, a plan clearly in mind.

Blaine half-heartedly said goodbye to the girls, his mind focused entirely on Kurt. Watching Kurt today had been a shock for Blaine and for a good portion of the conversation, all he could do was sit there and try to look like he was listening while puzzling over the changes in his friend.

Kurt was so different around the girls. Blaine knew from experience that most Dalton guys were, but in the majority of those cases it resulted in the boys turning into drooling idiots. Kurt - well, he seemed to light up around them. It was if he had someone who he could relate to and Blaine saw something in him that he hadn't seen in the time Kurt had spent at Dalton.

Oh, it wasn't like Kurt didn't have friends at school, and it certainly wasn't that he was unhappy. At least, if he was, he wasn't telling Blaine about it because Blaine went out of his way to make sure Kurt was happy frequently. It was more as if another side of Kurt could be shared because he was in an environment where he could do so. The anti-bullying policies at Dalton meant nobody would tease Kurt if he were to be himself, but Blaine knew nobody would quite know what to do with the Kurt he saw in there.

For a second, Blaine felt a twinge of pity, then he realized that it wasn't something he should feel _sorry_ for Kurt about. After all, Kurt didn't look unhappy or like he couldn't be himself at Dalton - apart from the uniform which was constantly bemoaned. It was like he just reserved that part of himself to share with his girlfriends.

And today Blaine had been allowed to experience it too, and for some reason that meant a whole lot more to Blaine than he thought it would. In fact, he wanted to see that side of Kurt a lot more often.

Blaine knew he wasn't the stereotypical gay guy from the outside. He was well presented, yes, but not fashion conscious like Kurt. He was into sports, fixed cars and hung out with his guy friends. But Blaine _was_ gay, and he wanted to be able to share that side of himself too. He wanted people he could talk with about other boys, people he could share his previously hidden love of _Vogue_ with. And for a long time, he hadn't had anybody like that.

When Kurt came along, Blaine felt like he could start sharing himself with Kurt and had slowly begun to do so. Spending time with the younger boy watching musicals had made Blaine feel oddly complete, like Kurt was someone he had been waiting for, to come along...

_Oh. Of course._

The realization didn't hit him as hard as he thought it would. In fact, Blaine decided, he had really known all along. But seeing Kurt today had kicked it into reality. He liked Kurt.

_So, why are you thinking about it now?_

Chucking a few bills onto the table, Blaine watched Kurt who was waving goodbye to the girls, a slightly wistful smile on his face. He knew that the Kurt who would turn back to him wouldn't be the same Kurt that the rest of Dalton saw, but it wouldn't be the same Kurt the girls got to hang out with. Blaine felt a flash of jealousy at that, because he _wanted _that Kurt. He wanted Kurt to be able to give all of himself when they were together, but he knew the younger boy still held back out of fear of being rejected.

_Well, show him you won't. _

And then Blaine knew that the only way to be able to have all of Kurt was to give him all of himself.

"Ready to go, Blaine?"

Blaine smiled as Kurt came back over, pulling out his own wallet to cover the bill. He placed a hand over Kurt's, still smiling at the surprise of the younger boy.

"Already covered it. And yeah, let's go."

With that, he took the hand that was still in his and headed out the door, Kurt almost being dragged behind. Blaine could see his mind working overtime trying to figure out what was going on and couldn't help smiling at the confusion he was generating.

Making their way out to Blaine's car, he quickly detoured them, sitting down on a bench instead and pulling Kurt down beside him. "Blaine, what -?"

"Kurt, this is going to come out of the blue but I need to tell you something."

Kurt raised an eyebrow and Blaine mentally prepared himself for rejection as he spoke. "Basically, I like you. A lot." He watched as Kurt's eyes grew wide and tried to figure out what was in them - was that _rejection?_

Hoping for the best, Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat and continued. "I - I don't know how you feel. I mean, obviously I'm hoping you feel the same. I just thought I should let you know, because I saw a side of you in there today that I'd love to get to know more. I want to know everything about you, Kurt."

Blaine cut himself off before he could start rambling and broke eye contact, looking down at the ground. There was silence for a few seconds, then -

"Really?"

Blaine lifted his head, seeing a tentative hopefulness spread across Kurt's face.

"Really."

Kurt's face broke into a smile and it was if the sun had come out again. Blaine released the breath he didn't know he had been holding and smiled back, before deciding to see how far he could push his luck.

"I'd really like to kiss you right now."

And there was that hesitance again, but now Blaine recognized it as shock instead of rejection and waited.

"Really? Oh, now I sound like a broken record." Blaine chuckled lightly as Kurt groaned. "Yes. Absolutely, yes."

Blaine reached a hand out to gently touch Kurt's cheek. He heard his breathing quicken and watched his eyes flutter closed. After staring at him for a moment longer, Blaine gently leaned in and allowed their lips to meet.

He felt Kurt's breath stutter to a stop beneath his lips before a hand was against his own face and Kurt was kissing him back, gently at first before growing more passionate. Before he could lose himself completely, Blaine remembered where they were and reluctantly pulled away, watching Kurt's eyes open and taking in everything about him.

"Let's head back to Dalton," he murmured, fighting to hold back a smile at how flushed Kurt's cheeks were. "We can pick up where we left off?"

Blaine laughed as Kurt jumped to his feet, dragging him towards the car.

* * *

**This is a lot simpler than a lot of my other stories. I figured it was time for a simple 'hey, I like you' fic, rather than my elaborate schemes, locations and weirdness. Not that any of that isn't awesome. Because it totally is. But I always write so much drama into their lives, I think it's time that they get a little normality. **

**Oh, and I have so many story ideas going on right now that you can expect to see a lot of oneshots and the beginnings of chapter stories making their way up. I've got _five _chapter stories bugging me right now with only one actually in the process of being published, not including _Kiss _of course. Sigh. The perils of being a semi-famous FanFiction author, right? **


	53. Play

**So I'm in a crap mood because stuff's not going right at home and I think I'm going to have to go back to Australia because I'm at the end of my rope here. Send me reviews with love? I don't like begging, but you guys honestly make my day nowadays. Angela's already been helping :)**

**From **_**Full-Empty-Spirit**_** and similarly prompted by **_**pyralovesstories**_** and **_**searngel26**__**: Kurt and**_ _**Blaine get the lead roles in a play they have to do for drama, and the role requires them to kiss**_

**Yes, I did. Because every school has to do a cliche performance of Romeo and Juliet. And because I don't know any other good plays where the lead actors need to kiss. Plus, Kurt makes a great Juliet ;) now, obviously I don't own Romeo and Juliet. **

**I was all set to use OC's, then I went onto the Dalton Academy wiki page and found a yearbook photo with all of their names listed. I'm not 100% sure whether it's real or just fan made, but I used them. I also used this for the hide and seek chapter, jsyk. And I used all of them so it's a Warbler play! =D character list in authors note at the bottom, plus link to photo I used. **

**I've never done a play, at least not in the last five years, so I don't know how rehearsals go. This is my guess.**

* * *

Play

"CAST LIST IS UP!"

Blaine winced as David's voice echoed through the Warbler commons where the group had been quietly studying. There was a sudden scurry of movement and the boys vacated the room, running eagerly to the noticeboard outside the drama room. Blaine sighed and put his books away before getting to his feet. Ever since the auditions for _Romeo and Juliet_ last week, the boys had been on tenterhooks to see who had gotten in.

Walking down the hallway, Blaine could hear filtered conversation drifting towards him. He saw some of the boys cheering and slapping each other on the back, David being the most excited - Blaine guessed he must have gotten Tybalt. A few of the boys were grumbling about being cast as girls; James and Nicholas were commiserating together over being cast as Flint and Josh's respective wives. Others were chattering excitedly about sword fights and potions.

As Blaine drew near the board, Thad saw him and yelled, "It's Blaine! Great stuff, man!"

Blaine smiled politely, not sure exactly what Thad was on about. Clearly he had gotten a part of some kind - he had gone out for Prince Escalus but he had already heard Jesse saying he got that part. Pushing his way through, he took a look at the board, starting at the lower characters where he was sure his name was going to be. He made his way up, still not finding his name until, right at the very top:

**Romeo: Blaine Anderson**

_Oh._

Blaine wasn't sure how he felt about the part. He had gotten the lead in the last play and had wanted to step back and let one of the other guys take it this time, but apparently Dalton had other ideas. Not that he was _that_ fussed about it; he had wanted to play Romeo after all. Smiling, he went to turn before freezing, staring at the name below his.

**Juliet: Kurt Hummel**

Blaine had known he was going to get it of course. He had watched Kurt audition, sauntering in like he owned the place and delivering the lines perfectly. He was also one of the only boys who would willingly play a female part over a male. Of course Kurt was Juliet.

But now that the two names were sitting together, it sent a shiver down Blaine's spine as he realized they would be playing a couple in the play. This certainly wasn't a _bad_ thing, at least not in Blaine's book. He didn't know about Kurt though -

Speaking of Kurt. Blaine turned to see where the younger boy was, certain he wouldn't be missing this for anything. Sure enough, Kurt was pushing his way through the crowd, trying to get to the board. Blaine reached out a hand and pulled him through, earning a grateful smile before Kurt turned his attention to the board, letting out a squeal as he saw his name.

"Blaine! I'm Juliet!"

Blaine put an arm around his friend in a half-hug as he literally hopped from excitement. "Congratulations, Kurt, I knew you'd get it."

"Oh, this is so exciting! Do you think they'll let me design my own costume?"

Blaine laughed at Kurt's excitement before the younger boy turned to him, calming down a bit. "Oh, wow. Okay. What part did you get?"

Pointing towards the top of the board, Blaine watched Kurt's face for a reaction. At first there was a hint of shock before a grin spread across his face. "Blaine, that's amazing! Well done! But ... I thought you weren't going for the lead?"

"I didn't," Blaine explained as they made their way out of the huddle of excitement. "But I guess they thought I'd make a better Romeo than a prince." He mock-pouted as Kurt giggled.

"Guys!" Wes came running up to them, David a few steps behind. "Guess what?"

"You're Mercutio?" Blaine asked. He hadn't checked to see what the other boys had gotten but Wes' performance had been outstanding and he would be shocked if he hadn't gotten the part.

"No! Well, okay, yes. But more important than that. David and I get to have a sword fight!"

Kurt and Blaine groaned simultaneously, looking at the two hyped up boys. "This can only end badly," Kurt whispered as they faced each other and pretended to fence.

Blaine nodded, looking at the chaos. "But this whole thing is going to be awesome."

* * *

"Welcome to the first rehearsal everybody! And congratulations, you all earned your parts. Now, it's time to show us that you can perform!"

The drama teacher, Ms. Littlefield, quickly whipped out a list and began firing off directions. "Okay, I need the Capulet family over that side, the Montague family on the other side. Tybalt, Mercutio and Benvolio, you're up here with me. Everybody else, sit tight and start going over your lines."

Blaine and Kurt stood, giving each other a quick smile before separating, Blaine heading over to join Cameron and Nicholas on their side of the stage. "Hey, Mom and Dad," Blaine said, smirking at the indignant look on Nicholas' face.

"I went out for Romeo and I get to be his mother instead..." he grumbled good-naturedly before they flipped open their scripts and began their first run through. As Nicholas tried to prevent Cameron from starting a brawl, Blaine found his attention drifting to the other side of the stage - past Thad and David getting in each other's faces as they fought - to where Kurt was sitting. Their eyes met for a second and Kurt smiled before giving some kind of criticism to James and Flint.

"Okay!" Ms. Littlefield clapped from the middle of the stage. "I think the boys all know how to brawl properly." Wes sniggered, nudging David who was already cradling a sore arm. "So, let's clear the stage and get the Montague parents over here. Benvolio, you stay. Romeo, in the wings."

Blaine jumped to his feet and made his way across the stage to the right-hand wings, passing by Kurt on his way who exchanged another smile as he made his way down to the seats. The other actors began to speak, Blaine admiring Thad's talent as he told the Montagues of their 'troubled son' and knew Cameron was fighting back a smile because, honestly, Blaine was the _least_ troubled Warbler there was.

Hearing his cue, Blaine slowly made his way onto the stage, waiting for the Montagues to leave before making his way to Benvolio, slipping into character.

"Is the day so young?" he replied to Benvolio, staring listlessly at the floor.

"But new struck nine." Thad replied, surveying him cautiously.

"Ay me! Sad hours seem long. Was that my father that went hence so fast?"

Blaine allowed himself to slip into autopilot, knowing the lines well enough to do so confidently. Having a literature professor for a mother meant that Blaine knew this particular play like the back of his hand. Speaking of which, he had to call his mother and let her know he had the part...

Pulling himself back into the play, he worked on getting more into characters as he began his speech of lamenting love. Tripping slightly over "vex'd a sea nourish'd" and noting he had to work on that, he allowed himself to feel Romeo's despair at his love being unrequited. _Hm, maybe I can play this character better than I thought..._

"Tell me in sadness, who is that you love." The look Thad gave him was far more probing than his character required and Blaine knew he was trying to get into Blaine's mind and find the real answer to that question. Skipping around the subject and refusing to look into Thad's eye, Blaine finished off his lines, watching as Thad completed the last one and ended the scene.

There was applause from the audience and Blaine started, having forgotten that they were there completely. Turning, he saw Kurt clapping the loudest and smiled, hardly able to wait to see one of Kurt's scenes.

* * *

"Alright, we're making great progress, boys!" Ms. Littlefield was again centre stage, looking down at the assembled group. "After today's practice, I need you to all get your measurements recorded. We're calling in the lovely ladies from Crawford to make the outfits, so they'll be here in half an hour to measure you up."

The boys erupted into sound, Blaine and Kurt turning to one another to roll their eyes.

"But we'll deal with that later. For now, I need the Capulet family, their servants, Tybalt, Romeo, Juliet and Nurse. We're doing Scene 5 today."

_The meeting scene. _Blaine rose to his feet with the rest of the called upon boys, making his way to the stage. This was the first scene that he and Kurt would be onstage together. It was also the first scene where they had to kiss.

But as if she was reading his mind, their teacher spoke up again. "Now, we're only doing a run through of the lines so we don't need to worry about any of the ... _actions_."

Flint chuckled from the other side of the stage, stopping when Kurt glared at him before smiling nervously at Blaine. He tried to make his return smile as reassuring as possible, stepping back into the wings as the servants began their opening lines.

He couldn't work out whether to be relieved or disappointed about not kissing Kurt today. After all, they had never kissed, they weren't even dating. But Blaine would be lying if he didn't admit he really _really_ wanted to kiss Kurt. After seeing the look on Kurt's face though, he knew Kurt needed some more time to get to that stage and was happy to wait.

The Capulets entered the stage, Kurt well into character. Blaine loved watching Kurt act, he completely embodied the character of Juliet and made it easy to forget that it was actually a male actor. Of course, Blaine was always acutely aware that it was Kurt up there, and that would definitely be more apparent today when he was right there with Kurt.

Speaking of which - Blaine quickly slipped onto the stage next to the servant (a younger student he hadn't met yet) and said his first line, noting Kurt watching him from across the stage while pretending to be focused on the party.

"O, she doth teach the torches to burn bright!" Blaine let his eye catch on Kurt as he began his speech, throwing himself back into character and watching a flush creep over Kurt's face as he spoke. "Did my heart love till now? forswear it, sight! For I ne'er saw true beauty till this night."

He gestured towards Kurt who was staring in the other direction, and Blaine knew that in that second, his words were true. He had fallen in love with Kurt.

Then David's voice chipped in and he was broken out of his reverie. As soon as the attention was taken off him, he slipped around the back as instructed and made his way to Kurt's side. Once David had stormed off the stage, he turned his attention to Kurt - no, to _Juliet. Get in character, Romeo._

"If I profane with my unworthiest hand, this holy shrine, the gentle fine is this: my lips," he saw Kurt blush at this, "two blushing pilgrims, ready stand, to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss."

Kurt stepped back as he began to argue and Blaine watched him flick into character. In his admiration of his friend's talent, Blaine nearly missed his own line and quickly caught it up, thankful for the script in hand. Kurt continued on and the two settled into a playful banter.

"- Then have my lips the sin that they have took." And this was the part where Blaine would lean in to kiss Kurt. It would be so _easy_ too, he thought, staring into Kurt's eyes which were shining with something unrecognizable. _But until I know for sure..._

Fighting back the urge, he moved onto his line, breaking the tense moment. One more line from Kurt and Nick entered the scene to hurry him away. As Romeo came to the realization of who Juliet was, Blaine also came to the realization that Benvolio hadn't been called to the stage. A quick gesture to Thad and he called his line from his seat, eliciting a chuckle from those around him. Blaine recited his last line and gratefully made his way into the wings to watch Kurt.

As Kurt finished the scene, their eyes met again and Blaine knew they had to talk.

* * *

" - an excellent job from everybody. We'll meet again on Tuesday afternoon, enjoy your weekend!"

The group began to make their way out of the auditorium, chatting about the scenes they had worked on that day. Rehearsals were well underway and they had already read through all of the scenes once and were fine tuning those that needed work before bringing in props for the actual acting.

Blaine sighed, staying in his seat as he watched Kurt discuss costume ideas with Ms. Littlefield. He had convinced her to let him make his own and was currently in full swing with many ideas. He couldn't keep his eyes away from the younger boy who was waving his hands excitedly about something, watching the spark in his eyes as he spoke.

Every time he and Kurt had done a romantic scene, a tension of sorts had been building between them. It had begun at the wedding scene, something that Trent had taken great delight in presiding over, after all, it was "just practice for the real day," something the other boys had found hilarious. Their goodbye scene before Romeo's banishment had actually brought Ms. Littlefield to tears, something that thankfully helped alleviate the tension and hide the fact that Blaine and Kurt were both slightly choked up themselves. From there, the dramatic scenes revolving around the double suicide had brought Kurt to the point where he could barely look at Blaine.

Kurt finished sharing his ideas and headed back up to his bag, coincidentally right next to Blaine. He reached the row, jumping when he realized Blaine was still sitting there. Before he could do anything, Blaine grabbed his hand gently and sat him down.

"We need to talk."

He saw Kurt gulp and rubbed his thumb over his hand soothingly. "Nothing bad, I promise. Just about the play."

"I know." It came out as a whisper but he saw Kurt straighten up a bit.

"We're getting into props now and proper run throughs. That means, within the next few rehearsals, we're going to kiss."

Blaine surveyed Kurt's face for any tinges of disgust or wariness, but only saw understanding. "I know."

"What I need to know is if you'll be ready to do that."

Kurt blinked. "Well.. yes. I just - the first time being onstage is a bit daunting."

"That's what I thought. So -" Blaine took a deep breath. "Why don't we practice beforehand?"(1)

"Yes!" Kurt blushed, amending his statement. "I mean, yeah, that's a good idea."

Blaine chuckled quietly and gestured towards the now deserted stage. They made their way down, climbing the stairs and getting into position for their first kiss scene.

"Okay, you ready?"

Kurt nodded and Blaine moved into his line. "Then move not, while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by yours, my sin is purged."

"Then have my lips the sin that they have took." Kurt's voice only shook a little on his first word, growing in confidence until the end. Blaine looked at him one more time to make sure he was okay before leaning in and gently kissing him.

Pulling back, Blaine did his best to work around the fact that he had just _kissed_ Kurt, trying to stay in character and focus on his lines while making sure Kurt was alright. "Sin from thy lips? O trespass sweetly urged! Give me my sin again." He leant in for another quick kiss, pulling away and waiting for Kurt to say his line.

Kurt stared at him for a few seconds and Blaine grew concerned. "Um, Kurt? You okay? It's your -"

Kurt _dove_ at him, almost knocking him backwards as their lips met again. This time, it wasn't as chaste as before, their lips moving frantically against one another. Blaine felt Kurt's hands wrap around his neck, playing with the hair at the nape. In turn, he wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist, trying not to moan at how _amazing_ this was.

After awhile, Blaine reluctantly broke off the kiss, his arms still around Kurt's waist. "Okay, if you do that on stage we may cause a riot, so I'm glad we practiced beforehand."

Kurt chuckled. "Mm, me too. Can we do more practicing?"(2)

Blaine immediately forgot about the rest of the play as Kurt pressed their lips together again.

* * *

"Alright, gentlemen. Act 4, scene 1. Paris, Juliet and Friar Laurence for now, all props and actions."

Jeff and Trent moved into action but Kurt stayed sitting where he was, a look of shock on his face.

"Kurt?" Blaine took his hand. "What's wrong?"

"I - I forgot. And I think he did too." Suddenly Kurt was on his feet and heading towards the stage. Blaine could only watch as he whispered in Jeff's ear who suddenly grew pale.

"Have you forgotten?" came a voice from behind him and Andrew stuck his head over the seat. "Paris kisses Juliet in this scene."

_Oh._

"Okay, places people!" And it appeared everything was sorted because Jeff and Trent moved to their places on the stage while Kurt darted off into the wings. The scene started and when Kurt's cue came, Blaine was on the edge of his seat, waiting for the moment...

" - Till then, adieu; and keep this holy kiss." Blaine held his breath as Jeff leaned in...

And kissed Kurt on the cheek, before bidding a hasty exit. Blaine let out a sigh of relief to the amusement of the assembled boys and the play continued.

Onstage, Blaine could see the look of relief on Kurt's face, before he turned to look into the audience, breaking character to wink at Blaine who immediately ducked his head to hide a smile.

Yes, having Kurt as a boyfriend was certainly interesting.

* * *

"Okay, dress rehearsal! Costumes are ready and waiting backstage, Kurt, I hope you have yours."

Kurt nodded as the boys dispersed backstage, Blaine immediately heading to where his costume was hanging up. Pulling it out, he smiled at the elaborate detailing.

"Hey, no fair, your costume is awesome!" Richard looked over at him, pulling out a drab grey costume. "Mine's so boring!"

"Well, Romeo is of a higher pedigree. After all, you're servant to a servant." Richard stuck his tongue out at a smirking Blaine as they began to undress and put their costumes on, taking the chance to see what everybody else was wearing.

Blaine found he was quite fond of his costume, especially the puffy sleeves. He straightened his hat and turned to walk back onto the stage before stopping short.

Because there was Kurt.

Blaine tried to make his mouth work but nothing came out as he stared at his boyfriend. Kurt had managed to take all the female elements of the costume without making it seem like he was just dressing up as a girl. Sure, he may have been in a dress and wearing heels. But he was so clearly Kurt and so _amazing_.

"Blaine? Is it alright?"

Blaine found himself taking inspiration from his boyfriend as he closed the distance, pressing his mouth against Kurt's hungrily.

"You look so _hot_," he whispered when he broke away. "I can't think of a single other guy who could make a _dress_ look that hot."

Kurt blushed but there was a smile on his face and Blaine knew the way to his boyfriend's heart was through his fashion.

"Gentlemen! We require you on stage!"

Taking Kurt's hand, they made their way to their teacher who was directing people and props around. Spotting them, she cried, "Ah, boys, just who I need! Final scene, if you please."

Kurt quickly stepped across the stage into the 'tomb' as Blaine took his position for the most dramatic scene of the play. So far they hadn't practiced this fully in front of the other boys, Ms. Littlefield choosing to take them aside to practice privately until they had it down pat. Blaine called on every hint of emotion he had inside him and pushed it into this final scene. After shaking off John, he stepped towards the cardboard entrance way, admiring the attention to detail.

And sure enough, there was Jeff. Blaine hid a grin as they entered their fight scene, hefting out his cardboard sword and taking great care not to dent it.

"O, I am slain!" Jeff dropped to the ground, mumbling his final lines before 'dying.' Blaine had to admit, the boy sure knew how to die in style. He grabbed him under the arms and hefted him into the 'tomb', laying him down before turning to Kurt.

And his breath caught because damn it all if Kurt didn't look _beautiful_ lying there. Remembering his lines in time, Blaine sped through his monologue, and if he was required to act he had totally forgotten due to staring at Kurt the entire time.

Pulling out the vial of 'poison', Blaine uncapped it and stepped closer to Kurt. "Here's to my love!" He drank out of the vial, pulling a face at the contents. Who gave him _tomato juice?_

"O true apothecary! Thy drugs are quick. Thus with a kiss, I die."

He leant over and gently kissed Kurt on the lips, letting it linger for a second before slumping next to him, one hand resting on his chest as practiced.

There was silence and Blaine cracked open an eyelid to see why Trent wasn't delivering his lines, only to see him holding onto John with tears streaming down his face. John also looked a bit weepy, and now that Blaine was concentrating he could hear the sounds of sniffling coming from the audience.

He couldn't help himself; he began to laugh. Sitting up, he addressed the group. "You're a group of teenage guys who _all_ cried during Romeo and Juliet. _Gay _Romeo and Juliet for that matter. I'm remembering this forever."

Kurt sat up next to him, smirking at the group. "But Blaine, we haven't even gotten to the scene when I wake up. I bet they'll be _bawling._"

"We'd better do a few runs through then," called Ms. Littlefield from her seat, subtly wiping away a tear. "Opening night is in two days after all and I don't want to see you boys being emotional wrecks on the night."

Still smirking, Kurt lay back down as Blaine made his way to his starting position, 'accidentally' kicking the still-prone form of Jeff.

* * *

"Guys, you made it!"

Blaine stepped back as Kurt was engulfed in a hug by Rachel, Mercedes and Tina. Finn and Burt both nodded in his direction and he smiled before feeling himself pulled into a hug.

"It's so very good to meet you properly, Blaine. I've heard a lot of things about you." Carole pulled away and Blaine smiled at the friendly woman. He had met Kurt's family over Skype when they had started dating the night after their 'practicing' and she seemed just as bubbly in person as she had there. She turned back and gestured to Burt who came over and shook Blaine's hand.

"Good to meet you, kid. You treating my son right?"

"Dad!" Kurt had pulled away from his friends and was glaring at his father.

Burt raised his hands. "Gotta ask, Kurt. You wouldn't tell me otherwise."

"It's okay. I'm treating your son the best I can, sir." Apparently that was enough for Burt as he grunted and turned to give Kurt a hug. The girls swarmed around Blaine, chatting excitedly about 'finally meeting Kurt's boyfriend!' He talked with them for a few minutes before hearing a cough from behind him.

"Mom!" Blaine turned to see his mother standing behind him, smiling. He immediately stepped forward to hug her, trying to ignore his father's obvious absence. Stepping back, he grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him over. "Mom, this is Kurt, my boyfriend."

She immediately stepped forward and hugged Kurt who looked shocked but happy. "So nice to meet you, Kurt, and can't wait to see your performance tonight!"

Kurt blushed. "Thank you very much, Mrs. Anderson."

She waved a hand. "Call me Sheryl darling."

Blaine's phone buzzed and he pulled it out, flipping open the text.

_Stop flirting with Kurt and bring him backstage. We need to get into costume - Wes_

Blaine rolled his eye but obediently said goodbye to the group, taking Kurt's hand and heading backstage before they separated to get prepared for the night.

* * *

"Guys, where's Kurt?"

Blaine snapped his head up from his script where he was going over his lines for the final time. The curtain was opening in five minutes and he had thought everybody was ready to go. Apparently not, judging by the look on David's face.

"What do you mean, where's Kurt?" Blaine turned to a panicked Wes. "I thought he was with you guys?"

"He was, then he said he had to go to the bathroom and that was ten minutes ago. We checked but he wasn't there. Do you think he's sick or something?"

Blaine pulled out his phone and called Kurt. "I already tried, he's not picking -"

"Blaine?"

"Kurt!" Blaine breathed a sigh of relief as did the rest of the cast. "Where are you?"

"I - I'm outside. Out the back door."

"Okay, I'm coming out." Blaine hung up and pushed past the rest of the guys, ignoring their questions. He opened the door to see Kurt in full costume pacing nervously.

"Kurt, what's wrong?" Kurt stopped and immediately wrapped his arms around Blaine, who immediately noticed he was shaking. He held onto him for a few minutes before gently pulling away. "What's going on?"

"I - nothing. I'm okay." Kurt chuckled. "No I'm not, I'm freaking out. What if I stuff up my lines or trip over my dress or get tongue tied or -"

Blaine drew Kurt back into his arms and kissed him, effectively shutting him up. When they broke apart, he said, "Kurt, you're _perfect_. You know all of your lines, and everybody else's for that matter. Nothing is going to go wrong tonight, and if it does, who cares? Just get out there and have fun, okay?"

Kurt smiled, still a bit shaky but a lot more confident. "Okay. I think I've sufficiently freaked everyone else out too, so let's go before I get slaughtered."

The door opened behind them and Wes' head poked out. "Guys, she's onstage introducing us NOW! Get in here!"

Pushing all nerves aside, Blaine and Kurt made their way inside to get to their positions. Before separating, Blaine pulled Kurt back to him and kissed him again. "Let's kill this thing."

* * *

"For never was a story of more woe, than this of Juliet and her Romeo."

As Jesse completed his final line, the audience erupted in applause. Blaine felt Kurt moving off his chest to stand, holding out a hand to help Blaine up as the rest of the cast made their way onto stage. Blaine and Kurt made their way to the middle of the line as directed and they bowed. Blaine felt a push from behind him and he and Kurt were shoved forward. Looking at each other, they chuckled before bowing again. Blaine saw the crowd on their feet and grinned down at his mother who had tears streaming down her face.

There was movement on the side of the stage then the McKinley girls appeared with two bouquets of flowers. Kurt laughed in delight as they made their way over, presenting one to each of the boys and hugging them before slipping back off the stage.

As Blaine stared out into the audience, holding his boyfriend's hand, he knew that their characters love story had just ended, but their was only just beginning.

* * *

**(1) I have seen so many stories around of people writing about this being what happens to Darren and Chris before shooting the Original Song kiss. Which I find quite funny, but it works well sometimes. Ignoring the fact that Darren's straight, that is..**

**(2) And that, ladies and gentlemen, is what I call a REAL "We should practice," ... "I thought we were," moment. ;)**

**Long long long :) **

* * *

**Character List:**

**Romeo - Blaine**

**Juliet - Kurt**

**Friar Lawrence - Trent**

**Mercutio - Wes**

**The Nurse - Nick**

**Tybalt - David**

**Capulet - Flint**

**Lady Capulet - James**

**Montague - Cameron**

**Lady Montague - Nicholas**

**Paris - Jeff**

**Benvolio - Thad**

**Prince Escalus - Jesse**

**Friar John - Andrew**

**Balthasar - John**

**Apothecary - Ethan**

**Peter - Richard**

**Servants - unnamed characters (who cares, they're not Warblers!)**

* * *

**Link (take out spaces): http : / glee . wikia . com / wiki / Dalton _ Academy _ Warblers and then scroll down.**


	54. Service

**I've had a request from _Thenumberonefemalediva _to give her a shout out in this chapter because I'm the reason she joined the FanFiction community and it would be awesome. She's also put me up there with Darren, Chris and Riker... wow. So here you go! **

_**akatrixie: I**_'_**m gonna be very vague with this one. One of Blaine's relatives is having a bat/r mitzvah, and Blaine desperately wants to have Kurt there to not die of boredom. Kurt is utterly miserable there. Blaine doesn't notice. Kurt begins rambling under his breath about how much he dislikes this, and eventually says out loud his feelings for Blaine. He doesn't realize Blaine can hear him.**_

**This wins for most out of the blue prompt. It's something I'd never even imagined as a prompt which makes it all the better.**

**I've never been to a bar mitzvah, so if I make any serious mistakes, please let me know so I can change them. I don't want to cause any offense. That goes for all my stories with any culturally or religiously based themes, I would hate to offend someone with my ignorance so just let me know, okay? As for the boring part, I know some are probably lots of fun, but I also know that, like any other type of service, there would be some that would be ridiculously boring. I go to Church and there are some weeks where I can honestly say the service is boring. This just so happens to be one of those. **

* * *

Service

"And I have to go?"

Kurt sat watching his roommate with amusement. Blaine was sprawled on his bed, his phone pressed to his ear and a look of utter distaste on his face.

"Like he'd even notice if I wasn't... yes, I know... okay, okay, I'll go!" There was silence for a few seconds, then Blaine's face lit up. "I can? Okay, that's alright then. Well, I'd better go, I'll see you on Saturday. Bye, Dad."

Blaine hung up and promptly threw his phone on the bed beside him, groaning. Kurt chuckled and moved to sit next to his roommate who had buried his head in the blanket. "What's up?"

"My cousin's bar mitzvah is this weekend and my dad's making me go." Kurt couldn't help himself, he burst into laughter as Blaine's head came up indignantly.

"Sorry, that's just too funny! I can't believe it's that big of a deal, at least there's some kind of food there, isn't there?"

But now Blaine was staring at him and it was starting to unnerve Kurt. "What?"

"Come with me." It wasn't a question.

"What? Why?"

"Because I'm allowed to bring a friend and I'll die of boredom if I'm there alone. Wes and David would cause havoc, and that's if I could separate them long enough to take one. And I'm not close enough to any of the other guys to justify inviting them to a _bar mitzvah._ Please?"

And of course Kurt couldn't say no now because Blaine was looking at him with those _damn _puppy-dog eyes and _nobody_ could resist those eyes. It was a proven fact - one boring afternoon, Kurt had dragged Blaine to each of the Warblers and gotten him to ask a request of all of them using that face. Every single one dropped what they were doing to do what Blaine asked, even if it required driving to the store twenty minutes down the road to buy him Red Vines. Which, once Blaine realized it worked, was asked of three different boys, because Blaine had a _slight_ fixation with Red Vines.

The point was, Kurt was trapped. "Fine," he groaned. "But you owe me. And there'd better be cake."

* * *

There wasn't cake. In fact, there wasn't much at all. Kurt sighed, surveying the dance floor which was currently full of people shuffling around one another. Beside him, Blaine was in animated discussion with one of his relatives, laughing about something or another that Kurt had no idea about.

_It's not like there's even any cute guys to look at._ Kurt gave another sigh, slightly louder to see if Blaine would notice. He didn't.

"This is so boring," Kurt muttered under his breath, still checking for a reaction from Blaine. "He brings me here to spend time with me and save me from boredom and then ends up having _fun_ while I'm stuck here doing nothing."

Blaine laughed again and Kurt upped the volume of his disgruntled mutters. "I mean, it's like I'm not even here. I guess I'm used to being ignored, after all I don't get nearly as much attention from Blaine as I'd like."

He drew his attention away from Blaine, staring over the hall again as he continued lamenting to himself. "But of course I came because I'd do anything to spend time with Blaine. It's actually kind of sad how much I like him and he still has no idea that I could be anything more than his best gay friend."

He chuckled slightly. "Wow, not many guys can say that. I mean, I know he doesn't have experience with these things, but still. I _know_ I've had moments where I've been nothing short of obvious and still nothing. Maybe he just doesn't want to know. Maybe he does know and had ignored it and hoped it'll go away because he doesn't feel the same..."

Kurt heard a cough and turned to see Blaine staring at him, smiling softly. The chair next to him had been vacated and he knew Blaine had been listening to him. His face went bright red as he stammered, "How much did you hear?"

"About you being my best gay friend and wanting to be more?"

Kurt groaned, dropping his head into his hands. "Hey, it's alright, Kurt, I -"

"Don't." He looked up, carefully schooling his features into indifference. "I don't want your pity. If you don't like me, just say it and we can pretend this never happened."

There was a heartbeat of silence in which Kurt tried to keep his face from breaking, then -

"Well, there's no way I want to forget this. And I certainly can't offer you pity, but -"

A hand was suddenly in his, pulling him up from the table as Kurt tried to wrap his head around the words that had just been said. Before he could, he was outside and pressed against a wall with Blaine's lips against his own.

Just as Kurt was beginning to respond and allow himself to get lost in the sensation of Blaine's lips, he pulled away. "I can, however, offer you this. Would you like to take it?"

Kurt heard himself whimper as he leaned forward, kissing Blaine again as his hands began to run across his shoulders and over his back. He knew he should be embarrassed but he couldn't bring himself to care because this was _finally_ happening.

But then, of course, Blaine had to break away again, stepping back and straightening his shirt. Kurt simply raised an eyebrow, waiting. "You know I'd love to keep doing this, but we are at a bar mitzvah. They're not homophobic per se, but it is kinda against their religion and I think we'd better respect that. I should head back in to support my cousin anyway."

"Yeah, I understand." Kurt stepped away from the wall making sure his outfit was still immaculate before seeing the calculating smirk on Blaine's face.

" - After all, there's a dance floor in there with a mad two-step shuffle going on."

Kurt groaned as they turned to walk inside. "The things I do for you."

* * *

**For anybody who doesn't know, the two-step shuffle thing is dedicated to the Warblers and their lack of dance moves :) honestly, I don't get what Will was worried about, New Directions kinda had the Warblers beat when it came to dancing... That said, there's some epic backflips in Billsx3... I don't know why they don't break it out on stage. **


	55. Sai

**SARAH HAS NOT SEEN NEW YORK/NATIONALS. When I have seen it, you'll _know_. Trust me. I don't like having to say this every chapter, but unfortunately I've had a spoiler that I read without making the connection that 'In Nationals when...' means 'this has spoilers for New York.' Please, just don't say anything. I should be getting the episode sometime soon.**

**In regards to the many comments on my last chapter, I based the Jewish response to homosexuality on my study of Judaism in high school. We went to a temple and got to hear a (boring) speech from one of the Rabbi and I believe he said homosexuality was frowned upon. But I understand it's different in different places. Someone made the broad statement that just because someone's religious doesn't mean they're homophobic - I am a Christian myself so I'm fully aware of that and that wasn't what I was saying at all. Blaine's impression was that his family _wasn't _homophobic but it just wasn't a part of their religion.**

**I apologize if I sound terse tonight but my life's like a simmering pot at the moment and it tried to boil over today. So when that happens, there's two choices. Either it boils over, I let out what's going on, deal with the problems and all that. Or I clamp the lid on. Which is what happened today, and Angela ended up getting that when I suddenly shut off and disappeared which I feel awful for. So I'm still not really back. **

**For this one, I'm combining two prompts to make one awesome union of a story! These come from **_**Ehmber **_**and **_**I'llrockyoursocks, **_**with the similar promptings of**_** NightRose131, KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek **_**and **_**heal my bleeding heart: 1. Kurt is in his dorm at Dalton practicing with his sai swords, he has a competition later that week, when Blaine walks in. Apparently Blaine finds this hot. What happens next?.. 2. Well, what about Kurt has a Sai competition with Blaine, Mercedes, and Wes going for support and to watch. Once Kurt comes in first, they all go out to dinner to celebrate. From there, Blaine gets a little bit enthusiastic about his congratulations...**_

**A-freaking-men! Thank you! I've already given him a slight mention back in Chapter 26 but I've been dying to write a story completely based around the swords. And these two prompts work so well together, I love it. **

**Never been to a sai competition (I'd love to though) so I don't know how they work. Cue making-it-up music! (which happened to be various Glee songs and the AVPM soundtrack)**

* * *

Sai

"Hey, Kurt I need to... ask -"

Kurt looked up nonchalantly, slowing his spinning and catching the swords. "What's up?"

Blaine was staring at him, mouth agape. Kurt waved a hand in front of his face to no result. "Blaine? Blaine!"

Blaine blinked, snapping his mouth shut but still staring at Kurt with glazed eyes. "You - what the hell was that?"

Kurt frowned. "Um, sai swords?"

Blaine gave a strangled laugh. "What - since when did you _do_ that?"

"I taught myself a couple of years back." Now Kurt was confused because Blaine still looked like he was in shock. "Why?"

"I - you just ... do it again?" Blaine suddenly snapped out of his stupor, moving over to take a seat on Kurt's bed as he shrugged.

"Sure." Getting into position, Kurt began to spin the swords, moving into one of his practice routines. He flicked one of the swords up into the air to a gasp from Blaine before catching it effortlessly without slowing the speed of the other one. With a final spin, he caught the two swords and gave a quick bow.

"That was... _wow._" Kurt felt himself blush as Blaine continued to stare at him like he had done something amazing.

"It's not that big a deal really. I was just practicing for my competition."

And now Blaine's expression flickered to something of mild hurt. "You have a competition?" Kurt nodded. "When?"

"Tomorrow." Blaine's frown grew deeper.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Kurt shrugged again, feeling unsettled.

"I guess I didn't think it was your kind of thing."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Kurt, anything you do is my kind of thing. You're my best friend, I'm interested in everything you do. And if you're doing a competition, I would've loved to have come and supported you. I mean," and now Blaine suddenly looked apprehensive, "if you don't want me there, that's -"

"No, of course I do!" Kurt spoke a bit louder than expected and blushed.

Blaine was blushing slightly too. "Oh. Good." They stared at each other for a few seconds in awkward silence until Blaine cleared his throat. "Um, what time?"

"Oh, right. I'm leaving here at 4, you can catch a ride with me if you like. It's out in Lima and I've got to pick up Mercedes too, and afterwards us three will probably go out somewhere to hopefully celebrate... what?" Kurt trailed off when he saw the look on Blaine's face. He _knew_ that look. It was the classic trademark Warbler Scheming look, and he started feeling slightly nervous.

"Well you said you were inviting Mercedes?" At Kurt's nod, he continued. "Isn't she going to feel a little out of place, like that time at Breadstix?"

"Mercedes will be alright, she's -"

"No, I think Mercedes needs some _company_." Blaine raised an eyebrow and Kurt suddenly understood.

"Oh, of course. Will he want to though?"

Blaine pulled out his phone. "Only one way to find out." He hit Wes' number and turned the phone onto loudspeaker as his friend picked up. "Hey, Wes. Kurt and Blaine here."

"Hi," Kurt chipped in, feeling like he should probably say something.

"Hey guys. Taken to joint phone calls now have we? I'll keep that in mind."

Kurt felt the blush spread across his face again as Blaine replied. "Very funny. Anyway, we've got something to ask you. Kurt's got a sai sword competition this w -"

"He WHAT?" Both boys winced as Wes' voice shot out of the speaker. "Kurt, since when have you done sais?"

Blaine chuckled. "I asked him the same thing when I found out. He's incredible as well, it's pretty hot to watch."

There was absolute silence. Kurt turned to stare at Blaine who was now going bright red and staring at the floor. Then Wes chipped in. "Well, glad we had this conversation. Very informative. Probably too informative. I should leave you guys to it -"

"We actually did have something to ask you, Wes." Kurt spoke up, seeing Blaine wasn't going to any time soon. "My competition is tomorrow and we were wondering if you'd like to come."

"Um, well I don't know about David -"

"No, just you." Kurt could almost hear Wes raising an eyebrow on the other end of the line. Nobody _ever_ tried to separate Wes and David. If one of them wanted to go somewhere, they would both be there. Simple.

"What's the catch?"

"Well, I'm bringing Mercedes, and -"

"I'll be there. What time are we leaving." Blaine chuckled, his face returning to a normal colour but still avoiding eye contact with Kurt.

"We're going with Kurt and leaving at 4."

"Okay, see you then." Wes hung up abruptly and Kurt chuckled.

"And within two minutes I'll be getting a call from Mercedes, freaking out over what to wear because Wes will be there." Blaine smiled, staring across the room and Kurt sighed.

"Hey, look at me."

Blaine looked up and Kurt could see the embarrassment still flooding his eyes. "It's alright. I'll take it as a compliment - a well deserved one, I might add," he continued, as Blaine was still looking unsure. "I am pretty hot after all."

That did it. Blaine's mouth cracked into a smile and all the tension evaporated. "So, what you showed me, is that the routine you're going to do tomorrow?"

"No, and before you ask, you don't get to see that. I've got to have some surprises after all."

Blaine pouted and Kurt was so close to giving in - because damn Blaine and his puppy dog eyes! - when his phone buzzed.

_Kurt! Why didn't you tell me Wes was coming! - M_

Kurt chuckled and excused himself to call his frantic friend, leaving a thoughtful looking Blaine sitting on his bed.

* * *

"Wes, chill. You look fine."

Blaine sat on his bed, watching his nervously pacing friend throwing random shirts across the room, totally ignoring the fact that he was already dressed.

"Fine isn't good enough, Blaine!"

"Did you seriously want me to tell you that you look hot or something? Because I will but I'm going to question your sexuality as I do it."

Wes stopped pacing and stared at Blaine for a second before sighing and sitting down. "That's better. After all, it's Kurt that should be nervous, he's the one actually doing something tonight."

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and Kurt stuck his head in, eyeing up the clothes with amusement. "Wes," Blaine explained.

"Kurt, it's like your name's Taboo!" Wes was suddenly back to life, jumping to his feet and grabbing his bag. Blaine shook his head at his friend's Harry Potter obsession as they all headed out of the room. Wes bounded ahead and Blaine took the moment to talk with Kurt.

"Nervous?" Kurt gave him a look and held his hands out in front of him. They were shaking, badly.

"What do you think?"

Blaine chuckled and reached out to take one of them. "You'll be great. Try not to shake when you're throwing the swords though, I don't want to see anybody lose an eye."

Kurt stuck his tongue out as they descended the stairs. Blaine noticed they were still holding hands, but it didn't seem to bother Kurt and it _certainly_ didn't bother Blaine.

"I call shotgun!" Wes was already out by Kurt's car, jumping around eagerly beside the passenger door.

"So you want Blaine to sit in the back with Mercedes do you?" Blaine laughed as Wes suddenly conceded and moved to sit into the back.

The ride to Lima was mostly uneventful. Wes' hyperactivity wore off after the first ten minutes and by the end he was muttering nervously to himself as he stared out the window. Since he wasn't doing any harm, Blaine and Kurt left him alone, spending the trip arguing over music choices and singing along to the songs they agreed on.

As Kurt pulled up outside Mercedes' house, Wes sprung out of his seat. "I'll go get her!" He was out of the car before anyone could say anything, striding up to the front door.

Blaine laughed, then looked over at Kurt who was looking pale. He immediately leant over and took his hand, giving it a squeeze. "You're going to be fine, Kurt."

Kurt nodded almost imperceptibly, taking a couple of deep breaths before turning to Blaine with a smile. "Thanks." He hesitated, then went to say something else. "Blaine.. I -"

The door opened and Kurt sighed before turning to the backseat. "Hey, 'Cedes! You look stunning!"

Blaine turned to see Mercedes in a strapless flowery dress, smiling nervously, and had to agree with Kurt's statement. Apparently Wes did too as he hadn't been able to take his eyes off the girl - not that she seemed to mind at all.

"Hey Kurt, Blaine, good to see you guys again. We do have seats near the back, right Kurt?"

Kurt sighed good-naturedly as he pulled out of the drive. "It was one time, Mercedes! I'm a lot better now."

Blaine raised an eyebrow at Mercedes who happily explained. "I've seen him mutilate a lamp before."

Blaine turned his look to a blushing Kurt who kept his eyes on the road. "It wasn't that bad..."

"Oh yes it was, white boy!" Blaine chuckled as the two bickered, enjoying the company. Mercedes filled Kurt in on all the McKinley gossip for the rest of the car trip - apparently Quinn and Rachel were having another huge spat over Finn, who for once was being smart and keeping out of it.

Mercedes was just finishing up a story from that afternoon's practice - ".. and then of course Rachel had to sing about it so we were subjected to her rendition of Celine _again_." - when they pulled up to the competition hall. Wes leapt out of the car, racing around to open Mercedes door for her to the chuckles of the two boys in the front seat.

Kurt had to go a different way to sign in and get ready, so the group wished him good luck at the door. Mercedes engulfed him in a hug before stepping back and shyly taking Wes' hand as Blaine stepped forward.

"You're going to be incredible, Kurt." Blaine pulled Kurt into him, feeling his arms wrap around him tightly. "And we'll be cheering for you."

Kurt pulled away and smiled at them all before entering. Blaine followed Mercedes to the visitors door and they headed in, finding seats near the front - "but not so close that we're going to get hit. Those things _hurt_." Mercedes informed them.

Blaine sat staring at the empty stage as Mercedes and Wes flirted next to him, starting to reconsider his matchmaking idea. Luckily he didn't have too long to wait before the announcer entered and began to explain the competition before announcing the first competitor.

Even though Blaine had never been to a competition before, he found himself judging the rest of them along with Mercedes, especially when the first three competitors all dropped at least one sword (though the second one had tried to make it seem like part of his routine, immediately dropping the other and concluding his routine).

"Kurt's got them all beat. He's amazing," Mercedes informed the other two. Blaine though back to the little he'd seen in Kurt's room and had to agree.

"Next we have seventeen year old Kurt Hummel, our youngest competitor for the day."

Blaine and Mercedes both looked towards Wes, then at each other. With a smile, they all screamed, "GO KURT!"

Kurt, who was just entering from the wings mock glared at them as he took his position. He paused for a second, then music began playing over the speakers and Blaine couldn't help but laugh. He'd heard all the stories circulating around the _Single Ladies_ songs and had even seen the videos, so naturally this would be the song of choice for Kurt.

Kurt began to spin the swords faster than Blaine had ever seen and his jaw dropped. Even though he was the youngest (and most inexperienced, which had been clearly implied in the announcers words), he clearly had the most talent. He began to flick the swords in the air in a medley that had the crowd cheering and Blaine, Mercedes and Wes on their feet.

Far too soon for Blaine's liking, the routine was over. He cheered as loud as possible, idly noting that the rest of the crowd were also on their feet. Kurt's face split into an impossibly wide smile as he caught Blaine's eye and Blaine felt his heart quicken. Then he was ushered off the stage for the next competitor and Blaine reluctantly sat back down.

"They don't _need_ anybody else to perform. My boy has it in the bag!" Mercedes declared.

And she was right. Two more performers came out after Kurt and, while one of them was good, he had nothing on Kurt. The judges headed off to deliberate, coming back after only a couple of minutes and handing the card to the judge.

"Can I get all the competitors back on the stage?"

Blaine smiled as Kurt came back out, lining up with the others looking hesitantly hopeful. He caught Blaine's eye and smiled again before focusing on the announcer.

"Third place goes to Thomas Radcliffe!" The first performer stepped forward and received his medal, shaking hands with the announcer as the crowd clapped. Blaine joined them politely, his eye still on Kurt.

"In second place is Jason Hobbs!" The boy who Blaine had thought was best after Kurt stepped forward, looking sullen as he took his medal.

"And finally, our winner for today's performance..." The announcer paused, clearly thinking he was letting the suspense build. Blaine tried to squash his nerves. _You know Kurt's won._

"Is Mr. Kurt Hummel!"

Blaine was the first one to his feet, followed quickly by Wes and Mercedes as Kurt stepped forward to take his trophy to the cheers of the audience. As Kurt shook hands with the judges and turned to face the audience, Blaine knew he couldn't be prouder of his friend than in that moment. _I can't wait to congratulate him properly!_

* * *

"Kurt!"

Kurt stepped off the stage to see Mercedes racing towards him, Wes and Blaine following quickly behind. He had just enough time to put down his trophy before being nearly bowled over by his overexcited friend. "You were amazing, Kurt!" She kissed him on the cheek before stepping over to pick up the trophy, Wes joining her in staring at it.

Kurt looked up to see Blaine standing in front of him, a grin on his face. He stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. Kurt held on for slightly longer than necessary before stepping back.

"That was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen," Blaine murmured. "You did an _amazing_ job out there." Kurt ducked his head to hide a blush as Mercedes handed him back his trophy. He noticed that she only held it with one hand, the other entwined with Wes'. Kurt gave her a look and she shrugged, smiling.

"Okay, let's go eat!" Kurt mentally noted he had to talk to Mercedes later, but judging by the look on Wes' face, it would be good news.

* * *

"Kurt, I can't get over how amazing you were!"

Kurt chuckled again. "That's fifteen times, Mercedes. I get the picture and the words are starting to lose their meaning. But thank you. Again."

"What if we say it in another language?" Wes was back to his hyperactive self, taking Mercedes hand again as they pushed their plates away. Kurt shared a smile with Blaine before turning back to Wes and shrugging.

"I don't have a problem with getting my ego boosted, so go for your life."

"Okay! Vous êtes stupéfiants"(1)

"Usted es asombroso,"(2) Mercedes chipped in. Kurt smirked and turned to Blaine who was thinking.

"Siete incredibili,"(3) he said and Kurt felt a shiver run up his spine at the accent. Blaine smiled, but seemed to be deep in thought about something

"U bent de wonderbaarlijke,"(4) Kurt raised an eyebrow and Wes shrugged. "David's girlfriend is Dutch. He says that one to her like twenty times a day on the phone."

"Sie sind erstaunlich!"(5) Apparently Mercedes had learnt something from her German exchange student after all.

"Okay, guys, that's probably enough!" Kurt laughed, staring at the two who were trying to think of other languages that they knew.

"What if I could _show _you?"

Kurt turned to Blaine to see him staring intently back at him. Apparently his thought process had come up with something and - Kurt saw his eyes flicker down to his lips and suddenly knew _exactly _what Blaine was thinking of. But did he want -?

Yeah. He definitely did.

"Okay," he murmured.

Blaine blinked as if he hadn't been expecting him to agree, then caught himself a second later. "Okay," he agreed, before leaning in.

Kurt felt his eyes flutter shut as a pair of lips met his. He was vaguely aware of Wes and Mercedes' conversation finishing abruptly, but he couldn't care less. He hesitantly reached up a hand to brush against Blaine's face, deepening the kiss slightly as he responded.

Just as he was about to lose himself completely, he heard a cough from across from them. Blaine broke away, looking at Kurt apologetically before turning to glare at his friend. "Yes, Wesley?"

As the two boys argued, Mercedes slipped a hand across the table and took Kurt's free one - his other had ended up in Blaine's somehow. "I'm happy for you, white boy," she whispered. "We'll have to talk soon."

Kurt raised an eyebrow and stared meaningfully at Wes. "Yeah, we will."

* * *

"Thanks for coming, 'Cedes." Kurt twisted around to give his friend an awkward hug across the seat.

"Anytime, Kurt. Congratulations ... times two." Kurt smiled as she said goodbye to Blaine then turned towards Wes who seemed to be weighing up options.

"I - how about I walk you to the door?"

Kurt beamed as the two hurridly slid out of the car, turning to smile at Blaine. "Aren't they so cute!"

"Yeah," Blaine agreed, slipping his hand into Kurt's again as they watched their friends walk towards Mercedes' door. "So are we."

Kurt couldn't help the fuzzy feeling that filled his chest at those words. Finally, everything seemed to be working out for them, and for Mercedes too. Speaking of which -

Kurt squealed as Wes leant in to gently kiss Mercedes. "I knew it! Oh my gosh, that was her first kiss! Blaine!"

Blaine chuckled as Kurt turned back around and engulfed him in a hug. "I'm happy for them too. But Wes is coming."

Kurt immediately pulled away and he and Blaine both turned to the backseat with identical grins as Wes slid in. He didn't notice them at first, staring at the back of the seat with a dazed expression on his face. Looking up, he rolled his eyes but the smile on his face dulled any exasperation.

"Good to see you happy, Wes," Blaine said as Kurt turned back around to start the car. There was a comfortable silence for the rest of the trip, broken only when they got back to Dalton and Kurt had a realization.

"Think of what everybody's going to say about this!"

Blaine chuckled. "Let's go find out."

* * *

**Kurt Hummel **is in a relationship with **Blaine Anderson**

**- Mercedes Jones, Wes Montgomery, David Huges **and **12 other friends **like this.

**Finn Hudson: **What? Since when? Does Burt know about this?

**Kurt Hummel: **Since tonight, and yes, I already called him. Blaine's coming for dinner tomorrow night :)

**- Blaine Anderson **likes this

**Rachel Berry: **While I can't technically accuse him of spying since you are no longer a member of our Glee club, I have to point out that you do keep close contact with our group and if any of our secrets make it into your performance, I WILL be looking straight your way. Oh, and I'm happy for you.

**- Kurt Hummel **and **Blaine Anderson **like this

* * *

**Mercedes Jones **is in a relationship with **Wes Montgomery **

**- Blaine Anderson, Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones **and **8 other friends **like this.

**David Hughes: **Kurt! Where's my McKinley hookup?

**- Kurt Hummel, Wes Montgomery **and **Mercedes Jones **like this

**Kurt Hummel: **I think that can be arranged. **Santana Lopez**, I've got a proposition for you.

**Santana Lopez: **I'm there! Prep school boy, wanky!

**Rachel Berry: **WHAT? BUT THEY'RE THE COMPETITION!

* * *

**Rachel Berry: **The spies are infiltrating! Hide the setlists!

**- Kurt Hummel, Mercedes Jones, Wes Montgomery **and **4 other friends **like this.

* * *

**(1) French**

**(2) Spanish - we know McKinley teaches it**

**(3) Italian - because all decent Darren Criss fangirls KNOW that he speaks Italian**

**(4) Dutch**

**(5) German**

**I absolutely had to do the Facebook thing at some point. I mean, I know I have a Facebook fic but still... I actually did write this before I started writing my Facebook fic. So it's okay.**

**Angela wanted to know why I picked Wes and Mercedes when most people who pair her up with a Warbler write Mavid. The answer is because back in chapter 26, I had a hint at these two getting together at some point, so I wanted to fulfil that at least once. I usually write Mavid too, if I do. But yeah. **


	56. Rumors

**Two things to say quickly:**

**1. When it comes to different languages, I don't speak anything other than English. So the sentences I wrote in my last chapter all came from a translator. If you're going to correct me, I understand that and it's okay. All I ask is that you respect that I may not end up changing it unless it's a big issue, and that you please check the reviews before you send me corrections because chances are I've been told already.**

**2. I'm laying down the law on a few things. No prompts from New York full stop until I have seen it. Even if you're trying to be subtle. Anything I've already gotten has been discarded and will need to be re-sent once I've seen it - and I WILL tell you when I've seen it, I'll flail madly so it won't be ignorable. Nothing totally AU - they need to know each other first. If you want to see me write something where they've never met, request it via PM as a oneshot and we'll talk, okay? And nothing prior to Original Song. Anything between Original Song and Funeral as well as ones that require no time frame (such as Water and Fair for examples) is still being accepted for now. **

**Thanks guys. It just gets a bit difficult to sort through everything after awhile. **

**For those who have been following my personal life and sending me their well wishes, thank you very much. The decision has been made that I will go back to Australia and my flights are being booked tonight. I now face the daunting task of telling everyone including a Church I've gotten very attached to and a Youth Group I've started to run. So prayers throughout this time will be highly appreciated - I leave on the 2nd of July. **

**From**_** Botherer 1337**_** and similarly prompted by **_**Broken Gold **_**and **_**a very gleeky witch**__**: Rachel or Finn told **__**Blaine that Kurt was visiting Sam at the motel in "Rumors" and then they get **__**into a fight, but then they make up... And kiss :-D**_

**This filled me with all kinds of worry when I first read it because I hadn't seen Rumors yet... but I'd heard enough spoilers about final episodes and next season to assume that it was gonna be okay. And ****I'm making up an acronym that I can use on stories that need the explanation. ****TGTDOSBDK, which means they-got-together-during-Original-Song-but-didn't-kiss. I'm sick of writing that out. So any time you see that, hopefully you can remember what it means.**

**Last note is just to tell you all how amazing my beta is. Not only does she always edit without fail (every night!) but she's been my sole friend throughout this time when all my friends from Australia just about forgot I exist. She's talked me through so much and been there for me to just joke around with at the same time (we have epic AVPM/S quote battles on Facebook). So Angela, here's your public announcement of how wonderful you are. **

* * *

Rumors

"I can't believe Kurt would do that to Blaine," Rachel murmured, watching as Kurt stepped off the verandah and into the darkness. "He'd be so hurt if he knew."

Finn stared at the house for a second, then grabbed his phone. "I'm going to tell him."

"What? Finn, do you think that's a good idea?"

"Yeah, I do," Finn scrolled through the phone, finding the message Kurt had sent him off Blaine's phone a few weeks back when his own had been dead. "Blaine comes over for dinner a lot, he's a great guy, Rachel. Kurt might be my brother but that doesn't excuse him from cheating on his boyfriend, and I've been cheated on too many times to just sit back and let it happen."

He hit call before Rachel could argue, putting the phone on loudspeaker. It rang a few times before Blaine picked up, a cacophony of noise echoing behind him.

"Hey, hold on a second." It sounded like Blaine had put his hand over the phone because the voice that came through was muffled. "Guys, can we take ten? I need to take a call." The sound of footsteps echoed down the line, Finn and Rachel looking at each other nervously before he came back. "Sorry about that. Who's this?"

"Um, Blaine, it's Finn. And Rachel." Rachel glared at him and Finn shrugged.

"Oh, hi guys. What's up?" Blaine sounded confused and Finn couldn't blame him, it's not like he'd ever called him before.

"We need to talk to you about something. It's about Kurt." Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. Finn turned to her. _What?_ he mouthed.

"Has something happened? Is he alright?" Blaine's voice suddenly turned panicked. "Has Karofsky been giving him trouble? He didn't hurt him did he?"

_That's what_, Rachel mouthed back before taking over. "No, he's fine, Blaine. We just found something out and Finn thinks you should know. But it seems he can't talk without putting his foot in his mouth."

Finn heard Blaine sigh in relief and realized he'd just made the guy think his boyfriend had been bashed or something. "Sorry, dude, didn't mean to scare you there."

"No, it's alright. So what's going on?"

"Well, I don't quite know how to say this, Blaine..." Rachel trailed off, casting a helpless look at Finn. Thinking carefully, he took over the conversation again.

"Okay, me and Rachel were on a stakeout because we though my girlfriend Quinn was cheating on me with this guy in our Glee club, Sam." Finn paused, making sure the story was right.

"Okay?" Blaine replied, sounding confused.

"Anyway, we've been waiting outside this motel because we saw Sam go in there. And someone's just come out, but it wasn't Quinn."

There was silence from the other end. Then - "Kurt?"

Finn nodded, then remembered he was on the phone. "Yeah, I mean we didn't even know that Sam was gay ... or bi... or whatever he is."

Rachel elbowed him. "What Finn is _trying_ to say is that we just thought you should know what's going on so you can talk to Kurt about it. And we're really sorry, Blaine."

"Yeah... okay. Thanks guys, I'll - I'll talk to him. Um, if that's all -"

"Yeah, that's all. Take it easy, Blaine, and we'll talk to you soon." Rachel was biting her lip and Finn felt like he'd been punched in the gut because Blaine sounded like he was about to _cry_. All he could do was agree with Rachel's sentiments as Blaine quickly hung up.

"That was awful," Rachel breathed. Finn nodded in agreement before starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot.

* * *

As Kurt walked out of Spanish, his phone began ringing. Pulling it out, he frowned at the caller ID. _Wes?_

"Hey, Wes, miss me?" He joked, pulling open his locker and slipping his Spanish books into it.

"Um, Kurt?"

Kurt was suddenly alert because that was Wes' serious voice. "What's wrong?"

"Kurt, I know you're in school, but you need to come out here. Now."

Kurt slammed his locker shut, immediately fumbling in his bag for his keys. "What's happened? Is it Blaine? Has something happened to him? Is he alright? Please answer one of these questions before I go insane!"

"Blaine won't come out of his room." Kurt froze in the act of pulling his keys out of his bag.

"What?"

"We were in rehearsal last night and he got a phone call. He stepped out to take it then sent me a text ten minutes later saying he wasn't coming back in and he'd see us tomorrow. Anyway, we went over to his room just before class and he refused to open the door. We would've broken it down if we hadn't gotten a response, but he just told us to go away."

Kurt had been heading to the main entrance as Wes spoke and was already making his way out the door. "Do you have any idea what it was about?"

There was silence on the other end for a second. "I - look, just come to Dalton, okay?"

Kurt furrowed his brow as he unlocked his car. "Okay, I'm on my way now." The line went dead and Kurt hooked his phone up to bluetooth. As he headed out of the parking lot, he tried calling Blaine only to find that his phone was off. Swearing under his breath, Kurt quickly made his way towards the freeway.

He may have broken a couple of speed limits along the way but he didn't care. Pulling into Dalton, Kurt quickly grabbed his bag and made his way to the dorm room he knew so well.

The door was shut and Kurt stared at it apprehensively for a couple of seconds before knocking. The reply was immediate: "Wes, I thought I told you to GO AWAY!"

Kurt flinched. "Um, Blaine? It - it's me. Kurt."

There was silence, then the sound of footsteps and the door opened. Kurt stepped back with a gasp because Blaine looked _terrible_. There were bags under his eyes which were red-rimmed. "Blaine, what happened?"

Blaine shook his head. "As if you don't know, Kurt. Now, is there something you needed?"

Kurt frowned, trying not to feel the sting of his boyfriend's tone. "I - Wes told me something was wrong and I should come -"

"Yeah, well Wes was wrong." Blaine turned and walked back into his room, sitting on the bed. "Unless you're coming to do the decent thing and actually break up with me, in which case, just make it as painless as possible."

"Blaine, what the hell are you on about?" Despite how vulnerable and upset his boyfriend looked, Kurt felt his temper rising. "I'm not here to break up with you, why would you think that?"

"Kurt, don't play dumb with me. I _know_." Blaine glared at him as if the inflection in his voice was supposed to help Kurt understand.

"Well, I _don't. _So please enlighten me to what I've done wrong so I can at least try to fix it!"

"Oh? How do you propose you can fix it? You _cheated on me_."

Kurt blinked. "Wh - what?" he stammered.

"Finn and Rachel called me last night and told me about you and that guy in the motel together. They said they were on a stakeout for something - anyway, that's not important. But they saw _you_ coming out and hugging him." Kurt watched as Blaine's eyes filled with tears again and he turned away.

"You mean ... Sam?" Kurt suddenly felt the pieces click into place. _Finn is in so much trouble._

"Do you have to say his name?" Blaine muttered, his voice cracking in the middle of the sentence.

Kurt sighed. "Blaine, I'm sorry you're so upset about this but I wish you'd just come and _asked me_. Because then I could have told you, 100% honestly, that I did not and never will cheat on you."

Blaine turned to look at him, tears slipping down his cheeks. "You - you didn't?"

Kurt sat down on the bed next to him, taking his hand. "Of course I didn't. I could never do anything like that to you, Blaine, I care about you way too much." He sighed again. "The McKinley guys don't know about Sam's situation. I've tried to get him to tell them but he refuses. Do you remember my second last week here, we ordered pizza and I went down to get it?"

Blaine nodded. "You took ages coming back, said the delivery guy was a friend of yours ... Sam?"

"Yeah," Kurt remembered back to the night, his surprise at seeing Sam there and the way the boy had tried to shrug the situation off. "His dad lost his job and they couldn't afford to keep their house. So they've been living in that motel. I went to see how he was going, helped him cook dinner and gave him some clothes. I didn't realize anybody was watching, though I almost should have expected it."

Blaine was staring at him, shame written across his face. "Kurt, I - I'm so sorry.."

Kurt reached over and pulled him into a hug. "It's alright. I blame Finn and Rachel. Just - next time, come and ask _me_, okay?"

Blaine nodded into his shoulder before pulling away and wiping his face. Kurt looked at him for a second, looking the most vulnerable Kurt had ever seen him.

"Of course, there has to be a consequence to all of this."

Blaine stiffened, looking up at Kurt worriedly. Kurt allowed him a second to freak out, then leant in closer and murmured, "You have to be _completely_ sure that I will never cheat on you."

He closed the gap and tentatively brushed his lips against Blaine's. He felt Blaine gasp slightly beneath him before responding, pushing their mouths together as he wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist. Kurt lifted a hand to stroke gently along Blaine's cheek, feeling him shiver, before breaking off the kiss. "That's to remind you that I'm _all_ yours," he whispered.

Blaine buried his head in Kurt's shoulder and Kurt stroked his back gently, giving him time to calm down from what he had thought to be a particularly traumatic situation. Finally, Blaine pulled away, giving Kurt a look that immediately made his heart feel light. "I'm so lucky to have you," he said, finally smiling.

"Now, we just have to deal with Finn." Blaine raised an eyebrow at a suddenly smirking Kurt. "Right, I'm going back to McKinley before anybody notices I'm gone. You go to class and explain things to Wes so he doesn't hate me anymore." Blaine ducked his head, muttering an apology and Kurt chuckled.

"You're coming over for dinner tonight. Come around 5, okay?"

"What are we doing about Finn?" Blaine stood up and began pulling his stuff together for class.

Kurt stopped him and kissed him again, letting it linger for a second before pulling away. "Just act like you're crazy about me and we'll take it from there."

As he sauntered out, he heard Blaine murmur, "It won't be an act, believe me."

* * *

"Blaine!"

Finn looked up in shock as Kurt hugged the boy standing in the doorway. His mom was already heading out to say hello to Blaine and Finn grabbed her as she was going past. "I didn't realize Blaine was coming tonight," he said quietly, eyeing up the door.

Carol stopped and looked at him for a second. "Finn Hudson, you'd better not start having problems with that boy now -"

"No, I don't have a problem with Blaine," Finn replied, watching his mom nod then sweep over and wrap Blaine in a hug. "I have a problem with Kurt," he muttered under his breath, eyeing their linked hands. _Has Blaine forgotten already?_

"Good to see you again, kid." Burt looked up from the TV, switching it off as Blaine entered the living room. "Just in time, dinner's ready."

"Thanks, sir. Nice to see you again too." Blaine smiled at him before turning to Finn. "Hey, Finn, how's it going?"

"Yeah.. yeah, I'm good. How are _you_?" He placed extra emphasis on the word and saw Burt's brow furrow in confusion.

"I'm great thanks, it's always good to come and see you guys again, especially Kurt. Dalton's such a different place without him now."

Kurt chuckled and wrapped an arm around Blaine's. "Are you trying to embarrass me in front of my family?" Blaine shrugged, turning to smile at him. "Well, don't. Let's go see if we can help Carol with anything for dinner."

As the two boys left, Burt turned to Finn. "What was that about?"

Finn shook his head. "I - no, nothing. Let's go eat."

Dinner was completely normal, which made no sense to Finn. Blaine and Kurt sat together, joked together, laughed together and acted like a perfectly normal gay couple. But every time Blaine looked at Kurt with that look of adoration in his eyes, Finn felt his temper rising.

_How can he let himself be treated like that?_

"Burt, why don't you help me clean up. We'll let the boys catch up, shall we?"

Burt grunted in agreement, helping his mom to stack up the plates and take them into the kitchen. As soon as they were gone, Finn let fly.

"Blaine, how can you let him do this to you?"

Blaine and Kurt stopped talking and turned to Finn. "I'm sorry, what?"

Finn glared at Kurt. "Not talking to you, dude. Blaine?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I'm not sure what you're talking about, Finn. I'm just having dinner with my boyfriend -"

"Your boyfriend who _cheated on you!_" Finn heard silence from the kitchen and knew the adults were listening in. _Good._

"Finn, what the hell are you talking about?" Kurt looked confused, as did Blaine.

"I know you're cheating on Blaine with Sam. I saw you, so don't deny it."

Blaine turned to look at Kurt who was already staring at him. They appeared to have a silent conversation with their eyes - something Finn secretly envied them for - then turned back to him. "Finn, where were you this afternoon?"

Finn furrowed his brow in confusion but answered anyway. "Puck's house."

"Oh were you now?" Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket and set it on the table. He flipped through it and then the sound of ringing could be heard. Finn looked at him curiously.

"What -?"

"Hello?"

Finn blinked. _Why are they calling Quinn?_

"Hey Quinn, it's Kurt and Blaine." Kurt raised an eyebrow in Finn's direction before turning to look at Blaine who began to speak.

"We just need to talk to you about something. We found out some information that we think you should know. It's about Finn."

"What?" Quinn's voice echoed through the dining room, sounding concerned. "Has something happened to him? Is it going to affect our chances of being Prom Royalty?"

Kurt rolled his eyes as he responded. "It might. We just need to let you know that Finn was over at Puck's place today and they were alone. I think he might be cheating on you."

"What?" Finn couldn't help himself, he erupted. "Kurt, what the hell? You know I'm not gay and neither is Puck!"

Kurt and Blaine stared at him for a second before looking at each other and bursting into laughter. Finn could hear laughter from the other end of the phone too before Kurt remembered Quinn was there. "Quinn? Thanks so much for the help, I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you soon, Quinn," Blaine added before she hung up.

"What the hell did you do that for, Kurt? Now Quinn's going to think I'm gay and then everybody's going to start spreading rumors about me and Puck -"

"Oh, you mean like the ones going around about me and Sam, or Quinn and Sam."

Finn froze, staring between the two before realization finally struck. "You set that up!"

"Finn, I'm not cheating on Blaine. And Sam isn't gay. It's up to him whether he wants to explain what's going on to you guys, and sometimes I don't blame him for keeping it a secret considering this is how you guys react when your friends have something going on. Now if you'll excuse me," Kurt stood, taking Blaine's hand and pulling him out of his seat. "Blaine's going to say goodbye to dad and Carol, then I'm going to walk him out."

As the two boys walked away, Finn let his head drop to the table.

* * *

**Writing emotional Blaine at the start made **_**me**_** feel like I'd been kicked in the gut too. And some might consider it a long shot calling in Quinn, but at this point they're the only two at McKinley who know of Sam's situation and are both being accused of the same thing, I reckon they would've talked about it.**

**(Angela frequently tells me off for beating up Blaine. Trust me, I do feel bad for it! Next chapter will be worse though - but it's not Blaine I'm beating up, or Kurt!)**


	57. Pizza

**It's time to finally share my exciting news. I've been meaning to for a little while now but I kept getting caught up in rants and feeling sorry for myself. But here it is. So you all know Angela (_SquirrelzAttack_), my beta and awesomely crazy friend? Yeah, well me and her have been chatting a lot (like we do!) and come to a decision. Ready?**

**WE'RE WRITING A COLLAB!**

**I'm positively thrilled about it! We've already written two chapters... neither of them happen to be the first chapter so we can start publishing, but whatever. We're writing it and it's so much fun :)**

**I had something else to say/ask but I've completely forgotten... damn. You know I'll upload this chapter then remember a second later...**

_**From Kat3418: Kurt only discovered Sam's situation when Sam delivered a pizza to Dalton...what if Kurt and Blaine were just hanging out as friends and when Kurt expressed his concern for Sam, Blaine sees how caring Kurt is..or something...**_

**Directly after the prompt of last chapter, this came to my inbox and I was rather confused. I like it :) I did say I was going to be beating someone up this chapter that wasn't Kurt or Blaine... so yeah. **

**And, since there's no more Warbler screen time, I'm going to have to make up for it by throwing Warbler parties whenever possible. Like now!**

* * *

Pizza

"Kurt! Blaine!"

Wes and David came running up to the couch where Kurt and Blaine were sprawled with a stolen bowl of chips between them. They paused when they saw the chips, both grabbing a handful and stuffing them in their mouths before Kurt pulled it away disapprovingly.

"What?" Kurt asked, eyeing the two hyped-up Warblers in front of him.

"We have a very very very very very -"

"WHAT, David?"

"- very _very_ important question to ask you two."

Kurt sighed. "David, I already said I'd go get the pizza when it got here." Beside him, Blaine rolled his eyes.

"No, not that." Wes butted in, swallowing the last of his chips. "We need to know who's hotter!"

Kurt groaned, letting his head fall back against the couch. Usually he would just refuse to answer but considering how hyperactive the two boys were, they weren't going to take no for an answer this time. "Wes," he said, not really caring. "Can you go away now?"

Wes whooped and ran away. David stared at Kurt for a few seconds before grumbling under his breath and storming off.

"I'd apologize for them but I think that started wearing thin about two weeks in."

Kurt turned to Blaine who was looking resigned. "It's alright. At least it's not a New Directions party where everybody gets drunk. Though they're sure acting drunk."

Kurt surveyed the group of Warblers who were, for the most part, chilling out on couches and eating the various junk food strewn around the room. Nick and Jeff were arm wrestling on the floor and Wes and David were running around asking everybody pointless questions.

His phone buzzed and he checked it to see the message from the pizza company. "Okay, pizza's here. Want to help me carry them up?"

"Sure." Blaine rose from the couch, stretching slightly before following Kurt out of the room. They chatted aimlessly as they walked down the stairs and into the lobby where a guy was bringing in a stack of pizzas. He placed them down before pulling out his clipboard. "Order for Warblers?"

"Sam?"

Sam looked up and immediately paled. "Oh... Kurt. Um, hi."

"Hey, I didn't know you delivered pizzas?" Kurt looked at Sam closer who was shuffling his feet and looking at the floor. He suddenly swayed on his feet and Kurt grabbed his arm. "Woah, steady there. Come on, sit down."

Sam let Kurt lead him over to a bench where Kurt took another look at him, noticing the bags under his eyes and the still-pale colour of his face. He heard Blaine suck in a breath behind him, thankfully staying out of the way as Kurt ducked his head to catch Sam's eye.

"Want to tell me what's going on?"

Sam shook his head, starting to push himself off the seat. "Nothing, I'm -" He swayed again and Kurt grabbed his arms, pushing him back down.

"You're not fine."

"Kurt, I still have pizzas to deliver." Kurt took a look at his uniform and realized it was familiar. Turning around, he caught Blaine's eye who immediately stepped over as Kurt beckoned to him.

"That's the company Thad works for, isn't it?" Blaine took a look at the uniform and nodded.

"Want me to go get him?"

"Please. Tell him to bring his uniform too." Blaine grabbed the stack of pizzas and quickly made his way back up the stairs as Kurt turned his attention back to Sam.

"You know Thad?" Sam nodded, looking tiredly at Kurt. "He's going to finish your orders for you."

"But - I can't.."

"It's alright, we're not going to tell anybody and you'll still get paid." Sam sagged in relief and Kurt realized that had been the issue all along. "Sam, what's happening?"

Something must have convinced him, or perhaps he was sick of keeping it inside (because Kurt doubted he'd told anybody else) but the story spilled out. "My dad lost his job and neither of my parents can find work. We got kicked out of our house and we're staying in the motel at the moment. I've been working night shifts trying to bring in money, I can't do afternoons because I have to look after my brother and sister."

His face crumpled and Kurt immediately sunk down next to him and wrapped an arm around him. "Sam, I'm so sorry." He rubbed his back as the boy cried, looking at him sympathetically. It was probably the first time Sam had been able to let his emotions out and Kurt immediately resolved to do all he could to help his friend out.

There was a thudding on the steps and Blaine appeared with a uniform-clad Thad in tow. Kurt gently unwrapped his arm from around Sam before taking his clipboard and keys and walking over to Thad who was hanging back.

"Here's the rest of his orders. Do you have to stop back in at the store once they're delivered?"

"Yeah, should I just tell them that I needed to check my shifts so I volunteered to run back while he hung out with an old friend? They won't care, just as long as someone signs for the deliveries." Kurt blinked. He hadn't even though of a cover story.

"That would be fantastic. Thanks, Thad." He nodded, taking a glance at Sam before taking the items from Kurt and heading out the door.

Kurt looked up at Blaine who was still hovering, unsure of what to do. "Blaine, he's dead to the world. He needs a place to sleep tonight, then we can get him back in the morning."

"Nick's roommate is out for the weekend," Blaine replied immediately. "And Nick will probably be crashing in the choir room with the rest of the Warblers, so we'll put him in there. Is - is he okay?"

Kurt shook his head. "Not really. I'm going to sit with him for a bit longer then we'll get him up to the room. If you could just -" he hesitated, trying to find the nicest way to tell Blaine to do something else.

Blaine was already nodding. "That's fine, I'll just be in there." He pointed to one of the rooms off the lobby. "Call me when you need to get him upstairs."

Kurt nodded. "Thanks, Blaine." As Blaine left, he tried to figure out what was in that look that Blaine had given him, before shaking it off and heading back to Sam who was still shaking and wrapping an arm around him.

* * *

"Blaine?"

Blaine dropped his book and quickly made his way out of the room to see Kurt standing with a tired Sam leaning against him. He immediately made his way to the boy's other side, helping him walk as they made the slow ascent of the stairs.

While they walked, Blaine allowed his thoughts to drift. As soon as Kurt had realized what was going on with his friend, he had dropped everything to help him out and make sure he was okay, and Blaine found himself admiring Kurt for that.

Not that Blaine needed much of an excuse to admire Kurt nowadays. Something had been changing in the way he looked at his friend lately, and he wasn't too sure what it was or how to approach it. All he knew was that he wanted to spend a lot more time with Kurt, which thankfully always seemed to happen.

Sam stumbled a bit and Blaine wrapped his arm around him tighter, feeling Kurt do the same as he murmured something to him reassuringly and Blaine felt his heart swell again. Kurt really was a wonderful friend.

They finally made it to Nick's room. Blaine pushed open the door (he had sent Nick a text outlining the situation and making sure the room was unlocked) and stepped back, leaving Kurt and Sam to themselves for a few minutes. He heard the sound of blankets moving, then soft murmuring from Kurt.

After five minutes, Kurt slipped out and shut the door quietly. "He's alright now," he said to Blaine's unspoken question before sliding down the wall next to the door.

Blaine immediately dropped to his knees in front of him. "Kurt? You okay?"

Kurt nodded, staring at the floor. After a few seconds he looked up at Blaine. "Nobody at McKinley knows."(1)

Blaine's breath caught. "You mean he's dealing with that alone?"

Kurt nodded. "I can't believe nobody else has realized he's a walking zombie. I can't believe I didn't know either."

This stumped Blaine. "What - how were you supposed to know?"

"I'm still in contact with these guys, Blaine. I spoke to Sam a couple of days ago online, he was at the library doing an assignment. I should've known -" Kurt dropped his head to stare down at the floor again.

"No," Blaine said firmly, lifting Kurt's chin so he could look in his eyes again. "It's not up to you. You don't see him every day like the others do. And considering what you've done for him in one night is more than any of his friends have done at all, you shouldn't feel guilty in the slightest."

Blaine could see that Kurt was still doubting himself. "I just wish I'd been a better friend to him..."

"Okay, stop right there." Blaine actually couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Kurt, you are an _amazing_ friend. You put everybody before yourself, no matter what. If I were Sam, I'd be incredibly grateful to you right now. Just watching the way you handled things tonight - it moved me Kurt."

And now Kurt was looking at him with a careful hope in his eyes and Blaine just _knew_ what was coming next. His hand was still under Kurt's chin and he gently slid it up so it was cupping his jaw, his fingers trailing lightly along Kurt's cheek.

"_You_ move me."

And he leant in and kissed him.

Kurt responded instantly to the gentle pressure and Blaine sighed as he felt how perfectly their lips fit together. _Finally, _a small voice inside of him piped up and he smiled into Kurt's lips, allowing it to linger for a second longer before pulling away.

There was a second of silence.

Then - "Well, I hope Sam isn't _that_ grateful."

Blaine snorted and got to his feet, holding out a hand for Kurt. "Come on, there's a party for us to get to, with a whole bunch of people to tease us once they find out we're a couple."

"Well, didn't you just make that sound terribly appealing." Kurt smirked but allowed himself to be pulled up, casting one last look at the door before Blaine linked their arms together and lead him down the hallway.

* * *

**(1) This is before Quinn finds out.**

**I think Sam would have burnt himself out at some point. **

**I also realized that none of the students at either McKinley or Dalton seem to have a job unless they're having a financial situation, yet they all have new clothes, the best mobile phones and can afford to go out for dinner and coffee all the time. Um, hello indulgent parents? Hopefully this doesn't offend, but if I don't work, I don't get money. If I do get money, I get small amounts, enough to buy food and **_**occasionally **_**an item of clothing or something. I may be wrong but it seems like these kids just get money handed to them. (Yes, I'm aware it's a show. It's also a depiction of teenage life and not every teenager gets however much they want to buy whatever they want).**

**Sorry, but that just gets to me, especially right now when I'm unemployed and _nobody_ is giving me money. **


	58. Sick

**Everyone who has this story on alert, I've got no idea what's going on with the alerts right now. I get them myself for some reason and this morning I got 54 and 55 and I'm sitting there going "Hold it, who updated my story for me?" So yeah, hopefully it fixes itself. If not, you all know I post around this time every single day/night/whatever it is for you. For those in New Zealand, it's around 6 - 9 at night, depending on what else I'm doing. I know it's about midnight in America, so work out the time for you and the chapter should be up then :) Fanfiction should fix the bug soon though, I think they're usually pretty good with fixing them.**

**I remembered what I was going to ask last night. I'm doing a Journalism course and I need to write ten full-length articles (including made up sources, direct quotes and statistics), but I haven't been given any topics and I'm drawing a blank. So could those of you who are creative possibly chuck me some made up news scenarios to write about? I'd appreciate it heaps, I've got three more 125-word articles to write, then these ten, then more exercises, then a newspaper to design, before moving on to the next section. And I'm not even at uni yet! So yeah, if you think of something, please do PM or review it to me. **

**From**_** Full-Empty-Spirit **_**and similarly prompted by **_**PlotterFTW: Have you done a sick fic yet? That would be cool ^^ I suppose you can consider this a very vague prompt lol XD**_

**Yay :D I actually had one written that I was going to post as a oneshot but it didn't feel right and now, with a little tweaking, I can post it here! :) **

**I figured it was about time to bring in the 'dating someone else' idea. Not that I put much effort into it, I kind of picked the stereotypical 'bad boyfriend' and put him there.**

* * *

Sick

"Woah, what's up with Tyler?"

Kurt glanced up from his breakfast to see the boy in question stomping angrily through the dining hall, actually shoving people out of his way. Kurt sighed as he often did when he saw Tyler. For some unknown reason, Blaine had started dating him a couple of weeks back, and Kurt didn't know what he saw in him at all. Tyler was moody, aggressive and hated anybody who was close to Blaine, which of course meant he hated Kurt with a passion.

"Hey man, what's up?" Wes asked as Tyler sat down at their table with a huff.

"Anderson freaking dumped me."

And Kurt had to fight _so_ hard to stop the grin from spreading over his face at this. "What happened?" he asked as innocently as he could.

Tyler still glared at him anyway. "Idiot sent me a text at like 5 this morning saying he was sick and wanted me to bring him tissues and crap. Well, there's no way I was gonna be his maid so I told him so and then he went and broke up with me. Whatever, don't need him anyway."

And with that, Tyler stormed off to join the line for breakfast.

Kurt's joy at finding out that Blaine was free of the moron was quickly evaporated by finding out he was sick. He began to mentally calculate how quickly he could get to the nearest store and back -

"Ten minutes to Wal-mart, and he likes that chicken soup with the croutons in it."

Kurt sent a stunned glance to Wes who was looking at him innocently. David, however, had a massive smirk on his face and continued where Wes had left off.

"We know you're perfect for him, so go."

Not needing to be told twice, Kurt grabbed his messenger bag and coffee and headed out of the hall towards his car.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later - because Wal-mart had the _worst_ organizational system ever - Kurt was back at Dalton with a huge bag of supplies and his heart pounding nervously. It's not like he'd never seen Blaine before, but he'd never seen Blaine _sick_ before and this was single Blaine too, without the possessive thug hovering over his shoulder. With only ten minutes before class, Kurt moved quickly through the halls to avoid being seen by any teachers. Reaching Blaine's room, he knocked quietly on the door. When no reply came, he tried the door handle to find it unlocked and quickly opened the door to a sight that nearly took his breath away.

Blaine was sprawled on his stomach on the bed. His _naked_ stomach. He was wearing his uniform pants - Kurt guessed he must have tried getting dressed before giving up and collapsing again - but nothing else. Kurt just stayed there and stared at him for a few moments before remembering why he was here and stepping into the room, letting the door softly close behind him.

Blaine was usually pretty good at keeping his room clean, but Kurt didn't exactly blame him for having a bit of a mess today. Tissues were strewn across the bedside table and an empty water bottle was lying in Blaine's outstretched hand. Speaking of messes - Kurt's eyes were drawn to Blaine's hair. He had never actually seen Blaine without his hair done and _oh sweet grilled cheesus, gel should be illegal._ His hair was a mess of curls that looked like they would be amazing for Kurt to run his hands through and - _no! Focus, Kurt._

Pulling Blaine's desk chair over beside his bed, Kurt pulled out a garbage bag and glove and gingerly began to pick up tissues and other rubbish, wrinkling his nose as he cleaned. He then laid out his purchases - more tissues, Strepsils, vitamin C tablets, a thermos of soup, water, hand sanitizer (for Kurt), couch syrup and chest rub (Kurt's mind had immediately started imagining him rubbing it into Blaine's chest for him and he had hastily thrown it in the basket and moved onto the entirely more unappealing tissue aisle).

Blaine murmured something in his sleep and rolled over. Kurt just had time to think about how adorable his best friend was before Blaine began to cough, rolling up in a ball. Kurt sat gingerly on the edge of the bed and rubbed Blaine's back until he stopped and blearily cracked open an eyelid. Kurt immediately thought this was the most adorable he'd ever seen his friend, completely vulnerable and not-quite awake.

"Wh'yu'doin'here," Blaine murmured, trying to get his bearings straight.

Kurt couldn't help but chuckle as he replied, "Heard you were sick so I thought I'd come and see how you were feeling. Not good, I take it?"

Blaine simply groaned and buried his head in the pillow. Kurt started to rub his back again and Blaine practically melted under his touch and - was that a _moan_? Kurt smiled to himself and continued rubbing his hand in circles until Blaine's breathing deepened out and Kurt knew he had gone back to sleep. Once he was sure of that fact, Kurt took a deep breath of his own and moved his hand towards the mess of curls that was Blaine Anderson's hair.

_Ohmygod, it's so soft_

Kurt amused himself with Blaine's amazing hair for a few minutes, before deciding that Blaine was not allowed to gel his hair ever again. So certain of that was Kurt that he quickly went to the bathroom and took all of Blaine's hair gel - and that boy certainly had a _lot_ of hair gel. Once he was finished that task, he settled himself in the chair again and pulled out _One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest_ and began to read.

Some time later, Kurt was fully engrossed in his book when Blaine began to cough again. Kurt lowered the book to see the adorable boy pull himself to a sitting position, eyes focused on Kurt.

"I thought I dreamt that before," Blaine croaked, his voice scratchy and roughened by sleep and sickness. "Aren't you meant to be in class?"

Kurt shrugged. "You're more important," he said simply, and changed the subject before Blaine could process his words. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a truck ran me over and then gave me the flu." Blaine sneezed and Kurt grabbed the box of tissues from the bedside table to hand to the boy, tactfully looking away as Blaine blew his nose. "Sorry about this."

"About what? Being sick?" Kurt smiled. "You may be nearly perfect, but everybody gets sick sometime."

"Yeah, but I didn't think you'd take the day off school to take care of me."

"What are friends for?" Kurt tried to keep the flicker of pain he felt out of his eyes at only being a _friend_ to Blaine. "You hungry?"

Blaine nodded and Kurt passed him the soup. As he drank around a few coughing fits, Kurt went back to reading his book, only looking up again when Blaine handed him the thermos, simultaneously reaching up to run a hand through his hair. As soon as it made contact, he froze and looked at a smirking Kurt. "Um.. could you maybe pretend you never saw this?"

Kurt was about to tell Blaine about how he had taken his hair gel and was therefore going to be seeing it a lot more often when Blaine began to cough again. "My chest hurts like hell," he groaned.

Kurt felt his mouth run dry. "There's - um, there's chest rub there. You know, if you..."

Blaine caught his eye with a smile. "You're blushing, Kurt." Kurt groaned as his friend chuckled. "I'm not going to ask you to do anything you're uncomfortable with. Just know if you did do it, I wouldn't mind and -" He broke off into another coughing fit, wincing in the process.

"I swear you did that on purpose," Kurt grumbled with a smile playing around the corners of his lips. He reached for the chest rub and scooped some of it onto his fingers, hesitating for a moment before gently putting his hand onto Blaine's chest.

He heard and _felt_ Blaine's quick inhale and his chest was so _warm_. Kurt began to rub it in while trying to ignore the fact that he was touching Blaine's chest and this was his friend Blaine and nothing else..

And then Blaine moaned again and his mind gave up on all rational thought.

While Kurt wanted to make that moment go on forever, he knew that the longer it went on, the harder it would be to stop. So he reluctantly pulled his hand away when he was done and Blaine _whimpered_. His eyes, which had closed, flew open and met Kurt's.

Both boys were bright red but held one another's gaze because _we're just friends, we can so do this._ Luckily, Blaine broke eye contact first by grabbing a tissue as he started to sneeze again, which gave Kurt a moment to compose himself. By the time Blaine was recovered from his latest fit, Kurt was pulling tablets out of the container and telling Blaine to take them.

* * *

The rest of the day passed uneventfully. Blaine slept, woke up, coughed, sneezed, attempted to get some school work done then went back to sleep. Kurt read, watched Blaine sleep, read some more, talked to Blaine and watched Blaine sleep some more.

Finally, at about four that afternoon, Blaine woke up and didn't immediately cough. "You're looking better," Kurt observed.

Blaine smiled. "I think it's because I had such a good nurse," he teased, smirking when Kurt stuck his tongue out at him. "But seriously, thank you so much for today. I mean, after Tyler this morning -" he trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Yeah, he told us. Are you okay?"

Blaine shrugged and bit his lip. Kurt moved to the edge of Blaine's bed and wrapped an arm around him, internally feeling a bit upset himself that Blaine really was cut up about it.

"Yeah. I mean, as awful as it sounds, I'm not sad that we broke up. I actually don't know what I saw in him and I've been trying to figure out how to break up with him for a while now -"

"What? Why didn't you tell me?" Kurt blinked, stunned at the confession.

"I guess telling you would have meant I had to come clean about some other stuff. Particularly, about why I started dating him at all, even though he was an idiot."

Kurt shifted a little, suddenly acutely aware of his arm resting against Blaine's skin. "So, are you going to tell me why you dated him?"

And now Blaine was blushing slightly, ducking his head to avoid Kurt's eyes. "I - I guess I was hoping to make you jealous."

_Oh._

"You wanted to make _me_ jealous?" Kurt squeaked out, immediately wincing at the sound of his own voice.

Blaine shrugged. "I - yeah. I know you don't see me the same way, and that's alright, I'm not going to let it affect our friendship..." Blaine trailed off, staring down at the blankets so forlornly that Kurt couldn't help himself.

"Blaine?"

And as Blaine looked up, Kurt leant in and kissed him.

It was only brief, Blaine pulling away quickly mumbling something about Kurt getting sick, but it was enough. Blaine was still incredibly pale so Kurt helped him back into bed and headed back to his room, unable to keep the smile off his face.

* * *

Of course, when Kurt woke up the next morning his throat was aching, his nose running and he couldn't stop coughing. Quickly pulling out his phone, he sent a text to Blaine.

_I'm sick. Want to keep me company? - Kurt_

A few seconds later his phone buzzed.

_Be there in fifteen. - Blaine x_

* * *

**This is for all the people who told me they were getting sick of Kurt liking Blaine and admitting it thinking Blaine didn't feel the same. So here you go :) **


	59. Invisible

**I was listening to INGTYBHTDWY today - without the video so I could actually focus on the moves and not just be sitting there going 'Darren... hot... guh...' - and I came across a realization that I'm sure others have had. Blaine's singing a song that has the words 'ever since I was a little girl,' in it and also appears to be a homosexual song. He was afraid of coming to prom with Kurt as a gay couple for fear of being bashed, yet he gets up there, draws attention to himself and sings that song? No, I'm afraid it doesn't work for me. He and Kurt won't dance to the slow song as a couple as to not 'tempt fate' but he'll get up there and sing that? Sigh... Glee, get it consistent, please.**

**On a better note, I've been rocking out to Friday most of the afternoon - Glee version of course. When I heard it starting on the episode, I was cringing and covering my face, but I don't know how the guys did it but they made the song awesome. Probably because of the kicking combo of Sam, Puck and Artie. Fun fun fun fun! ;)**

**A quiz question was on this really old Glee site I was on today. "Who is the father of Quinn's unborn child?" with options 'Artie', 'Puck', 'Finn' and 'Kurt'. I'm sitting there trying really hard not to vote for Kurt... **

_**From Charlotte -LOVE-: I've always really (REALLY) wanted to read one set in Never Been **__**Kissed or The Subsitute when ND don't know about Blaine and then he comes into **__**the choir room to pick Kurt up for coffee and they kiss and all of ND are like **__**'whaaaa-' 'who's he?' 'WHY IS KURT KISSING A WARBLER?' etc.**_

**Okay, what I've done here is tweak the prompt a little. I've already checked with Charlotte that it's okay to do this and she's fine with it (which is good because I'd written it before I checked and really didn't want to delete it!). ANGST WARNING. I know there's people who don't like to be reading fluff and suddenly come across a piece of angst with no warning, so there it is. It isn't Klaine angst though, so don't worry about that. **

**This is a definite AU. It is set in the general time frame between meeting Blaine and his transfer, but there's no Kurtofsky kiss and there are some very obvious differences. There's no intention of following the storyline so couples will change and stuff like that. **

**Last note. If you love ND, please don't hate me. **

* * *

Invisible

**Friday. **

Kurt sighed, staring at his phone as Mr. Schuester rambled on about Regionals outfits. He had already learned not to give his input during these sessions as nobody understood his fashion sense, instead choosing to keep quiet. In fact, the past few weeks of rehearsals and meetings, Kurt had stopped fighting for solos or even trying to sing. Come to think of it, Kurt hadn't said a word in a Glee meeting for the past three weeks. Nobody noticed.

Kurt was used to being either ignored or hated at McKinley. He didn't fit in with any of the groups in New Directions - the guys shunned him because he was feminine, the girls didn't know how to treat him because he wasn't a girl. So he slipped between the cracks and became just a person to give them enough numbers to get to Regionals.

Outside of Glee, he was hated for who he was, and the hatred was growing. Every day seemed to bring some kind of physical abuse which was worsening by the day, and nobody noticed. Even when Kurt entered the choir room limping or holding his arm against his chest as he had been yesterday, nobody noticed.

So Kurt found himself spending most of the rehearsal time playing games on his phone or texting Blaine.

A smile crossed Kurt's face as he thought of the curly-haired Warbler. Ever since he had visited Dalton, he and Blaine had been spending a lot of time together and Kurt had found himself falling fast. Maybe it was a combination of Blaine being the only other gay guy he knew or the only person who paid attention to him nowadays, but Kurt had developed a crush rather quickly.

This time, though, instead of staying as a crush, Kurt's feelings for Blaine had continued to grow, far beyond anything else he had felt before. He wasn't naive enough to call it love yet but he certainly felt something strong for one Mr. Blaine Anderson.

And, as of last week, Kurt had been delighted to find out that Blaine felt the same.

* * *

"_So, is this like a date?"_

_Kurt turned his head to stare at Blaine who was leaning back against the windshield. "I - do you want it to be?"_

_Blaine turned to him, shifting slightly on the car bonnet as the movie played on. "I think I do."_

_Kurt smiled. "Then yes. Absolutely."_

* * *

At the end of the night, Blaine had walked him to the door and kissed him on the cheek and they had made it official. Boyfriends.

The word still sent a shiver down Kurt's spine. He had never had a boyfriend, and neither had Blaine, so they were making the choice to take things slowly, especially with Kurt's current situation. He just needed to know that someone cared about him, and Blaine was more than willing to be there for Kurt whenever.

"Okay, I want to introduce next week's topic now so you can think about it over the weekend. We're going to be singing about admissions."

Kurt broke out of his thoughts and lifted his head slightly to look at Mr. Schuester who had finally stopped talking outfits. "I'm going to pair you all up and we're going to work on duets that revolve around honesty and sharing things about yourself. Male/female pairings, and let's shake it up a bit so we don't have the same ones as usual."

He moved to the board and began to write.

**Rachel/Artie**

**Mercedes/Puck**

**Tina/Sam**

**Santana/Mike**

**Brittany/Finn**

**Quinn/Mr. Schuester**

He capped the lid on his pen and turned back to the group as the bell rang. "I'm looking forward to getting in on this one as well! Okay, plan to meet up with your partner sometime next week and we'll start hearing duets from Tuesday. Quinn, why don't you come and see me on Monday during lunch?" The group of teenagers began to head out of the room chattering about their assignment, Mr. Schuester grabbing his papers together and following.

Nobody noticed Kurt still sitting there, staring at the board with his mouth open.

_He totally forgot me._

Kurt felt the tears begin to build as he quickly stepped up to the board. Taking a photo with his phone, he sent it to Blaine before sitting down on the floor, leaning against the piano leg and taking deep breaths. _I really am invisible here._

Less than a minute later, his phone began to ring and he answered wordlessly, putting the phone to his ear and waiting.

"Kurt." And there was so _much_ in that word - empathy, sadness, regret, understanding - that Kurt burst into tears. Blaine was murmuring softly on the end of the line as he sobbed out all of his hurt.

Finally, Kurt calmed himself down. "I'm sorry, Blaine, I just -"

"Kurt, you have _no reason_ to apologize. That was incredibly wrong of him to do and I'm so sorry it's so rough for you right now. Is there anything I can do to help?"

Kurt looked back up at the list, an idea forming in his mind. "Actually, yes. Can you come over tomorrow?"

* * *

**Wednesday. **

"That was excellent, guys! Tina, your voice complemented Sam's perfectly, well done. Though I can assure you both, neither of you fade into the background around here, and I'm glad you know you're not alone. Everybody here has your backs."

The rest of the club murmured in agreement as the two sat down, Mike immediately leaning over to kiss his girlfriend. Kurt suppressed a sigh. _As if they think they aren't noticed, _he thought to himself.

As Rachel began to give her feedback, Kurt felt his phone buzz and pulled it out.

_How are the duets going? - Blaine x_

Kurt smiled, knowing Blaine only put the _x_ at the end of texts sent to him. Just another way of making Kurt feel special.

_Same old thing. Tina and Sam just sang 'Not Alone' trying to emphasize the fact that they often feel like nobody notices them, but they know that in Glee people care. Isn't that lovely? - Kurt x_

He knew Blaine would appreciate his sarcasm, especially after yesterday's rehearsal where Kurt had called Blaine and kept him on the phone to listen in. Blaine had been outraged that Quinn and Mr. Schuester would sing a song about taking their rejection and using it to accept others when they completely ignored Kurt's questions only two minutes later.

_Mm. Those poor souls. Looking forward to Friday? I miss you - Blaine x_

_Of course, can't wait. I miss you too - Kurt x_

The bell rang and Mr. Schuester held up a hand to stop them from leaving. "Now, before we go, I was looking over the partners and I realized something. Kurt, I forgot to partner you up with someone."

Now the eyes of the club were on him, many with a faint surprise as if thinking, _oh, right, Kurt's still a part of this club. _

Kurt was also surprised. _Wow, he actually realized something. Congratulations to him. _

"You did," he said evenly, staring straight into his teacher's eyes. "I'll be performing my duet on Friday."

"Who with?" Rachel asked, looking around at the other members who shrugged. Kurt just raised an eyebrow, looking bored.

"Why didn't you say anything about it?" Mr. Schuester's attention was firmly on him for the first time in weeks, and Kurt had had enough of it already.

"What would it matter?" Kurt got to his feet, swinging his bag over his shoulder. "You never hear me anyway." With that, he walked out of the room, ignoring his teacher calling after him as he pulled out his phone.

_You aren't going to believe this..._

* * *

**Thursday. **

".. no, I think it's just a bruise."

Kurt poked his arm again experimentally and winced at the huge purple-blue mark that had already spread across his wrist.

"Okay. You alright?"

Blaine's worried voice travelled down the phone which Kurt had pressed between his shoulder and ear. "Yeah. Just wish I'd ducked in time."

"You shouldn't have to duck." Kurt sighed, knowing it was true.

"There's nothing I can do right now," Kurt took the phone back in hand, grabbing his things together as he made his way out of the bathroom. "Look, I've got Glee now. I'll call you after and let you know how sympathetic they were and how they all promised to do something about it."

Now it was Blaine's turn to sigh. "I'll come over this afternoon and check on you. I'm sorry, Kurt."

"Me too." Kurt stepped into the empty room, dropping his bag next to his usual seat in the back row and sitting down. "I'll talk to you later."

He hung up as the first of the Glee kids made their way into the room, sitting down and talking about various weekend plans and parties that Kurt knew nothing about and would never get invited to. He poked the giant bruise again, hissing through his teeth at the sharp sting that travelled up his arm. _Surely someone's going to notice this time..._

"Mercedes! What happened?"

Suddenly the entire club were converging on a dripping wet Mercedes who had walked in the door. "I got slushied again," she said, dropping her bag to the ground as the girls engulfed her in a hug, murmuring nonsensical words of comfort while the guys cracked their knuckles threatening, waiting for a name so they could go beat the guy up.

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the group, then picked up his bag and walked out. He couldn't take this hypocrisy for much longer.

* * *

**Friday.**

"_I thought you felt it too,_

_When there was me and you."_

The group exploded in applause as Rachel bowed before hugging Artie. Finn looked uncomfortable and Quinn looked angry. Brittany just looked confused, Santana whispering in her ear reassuringly. (1)

"Brilliant as always, you two. We should pair you up for duets more often!" Mr. Schuester made his way to the middle of the floor as Rachel and Artie resumed their seats. "And wonderful honesty in those lyrics, though I'm a bit surprised it was _High School Musical..._" A couple of the teenagers chuckled as he turned and ticked the last set of names off the board.

"Okay! Well, that's it for duets, guys. You've all really captured this week's -" He broke off as a cough came from Kurt and looked up.

"Oh, Kurt. Of course, why don't you come down and show us your ... duet?"

Kurt stood with as much grace as he could muster and made his way to the floor. "Thank you Mr. Schuester." He turned to face the rest of New Directions.

"Fellow Glee club members. You've all had a chance to reveal the things about yourself that were _painfully _obvious anyway, now it's my turn to share something that should be equally as obvious but somehow isn't. But since it's a duet, I couldn't very well do it alone."

Kurt turned to the door. "Blaine?"

An angry murmur broke out as Blaine walked through the door, clad in his Dalton uniform. Rachel was on her feet instantly. "Mr. Schue, we can't allow this! He's the competition!"

Mr. Schuester raised a hand in her direction, staring at Blaine and Kurt who had positioned themselves in front of the piano. "Kurt? Why do we have a Dalton Academy boy here?"

"_I _have a Dalton Academy boy here because he's helping me with my duet," Kurt explained as if it should be obvious. Which, really, it _should_.

"Kurt, I don't know if I can allow this -"

"Mr. Schuester. You lost the right to tell me what to do about three weeks ago when you started ignoring my very presence in this room. I'm going to sing this duet with Blaine." He turned back to the rest of the group, speaking smoothly over their objections. "This is Blaine. You've all come to the very astute observation that he's from Dalton. Blaine is the lead soloist for the Dalton Academy Warblers."

"WHAT!" Rachel was out of her seat, striding down to where Blaine was standing and poking him in the chest. "You are NOT ALLOWED to be here!"

Kurt sighed before grabbing the girl's arms and marching her back to her seat, wincing at the pain this action caused. "Rachel, sit down and shut up, would you?"

He returned to where Blaine was standing, smiling briefly at his boyfriend before turning to the group again. "Anyway, since Blaine appears to be the only person around here that still recognizes that I exist, he volunteered to duet with me today to help me talk about a particularly important topic."

He felt Blaine's hand slip into his, a silent facet of support. "For the past few weeks, I've been getting bullied worse than ever before. In fact, I should let you all know that Blaine forced me to the doctor yesterday to get me checked out, and it turns out that this time I've got a sprained wrist and a couple of broken ribs." There were gasps from the group and Kurt saw Mercedes cover her mouth in shock. "You know, on top of all the bruises, cuts and various wounds that I've been sporting _every single day_ when I walk in here. The ones you've all commented on with great sympathy and concern? Yeah, those."

Blaine squeezed his hand as he watched the tears start running down a couple of the girl's faces. Kurt refused to break under their emotion. "You all come in here and sing about acceptance and how no matter what happens out there," he gestured to the open door, "we're a family in here. Well I've spent the past three weeks in silence to see what would happen. And you know what happened? Nothing."

He turned to Blaine, allowing his boyfriend to speak. "I met Kurt when the boys from this group told him to go and 'do something useful' and check out the competition. When he broke down and admitted what was going on to me, I was horrified. Not just that he was being bullied - and not just verbally but _physically_ - but that nobody seemed to understand or care. I immediately asked him what the teachers were doing. His answer? Nothing."

As Blaine stared down Mr. Schuester, Kurt picked back up. "This week was the final straw. You've all sung your admissions and about honesty, now it's my turn. Except _we're_ going to sing the song that you all should be singing to _me_."

He turned to grab a guitar, handing it to Blaine who slung it over his head and began to strum, taking the first few lines.

"_Just to say we're sorry_

_For the black eyes and bleeding lips_

_When it's hard to forget_

_How many lies we told."_

Kurt joined him, staring impassively into the audience.

"_Or how we've grown_

_Before I said goodbye,"_

Kurt allowed himself a sardonic smile at these words. _Not that they know that yet..._

"_I never listened to a word,_

_You never said,_

_I never listened to a word,_

_You never said."_

A couple of the guys were looking at Kurt guiltily, Finn in particular. The girls were all in tears as they stared at the two boys singing.

"_Wasting the hours now,_

_And we're all suckers for tragedy,"_

Kurt smirked at the group, knowing how they felt about their drama - pretty little things that they thought were important in the long run like Prom candidacy and being labelled by other ignorant teenagers. He focused particularly on Rachel, knowing that his gaze was stinging her and took a vindictive satisfaction from the way she cringed.

"_We'll start this over again,_

_And you'll bring us to our knees,"_

And he was. Finally, slowly and painfully, this group of teenagers were realizing what harm they'd caused. But it was too late.

Kurt stepped towards Blaine slightly as he turned to face Kurt, taking the second chorus for himself to send a message of reassurance. Not just for Kurt's sake, but to show the club what _they_ should have been doing for Kurt all along.

"_It's not your fault, you feel okay, _

_It's too late in the day,_

_It's not your fault, you feel betrayed,_

_And you can't come out to play,"_

Kurt's voice joined Blaine's again as they broke into the bridge.

"_So raise your hands up high,_

_And let this rain pour on,_

_So raise your hands up high,_

_And wash us away."_

Blaine stepped back and allowed Kurt to sing the next few lines on his own.

"_Like innocence, and childbirth,_

_You look just like your mother,"_

And this was the only point where Kurt felt choked up, thinking of his mother. But he pushed past that, because there was no changing the past. Only the future, and this was the first step.

"_And you look just like your father,"_

He turned back and looked at Blaine who stepped forward again to help him with the final lines, their voices mixing together in perfect harmony.

"_Forgive him, our Father_

_Your Son is smiling_

_So lay roses around you."_

They finished the song facing one another and, completely overwhelmed by the moment, Kurt leant in and kissed him.

There were soft gasps echoing around the room and Kurt knew he was driving the nail into the coffin. Now for the final blow -

Kurt pulled away, whispering "We'll talk about that later," to his boyfriend before turning to the group.

"That song could have been my suicide song." He saw a good chunk of the group flinch, to his grim satisfaction. "Do you know how many gay teenagers get bullied to the point of killing themselves? If I hadn't met Blaine, that would probably be me _right now_. You'd all probably be at my funeral, if you cared enough to come or even noticed I was gone."

Finn broke, dropping his head into his hands as a sobbing Quinn tried to comfort him.

"Instead, it's my goodbye song. Half an hour ago, my transfer papers were filed and, as of Monday, I will be a student at Dalton Academy."

"Kurt... you can't -"

"Yes, he can." Kurt felt Blaine step up beside him again, taking his hand. "You've had your chance to treat Kurt right and be his friend, to be there for him when he needed you. You _all_ failed him, every single one of you. So he's going to come to an environment where he'll be safe and cared about and loved."

Kurt felt his breath catch in his throat because they'd never said _love_ before. But looking into Blaine's face, he knew it was true.

"Goodbye, McKinley. We'll see you at Regionals."

With that, they turned, Kurt smiling as Blaine squeezed his hand. They walked out, Kurt leaving behind his past, never to look back.

* * *

**(1) Santana and Brittany are an item, Brittany broke up with Artie and he's still heartbroken. Rachel... well, of course she'll always be after Finn. **

**I hope you like this idea. I usually write pure fluff, but this sort of needed to be written. Because it's kind of me at the moment, except there's nobody here to not notice me. If that makes sense. Anyway, writing angst was easier than I thought... probably because it wasn't all angst and Blaine was lovely. It also gets me wondering what happened when Kurt got home that afternoon and Finn was there, because this is in the stage when they're living together... hm... story idea... ;) **

**Anyway, this song strikes a particular chord with me because it's the song I listened to a lot when I was suicidal. I know it's probably not in Kurt's range or his type of song and all that stuff, but for me the words meant a lot more. It was hard to write, but needed to be said. **


	60. Dreaming

**I woke up this morning to emails as usual, but I've never quite experienced anything like I did this morning.**

**Guys, your response to yesterday's chapter was unreal. I didn't expect anything at all like that and it just blows me away. To those who I made cry, I am sorry, but I'm glad I managed to reach so many people as well. The song I used (sorry, I forgot to mention it) is _Roses for the Dead _by _Funeral for a Friend. _I advise everyone to go check it out, it's very different to what I usually use but it's powerful, as is the video which I know has brought a lot of my friends to tears. **

**Thank you so much for all of the heartfelt and supportive messages I received when I mentioned it affects me personally. You guys are the reason I write and the reason I stay sane. So much is happening right now and there's a huge chance I could just end up going back into my shell and back into that state of mind, but writing these stories and getting comments from you guys, who don't just love the stories but care about me as a person as well, that's helping, it really is. So thank you all so much. **

**I am definitely considering making a chapter story out of it. It'll go through every person's reaction - starting with Burt when Kurt sits down with him (probably with Blaine as well) and tells him everything that's been happening and they decide he's going to go to Dalton. Then it'll go through the main characters from New Directions, their reactions, their ways of trying to make it up to Kurt and all that. And it'll probably finish up with a chapter of Kurt arriving at Dalton and getting used to the way things are there, then with a chapter of Blaine looking back over everything that's happened. I can't promise it'll be up anytime soon though, there's just so many other things I'm writing right now. **

**Okay, that's enough of that! Back to fluff land for a little while :) **

**My writing pattern is a little crazy. For _Kiss_, I have the following chapters written: from here up to 79, then 81, 84 - 86, 88 - 100, 102, 110, 117, 124 and 131. That's a bit silly, isn't it? **

**From**_** Kat3418: He sleep shops! Ok so this isnt really exactly a prompt that goes with this story but i was wondering if maybe in you spare (ha!) time you could do something with it?**_

**She sent me the link to the interview where Chris talks about this too - I'd already seen it but I happily re-watch interviews of him. And this prompt made me really happy to do because ideas started flitting into my head straightaway but I was only up to writing Chapter 30 when I got this so I had to wait 29 chapters to actually write it... wow, remembering back to the days I was only writing Chapter 30...**

**Kurt and Blaine are roommates in this one. Of course.**

* * *

Dreaming

Blaine groaned, rolling over and rubbing his eyes. He blearily cracked open one eyelid to see what time it was and frowned. _1:25? What woke me up?_

Then he saw the faint glow coming from the desk. Blinking furiously to try and adjust to the foreign light, Blaine propped himself up on his elbows to see Kurt hunched over the desk, murmuring to himself.

"Kurt?" There was no response, so Blaine reluctantly swung himself out of bed, wincing as his feet hit the cold floor. He stumbled over to where Kurt was sitting and looked at him. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Kurt stared at the screen, his eyes glazed over as he clicked frantically. Blaine frowned and looked at the screen. _eBay?_

"Um, Kurt?" Still nothing and suddenly Blaine realized. _He's still asleep. But why is he on the computer?_

Kurt began to mumble again as he typed and Blaine leant closer to hear him. "... gotta find ... jeans ... sale..."

Blaine fought frantically to hold back his laughter. _Kurt sleep shops! This is classic!_

A pair of jeans came up on the screen and Kurt smiled sleepily before clicking 'Buy Now' and adding them to his cart. Blaine winced, looking at the price, but Kurt was already onto the next idea.

"... scarves ... scarf for Blaine... Blaine'd look sexy in a scarf..."

Blaine blinked. _Did he just call me sexy?_

"... that one for me ... Blaine might like it ... mm, might rip it off me..."

Blaine immediately scrambled for his phone and turned the video on, holding it up to Kurt as he continued mumbling about Blaine. Various phrases such as 'just want to jump him,' and 'so kissable' were some of Blaine's favourites. He watched his friend for a bit longer, trying to figure out what to do with the revelations he had just been given.

After all, Blaine had liked Kurt for a little while now, but up until now the younger boy hadn't shown any signs of returning his feelings. Now, here was clear, irrefutable evidence that Kurt did feel the same - at least in his sleep.

An idea popped into Blaine's head as he remembered a psychology class he had taken last year. _"Some sleep walkers can be highly prone to suggestion..."_

"Kurt? Search for 'hair gel' for me?"

Blaine watched as Kurt typed the words into the search bar, beginning to mumble about how Blaine's hair looked 'so much sexier without all that gel...'

"Okay, Kurt. Time to log off."

Kurt obediently shut the window and turned off the computer, staring at the screen as it went black. Blaine sighed and shut off the video, unable to pick anything up now.

"And now it's time to go back to bed." Kurt stood up and shuffled back over to his bed, lying down and staring at Blaine with his eyes open, awaiting further instruction. Blaine realized Kurt wasn't going to go back to sleep properly and figured it was better to deal with everything now anyway.

"Now you can wake up."

Kurt's eyes fluttered shut before he rolled over, sighing heavily. He squinted his eyes open, blinking a few times to adjust to the darkness, then yelped when he saw Blaine staring at him.

"Blaine? What the hell?"

All the pent up laughter finally exploded and Blaine collapsed back onto his bed. Kurt blinked at him sleepily, sitting up.

"I'm sorry," Blaine explained as he finally got himself under control, "I just - I can't - look at this."

He moved over to sit on the bed beside Kurt and opened the video. Kurt winced as the bright light assaulted his eyes but obediently focused on the video.

"What? Is this me? I - oh no. Again?"

"This is normal is it?" Blaine paused the video, looking at Kurt who had dropped his head into his hands.

"Mm. How much did I spend?"

"Not much, I got you logged off pretty quickly."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "You did? Nobody else has ever been able to. Thanks."

Blaine smirked. "Don't thank me just yet." He resumed the video, and Kurt's voice drifted sleepily through the speakers.

"_I should get Blaine in those jeans... no, shouldn't, it'd make me want to jump him..."_

Kurt's head shot up, embarrassment flushing across his face. He immediately reached out and hit stop, still staring at Blaine. There was silence and Blaine could see Kurt's brain whirring.

"Oh, okay."

Blaine frowned because Kurt suddenly looked calm. "What?"

"It's cool. I'm still sleeping is all."

Blaine choked back his laughter. "Kurt, I can assure you, you're awake."

Kurt frowned. "But you'd say that if you were a dream too. Prove it. Pinch me or something."

With his sleep-ruffled hair and tired expression, Kurt looked absolutely gorgeous and Blaine just couldn't resist. "Okay. Here's your 'or something.'"

Blaine leant in and gently captured Kurt's lips. He kept it brief, but Kurt still looked dazed when Blaine pulled away, touching his lips with his fingers gently.

"Awake?"

Kurt nodded, before fixing his eyes on Blaine. "So, I really did say all that stuff..."

Blaine nodded then started when Kurt buried his head into his shoulder, groaning. "That's so _embarrassing._"

Blaine chuckled, wrapping his arms around Kurt and running his hand up and down his back softly. "But adorable," he whispered. Kurt sighed in response, curling in tighter and Blaine felt his breathing start to even out and deepen.

Leaning back slowly, Blaine let his back come into contact with the bed, keeping Kurt in his arms as his own eyes started to drift shut, absently wondering whether they would wake up and find that the whole thing had been a dream...

But of course, Blaine blinked awake the next morning, feeling the pressure of Kurt sleeping soundly on his chest. He smiled and slipped back to sleep, confident that this time, Kurt _would_ be there when he woke.

* * *

**I love hearing about Chris' sleep shopping escapades. I also know this seems very AU because of Kurt's attitude towards sex and 'sexy' things, but I also know when we're asleep, our subconscious takes over. I've done some weird things in my sleep that I wouldn't do when I was awake too. **

**Oh, and on the topic of me and sleeptalking, I'm the kind of person who can have a completely coherent conversation and make people think I'm awake but not remember it. It happened once at a sleepover where we had to stay up all night with one of my friends for medical reasons so we took turns to sleep. I'd had half an hour and my boyfriend came in to wake me up and apparently I said 'it's alright, you can turn the light on, I'm awake.' So he did, then I woke up and got annoyed at him for turning the light on... **


	61. Grave

**Okay, I don't hide the fact that I'm a total loser. But this is probably a new low.**

**So I have an iPod touch which I'm a little addicted to and hope to upgrade to an iPhone... when I get a job, that is. And I'm a sucker for those games where you have to wait a certain amount of time and build things up and level up and all of that. I was one of the addicts when _We Rule _first came out. And now I'm onto a little game called _Treasure Story. _And boy is it lame (sorry to any other avid fans). You basically go to all of these islands and 'dig' for treasure, and you have to wait for your energy to build up over time to do that. And then you have your own island that you buy stuff for and upgrade. And I kinda play it.**

**No, that's a lie. I don't 'kinda play it.' I'm a freaking level 47 with the 13x13 island expansion. But that's a little beside the point. On my island, I can buy plants, houses decorative items... and trees.**

**A little while ago, I published a story called _Forest_ which was based on the interview I had that I talked about on one of my authors notes here awhile ago where I was told to write about trees in my interview. Didn't get the job by the way. Anyway, it spurred an idea to mind about Klaine as trees and I wrote it and it actually turned out a lot better than I thought. And in writing it, I drew a diagram to figure out for myself where all the different trees were meant to be. **

**Can you see where this is going? Yeah. I turned my island into the Klaine forest. I'm a major loser. But, you know, if there's any other losers out there who want to see my work (and send me fruit of course!), my stormID is foraworldundeserving (of course). Feel free to friend me and join me in my little loser land ;) **** just leave me a message on my Profile saying you found me through Forest :) **

_**From Shadowstar556: It's the anniversary of Kurt's mother's death and he's in the graveyard sitting in front of her stone. Blaine goes to Kurt's house and finds out (from Finn?) he's not there and at the graveyard. He then drives to the there, finds Kurt, talks/comforts him, and then, obviously, kisses him!**_

**I don't know how old Kurt's mother was when she died, so I've just made her 27. Just because. Set when Kurt is still at Dalton.**

* * *

Grave

Blaine shut off the ignition and stepped out of his car. He hadn't been sure that Kurt was actually home, but decided to come out anyway. Dalton was dull on weekends, especially when Wes and David were also home, so Blaine thought he'd come out and see what Kurt was up to. Now that he'd arrived, however, he realized he probably should have called ahead, but it was too late now.

Blaine knocked on the front door, waiting a few seconds until it opened. Finn stood there, looking confusedly at Blaine. "Uh, hi. Blaine, right?"

"Yeah. Is Kurt here?"

Finn looked even more confused. "No, it's the 12th."

Blaine blinked. "Um, sorry?"

Finn's expression suddenly cleared. "Oh, he didn't tell you? Today's the anniversary of his mom's death."

Blaine sucked in a breath. "No, he didn't tell me. So is he alright? Where is he?"

"He's in the graveyard, down by her gravestone." Finn shrugged. "He apparently goes there every year. It'd creep me out to be honest, but it seems to help him. Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah, but .. he won't want company will he?"

"Usually not, but I think you're different. Go down there anyway, if he says no then you can come back and watch the game with me."

Blaine laughed. "Will do. Thanks Finn."

The door shut and Blaine frowned. _Why didn't Kurt tell me about this?_

_Why should he? _the logical voice spoke up. _He's allowed to have secrets too._

Blaine made his way down the road to the end of a long lane where the graveyard stood. He and Kurt had driven that way once and Kurt had pointed it out, telling him that was where his mother was buried. Blaine hadn't given it a lot of thought at the time - Kurt never looked upset when he was talking about his mother and bringing up past wounds wasn't something Blaine wanted to do often.

He stepped into the graveyard and looked around. It was just about empty, the only figure to be seen was a teenage boy kneeling before a gravestone near the back of the lot. _Kurt._

Blaine made his way over, taking care not to step too loud but giving Kurt plenty of warning. As he reached the end of the row, Kurt half-turned and Blaine stopped, waiting.

"Hey."

Blaine gave a tentative smile. "Hi. Finn said you'd be here." There was a moment of silence, then he added, "I can go if you'd rather -"

"No, it's okay." Blaine made his way down the row of gravestones until he reached the one Kurt was kneeling in front of. He hesitated for a second before kneeling next to Kurt and taking in his red-rimmed eyes.

"You holding up alright?"

Kurt sniffed and wiped his eyes. "As well as I can be, considering."

Blaine just nodded, turning to read the gravestone.

_Elizabeth Angela Hummel_

_January 1975 - March 2002_

_Forever in our hearts._

Blaine had been to graveyards before but never for somebody he knew. For him, it was just another inscription but he knew it meant a lot to Kurt.

"I - I normally talk to her. I don't know if that would make you uncomfortable..." Kurt trailed off and Blaine gently put a hand on his arm. He knew how Kurt was about being touched when he was upset so took it slowly.

"Kurt, this is completely about you. You do what makes you comfortable."

Kurt nodded, letting Blaine's hand stay on his arm as he turned back to the gravestone. "So, like I was saying, I'm a Warbler now. Things got too much at McKinley and Dad decided I should transfer. That's why I haven't come out here as much, I'm sorry."

Blaine felt his heart breaking as he watched his friend pour his heart out to his mother's grave. He stayed silent, watching as the tears continued to run down Kurt's face.

"It's - I'm happy, but it's not McKinley. I mean, I've made some great friends at Dalton but there's a _uniform_." Kurt pulled a face and Blaine tried not to laugh. "I mean, you remember what I was like with my clothes when you tried to put me in something I didn't like. Like that weird shirt you tried to put me in when I was six that was _polyester?_"

Blaine couldn't hold back a chuckle and Kurt smiled through his tears. "Yeah, so thankfully the uniform is good quality, but it's like losing a bit of my independence every time I go to class."

Kurt reached up to take Blaine's hand from his arm. Blaine was about to move it away when Kurt clasped it in his own, continuing to talk.

"So being in the Warblers is very different. I'm usually a ukelele but I get my chances to sing too. And even though there's the whole independence thing, it's nice to be a part of a group that accepts me, no matter what."

Blaine squeezed his hand gently, feeling Kurt squeeze back. "Anyway, we're going to Regionals soon. We haven't decided our songs but the council seems to have a penchance for P!nk songs right now so I think we'll have to deal with the torture of that." Kurt sniffed, wiping his eyes with his free hand. "I'm sure you'll enjoy watching that."

Blaine felt his own eyes fill. He'd never seen anything like this and felt himself falling in love with Kurt just a little bit more than he already was. The fact that Kurt was willing to share that with him as well meant so much to Blaine.

"Oh, Mom. I should introduce you. This is Blaine."

Blaine's breath caught in his throat and a tear escaped, spilling down his cheek. _Is he really -?_

"He's the lead soloist. I told you about him last time I was here, the one who came out to McKinley with me to deal with Karofsky. He's been fantastic. I wasn't expecting him to be here today, but I'm glad he is so you can meet him and know that somebody's looking out for me."

Kurt trailed off, staring at the gravestone and before Blaine knew what he was doing, he was speaking.

"Hi, Mrs. Hummel." He heard Kurt inhale sharply beside him but continued, hoping he wasn't overstepping. "It's so nice to meet you. Kurt still talks about you a lot, when he's not talking fashion that is."

Kurt chuckled a little and Blaine continued, feeling the tears spill over. "I - I've never done this sort of thing before. I don't know anybody who's died. So you'll have to forgive me if I say something wrong."

He swallowed roughly and wiped a hand across his face, still holding Kurt's with his other one. "I've never met you, but I feel like I have sometimes. I feel like I can see you shining out of Kurt. I mean, I don't need to tell you this, but your son is kind of beautiful, and I know he must get that from you. He always tells me you were beautiful."

He could see Kurt's soft smile out of the corner of his eye and kept talking. "Your son is amazing, Mrs. Hummel -"

"I think she would have wanted you to call her Elizabeth," Kurt murmured.

Blaine couldn't speak for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. Elizabeth, your son is amazing. Incredible. I wish he hadn't gone through what he did at McKinley, but I'm so glad I got to meet him. I just want you to know that I care about him _so _much -" his voice cracked and he fought with his tears, trying to keep himself coherent, " - and I'm going to be looking out for him from now on. I don't know what the future might hold, he may end up back at McKinley and if that happens, I want you to know that I'll be supporting him the whole way."

His throat closed up then and all he could do was sit with Kurt and cry. Kurt was in a similar state and Blaine hesitantly wrapped an arm around the younger boy who did the same in return, leaning against him.

After awhile, Blaine felt his tears dry up but Kurt continued to cry silently and Blaine let him, staring across the graveyard. Blaine had no idea how much time passed, but the sun was slowly sinking in the sky when Kurt lifted his head, his voice slightly hoarse as he spoke again.

"Well, I guess we should go. I - I miss you, Mom. Every day. And I love you, a lot."

Kurt reached out to touch the engraving once more before turning to Blaine. "Thank you, so much." And his voice was so full of sincerity and affection that Blaine took a chance.

"Before we go," he turned back to the grave marking, feeling himself choke up again. "There's just something I want to do. Elizabeth, I think it's fitting that you're the first person to know that I -"

_Courage, Blaine._

"I'm in love with your son."

Kurt gasped softly, turning to Blaine who was still looking at the inscription, tears beginning to fall again. "As you can see, even he didn't know that yet. I don't know how he feels, but if it's the same, I'd like to ask your permission to be his boyfriend."

He turned to Kurt who had an impossibly wide smile and tears streaming down his face, and Blaine decided he had never looked more beautiful.

"Her answer is yes, and so is mine."

Blaine felt his own grin break across his face and he just stared at Kurt for a moment before letting instinct kick in and gently leaning across to close the gap between their mouths.

The kiss was perfect. Both boys still had tears pouring down their faces, but the smiles when they broke apart negated any question about whether it was right.

Kurt turned back to the gravestone, reaching for Blaine's hand again.

"Mom, you're the first one I get to say this to and I wouldn't have it any other way. This is Blaine, my boyfriend."

* * *

**Because if I went with one of my friends to the grave of someone they knew well, I'd be bawling too. I mean, I nearly lost it just _writing_ this and imagining the two boys sitting there crying together. **

**I don't know this firsthand. I've had two people I was close to die and I couldn't go to either of the funerals, being in a different country at the time. Now that I'm back, I still haven't gone to their gravesites either. It's not something I could ask my dad to do. So I'm hoping I'll get there at some point, because I still don't have closure.**

**So we had angst, then weird fluff, then this which is just sad. Next chapter we get competition!**


	62. Advice

**I was going through my hits and views yesterday to see how many I'd gotten (um, lots, wow!) and I looked at the break down by country for people reading _Kiss_ and it really interested me. So, if you're reading this and you're from Lithuania, Afghanistan, Estonia, Monaco, Jamaica, Greece, Cyprus or Gibraltar, let me know! I never realized people from so many countries read this story and those ones in particular surprised me so I'd love to hear from people from there :) of course you Americans top the charts by a huge majority, but there's a solid thousand of us Kiwis around so that's good :)**

**I want to hear from you guys again! So I'm setting up another poll - and finally taking down the _Kiss _poll because I've already made the executive decision on that. So the latest poll is going to be favourite humor line from Season 2, based on the ones I find the most hilarious of course. If you find one that you think I've missed, let me know and I'll add it - but I'm only doing one per episode. After this has been up for awhile, I'm going to do 'Most romantic lines' or something like that (that'll be after I see Nationals because I get the feeling there'll be a few in there...)**

**Because I can't vote on the poll, being the creator, my votes go for the quotes from BIOTA and Prom Queen, with the Audition and Silly Love Songs quotes being close runners up. **

**From**_** TwihardGleek2011: Id[sic] like to see ine[sic] where before Blaine asks Kurt out, another guy tells Blaine**_ _**he likes Kurt or something aroubd[sic] that...**_

**I started writing this thinking 'oh, I'll make a character who has feelings for Kurt but isn't someone nice so it won't matter that Blaine gets in there first.' Then I just started developing Malcolm, and midway through his confession I suddenly realized he was a nice guy! So someone's heart was kinda going to have to break... damn. And then this thought appeared... ;)**

* * *

Advice

"Blaine?"

Blaine looked up from his essay to see Malcolm standing beside him, wringing his hands nervously. He immediately put down his pen and stood up, leading the younger boy out of the room and into the choir room.

"What's wrong?"

Blaine was used to having people come to him with situations. While the Dalton teachers were available to do this sort of thing, the students always elected a few Guidance Students from the upper years who the younger students could go to when they needed advice or help.

"I - I'm - it's kind of weird."

Malcolm sat down on one of the couches and took a deep breath. "I've realized I'm gay."

Blaine immediately sat down next to him. "When did you realize this?" Being gay himself made him one of the prime candidates for the role. Thad usually helped the students who were dealing with girlfriend issues while Blaine took the ones who were struggling with their sexuality.

"A couple of weeks ago, I think." Blaine smiled reassuringly at the boy, remembering his own experiences with finding out who he was and coming out.

"How do you feel about it?"

Malcolm shrugged. "You know, I'm okay with it, it's who I am. Told my parents last weekend and they were pretty cool about it too."

Blaine let out a small sigh of relief. He hated dealing with situations where the kid was shunned by their family or didn't want to accept their feelings. "That's great, Malcolm. So, what can I help you with?"

Malcolm took another deep breath and looked at Blaine. "I've got feelings for a guy."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, already bracing himself for the usual story - "He's straight and I don't know what to do.."

"He's gay as well."

Blaine blinked. _That was unexpected._

"Okay, so what's bothering you?"

"I -" Malcolm sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't know how to talk to him. I've looked up to him for awhile now, he's the year above me - your year. I don't think he even knows I exist to be honest."

Blaine kept an impassive face while his brain whirred away. _Gay guy in my year... there's three of us, but only two are really publicly out... _

Blaine knew that Malcolm had a crush on either him or Kurt. And since he was talking to Blaine about it and saying the guy didn't notice him...

"Okay, I know who you're taking about."

Malcolm breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, cool. So... what should I do?"

_Yes, Blaine, what should he do?_

Blaine struggled with his thoughts, trying not to let them show on his face. He had been developing his own feelings for Kurt for awhile now but hadn't found the right opportunity to act on them yet. But now that there was another possible candidate...

He eyed up Malcolm. He was the year below them, yes, but he was definitely attractive, and he wasn't much younger than Kurt than Blaine was older. He couldn't rule him out as competition.

"Um...?"

Blaine snapped out of his thoughts to see Malcolm looking worriedly at him. "Sorry, got lost in thought there for a second." He sighed, facing the inevitable. "I guess all you can do is talk to him, tell him how you feel and go from there."

_So why haven't you done that yet?_

"Okay, I'll try. Thanks, Blaine." Malcolm stood and made his way out of the room as Blaine deliberated what to do. He could go to Kurt now and tell him about his feelings, and Kurt might even feel the same. But then when Malcolm came along to share his own attraction with Kurt and found out they were together... well, that would just plain hurt. And Blaine didn't want to hurt the other boy.

Blaine groaned and buried his head in his hands.

"Blaine?"

He lifted his head to see Kurt kneeling in front of him, looking worried. "Hey, what's wrong? Malcolm said you were in here."

"Yeah, he and I were just talking." Blaine tried to smile but knew it wasn't working.

"Normally I wouldn't ask, but if it's got you this upset then I need to check that you're okay. What did you talk about?"

_Thank goodness for confidentiality rules. _"You know I can't tell you, Kurt."

To his dismay, Kurt wasn't deterred. "Yes you can. You're allowed to pick another senior student to confer with on matters of urgency or ones that affect you personally, as long as you take steps to ensure confidentiality. I know you don't talk to anybody else, so I'm volunteering myself for the position and suddenly forgetting whoever it was that I saw walk out of the room a few minutes ago. So, tell me what's wrong."

Blaine couldn't help but smile at his friend's. "You went and checked Wes's rulebook didn't you?"

"No, I went and asked Wes. He _is_ the rulebook." The two boys smirked for a second before Kurt's expression turned serious. "I know you're avoiding the topic. Talk, I don't like seeing you this way."

Blaine sighed. "Okay, I had a student come to me," he knew the confidentiality was pointless at this point but abided by the rules nonetheless, "and told me he had come to terms with his sexuality and he's realized he's gay."

"Oh, is it a bad family situation?" Kurt immediately looked worried and Blaine knew he was thinking of Blaine's own experiences with coming out to his family.

"No, it's all fine actually. He's happy with it, they're happy with it, everyone's happy."

Kurt moved to sit next to him. "So, what's the problem?"

"He's got a crush on someone in our year and he wanted to ask my advice." Blaine blurted out, refusing to meet Kurt's eyes.

"Is that it?" Blaine knew Kurt was still watching him confusedly. "Why did that upset you then? Unless -"

Blaine cringed, knowing that his secret was out.

"Oh, that's too cute!"

_What? _Blaine looked up to see an amused Kurt staring at him. "So did you let him down gently?"

"Oh! No, no, it wasn't a crush on me!"

Blaine could see the gears turning in Kurt's head until they settled on the only other option. "You mean.. me?"

"Yeah."

"So why... _oh."_ And there was so much in that word that Blaine had to look away, feeling the words bubbling up before he could stop them.

"I know it's stupid and petty to be jealous of someone who's having their first crush but I can't help regretting -

"Blaine -"

"- that I haven't told you how I feel. And now it's probably too late -"

"Blaine -"

"- but at least I know you'll be happy with Malcolm -"

"BLAINE!"

Blaine snapped his mouth shut, turning back to Kurt in shock. He'd never heard Kurt yell before...

"Thank you. I don't like Malcolm. I feel sorry for him, and I really don't want to hurt his feelings, but I'm going to have to just let him know that I happen to have feelings for the other openly gay guy in my year."

Blaine blinked a couple of times. "You mean, me?"

"No, Wes." And Kurt looked so serious that Blaine lost it. He collapsed into Kurt's side laughing, feeling Kurt begin to laugh as well. He wasn't even sure what was so funny, all he knew was that Kurt didn't like Malcolm, he liked _him.._

Blaine sat up again, turning to face Kurt who was suddenly so close. "So, you like me?"

Kurt nodded, and Blaine saw his eyes flick down to his lips. "Yeah."

"Good."

Blaine ducked his head and brought their lips together. His senses were immediately overwhelmed by Kurt's lips against his, Kurt's fingers running through his hair, Kurt's heart, beating just as fast as Blaine's. Everything was Kurt and Blaine and nothing hurt.

Kurt broke away first, looking amazed and impossibly happy, a look Blaine knew was mirrored on his face. For a moment they just stared at each other, then Blaine remembered what had caused their wonderful declarations.

"Oh... Malcolm."

Kurt winced. "I think we're just going to have to come clean. Give it the night so it doesn't seem like we got together straight after you gave him advice to come and tell me. Then we can go see him and just explain that we're a little bit crazy about each other."

Blaine fought unsuccessfully with his smile as he agreed. "So, how are we going to pass the time?"

And now Kurt's smirk was positively devilish. "I can think of a few ways."

* * *

"Malcolm!"

Blaine and Kurt quickly ducked down the hallway that they had seen the younger boy go down. He turned to face them and a smile lit up his face.

"Blaine! I was looking for you actually. Oh, hey Kurt." Kurt nodded a hello as Malcolm's attention turned back to Blaine.

"Yeah, we were wanting to say something to you actually... but why were you looking for me?" Blaine and Kurt exchanged a nervous glance, both waiting for him to turn to Kurt and -

"I wanted to thank you!"

Blaine's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"You know, the advice you gave me yesterday. I went and told him and we're dating now!"

Blaine opened his mouth but nothing came out. Kurt filled in for him. "Malcolm, who did you ask out?"

"Um, John?" Malcolm was staring between them, a confused smile on his face. "Who did you think I was talking about?"

The silence spoke volumes as Blaine looked at Kurt sheepishly. Malcolm's eyes widened. "Oh, you thought I meant Kurt? Sorry dude, you're nice and all but you're not my type. And I'd never interfere with your relationship."

"Wait - we're not... I mean, we are now. But we weren't -"

And now it was Malcolm's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Really? Everyone here has been under the impression that you've been dating for weeks now. Okay then. Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got a date tonight. Thanks again, Blaine!"

As Malcolm disappeared down the hallway, Kurt and Blaine turned to each other with identical expressions of shock. "Have they really...?"

Blaine shrugged. "I guess so." He thought back over the conversation and an idea popped into his head. "Hey, there's a drive through movie tonight down the road. Do you want to go?"

The smile that illuminated Kurt's face immediately wiped all thoughts of Malcolm from Blaine's mind as he linked hands with his boyfriend and made their way down the hall.

* * *

**So there's a random guy in Blaine and Kurt's year called John who wasn't openly gay but somehow Malcolm knew he was, okay? Cool beans :)**


	63. Hide'n'Seek

**For those who have tried to vote on the poll and found it isn't working, I have no idea what's going on. I think it might be another FanFiction glitch, we'll just have to wait and see if it gets fixed up or not. We're back to slow internet so I don't have the time to try re-creating it and see if that's the problem I'm afraid. So we'll just be patient and see if it gets fixed, okay? And if you find you can vote on it, let me know. Thanks :) **

**This is the third story I've updated today :/ I posted the latest of _Hiccups_, then Angela sent over her half of _Edge of Glory _so of course I had to write my half and then we ended up posting it. So I considered not giving you a chapter of _Kiss _but I'm not that mean after all. **

**For those of you who responded saying you're from some of those countries/places I pointed out in my last authors note, it's great to hear from you :) FanFiction is definitely glitching right now because I can't send private messages in response to some reviews because the reviews can't be found. Sigh. Sorry guys.**

**I've been watching a news report tonight of the radical American Christians who say that all Australians are going to hell, God hates homosexuals and anybody who doesn't believe that is going to hell too because they don't believe the Bible. Well, looks like I'm going to hell because I _don't _believe God hates homosexuals. I honestly can't stand it when people like that give a bad name to my religion because people think that I have the same opinions and then want nothing to do with me. But I can't understand how someone can _rejoice _in a bushfire that kills so many people because they're Australian and therefore going to hell. I just can't fathom people's minds, especially when they get _children _to do things like this. And picketing funerals of soldiers? Hell _no_. I want to make it clear right now: I am a Christian but I do _not _believe homosexuals go to hell because they're homosexual, I do not believe that God hates them, or hates anybody for that matter. I believe in love and that's what I live by. I can't believe that some people can do things like this, and I'm so sorry to anybody who's ever dealt with that sort of thing. **

**From**_ **Secrets of the Fall: I'm kind of obsessed with Dalton and the idea that it's a boarding school, so**_ _**could you write the Warblers playing hide and seek, and have Blaine be the seeker, and for some reason he finds Kurt last and while everyone is waiting for them, they kiss?**_

**I was dying to write this for so long. DYING.**

* * *

Hide And Seek

"I'm booooooooooored!"

A collective symphony of groans met Wes' proclamation. Wes had been whining for the past half an hour and the group were sick of it. While the rest of the Warblers were perfectly happy to spend the evening relaxing after their final exams, Wes seemed to need to be entertained like a small puppy. In fact, Blaine had taken to clicking his fingers and whistling when he needed Wes. It would've been funny except for the fact that Wes actually _responded_. Every time.

Kurt sighed, leaning back against Blaine's legs. He had been talking about going home for the weekend but Blaine had convinced him to stay and join the post exam celebrations that would start the following day. For now, the Warblers just having some down time and taking the opportunity to relax and hang out with each other.

Well, nearly all of them -

"Guys! Can we do something?"

"Like WHAT, Wes?" Blaine's patience ran out first. "There's no competitions or performances coming up, so we don't need to practice. We're all _tired_, in case you hadn't noticed. So give us a suggestion of something we can do that won't take much effort and we'll consider it."

David and Wes turned to each other and looked to be in deep thought. A few minutes passed and the rest of the Warblers turned their attention back to various other things. Kurt leaned his head back, resting it on Blaine's knees and smiling up at him.

"Comfortable?"

Kurt nodded. "Though I still take offense that you didn't keep me a seat." He sniffed haughtily as Blaine mock-pouted.

"I did say you could share." Blaine raised his eyebrows suggestively but his words were serious. He saw Kurt swallow and knew he was trying to think of a witty reply, but was saved by David's outburst.

"We've got it! Hide and seek!"

There were a couple of groans but most of the boys seemed interested. "Yeah, we haven't had a good hide and seek game in ages!" Thad agreed, seeming the most excited.

Blaine sighed, nudging Kurt lightly who moved as he got to his feet. "If we're playing hide and seek, we need to remember the ground rules. No dorm rooms, no classrooms, no staffrooms, no _ceilings, _Nick." He shot a glare to the sheepish looking Warbler. "We don't need a repeat of last time. We're playing in this building only, so if you go outside you can stay there for the night. After half an hour, if you haven't been found, you can consider the game over and yourself the winner. Once you're found, come back here."

"Okay, so now that Blaine's enlightened us, we'd all better go hide while he counts." Wes shot him a grin as Blaine began to protest.

"Wes, I was in last time. And the time before that."

"Yeah, that's because you're good at it. Come on everyone!" The room quickly emptied as Blaine sighed, turning to face the fireplace.

"One... two.. three..."

* * *

Blaine yawned, counting silently in his head and mentally going over the best hiding spots. Wes and David usually hid together and Nick would be somewhere obscure. Everyone else would usually be found in a matter of fifteen minutes. The only one he wasn't sure about was Kurt, who had never played a game of Warbler Hide and Seek.

He suddenly realized he'd gotten to 250 and strode over to the door. Opening it, he took a deep breath and called, "Ready or not, here I come!"

Silence.

Blaine slipped his shoes off, knowing that most of the boys would do a runner the second they heard Blaine coming and he wanted this game done as quickly as possible. He began to make his way down the hallway, heading towards the west wing to make the search as methodical as possible.

Night had fallen while Blaine was counting and most of the hall lights had been shut off to aid the boys in finding hiding spots. Blaine tiptoed down the hall, reaching the end and beginning his search. Luckily there were only two levels to this particular building - last time, Wes had decided they were going to play in the library which had four levels and far too many hiding spots.

Slipping into the first student lounge, Blaine quietly made his way over to the vending machine which was slightly out of place. Sticking his head behind it, he could vaguely make out the shape of a Warbler curled up in the corner. Blaine reached his hand in and tapped them on the shoulder, eliciting a muffled groan.

"You're really annoying, you know that?" Ethan edged out from the gap and stretched out his limbs. "I swear you target me every time."

Blaine chuckled and pointed in the direction of the door, Ethan obediently heading back to the choir room. He gave the room a once over and was satisfied that nobody else was in there. Stepping back out, he continued down the hallway, checking rooms at random to make sure they were still locked and the boys hadn't broke the rules.

The common room door was shut, an immediate sign to Blaine. Easing the door open, he tiptoed in and surveyed the room. A lump was noticeable under the piles of cushions and Blaine smirked. Taking a run up, he launched himself at the couch, a scream coming from beneath him as he landed. Rolling off, he pushed the cushions away to find an angry John.

"Damn it, Blaine! That hurt!" Blaine went to answer, then paused. Clearly John didn't pull those cushions over himself and Blaine immediately turned to take in the rest of the room. There wasn't a lot else, a couple of abandoned couches, a table that nobody was hiding under, and the fridge.

_No... he wouldn't.._

Blaine opened the door, shaking his head as Nick tumbled out. "Do you know how _dangerous_ that is?" he exclaimed, looking down at the shivering boy on the floor. "How did you even get in there?"

"Jesse helped -" Nick snapped his mouth shut as Blaine immediately walked over to the door and swung it shut to the groans of Jesse.

"Nice job, Nick." Blaine chuckled.

"Come on, Jesse, you think I wouldn't have seen you there anyway? All three of you, back to the room." Grumbling to themselves, the three boys left the room, Blaine following behind to continue his search while shaking his head at Nick's idiocy.

Ten minutes later and Blaine was nearing the end of his search. He had found Trent and Nicholas curled together underneath a table in one of the meeting rooms which had immediately led to the hurried pair rushing back to the choir room, red faced, as Blaine laughed at their compromising situation.

Unfortunately, Blaine had forgotten to add the rule about no bathrooms, which led to a rather awkward conversation through the locked door, saying that yes, Jesse _was_ found and could he please come out now because this was kind of weird?

Though the winner for the most weird so far was _definitely_ going to Thad who had somehow managed to follow Blaine for half of the game until he turned suddenly and saw him standing behind him. Blaine applauded his creativity, hit him across the head for startling him then sent him back to the choir room.

After that, he entered the lobby and immediately zoned in on Flint trying to hide behind a potted plant. After sending him back, he checked behind the reception desk to see Jeff who had actually _fallen asleep_ on the floor. Blaine kicked him a couple of times, then left him there, sticking a Post-it to him saying "Blaine has found you. Make your way to the choir room when you wake up."

... Hey, it counted.

Scouring the rest of the lobby, he noticed a human-shaped coat rack that hadn't been there earlier and rolled his eyes. Cameron always did have the worst hiding spots. He stopped and stared at the boy for a few seconds until Cameron sighed and made his way upstairs, putting his blazer back on. Blaine entered one of the final rooms on that level, hoping that the remainder of the boys were in there somewhere.

As he checked the room, he noticed that Kurt still hadn't shown up and a brief flicker of worry shot through him. _What if he's lost or trapped somewhere?_

Blaine pulled a couple of bean bags off Richard who sighed and made his way to the door, conveniently hovering in front of a table that Blaine hadn't checked under. A quick look revealed Andrew curled into a tight ball, and thankfully Richard had stuck around because it took both of them to free him.

Now the only ones left were Wes, David and Kurt. Blaine knew Wes and David were hiding together somewhere. They were always the last to be found and Blaine suspected them of switching hiding spots while his back was turned. Forget suspecting, he _knew_ they did but couldn't prove it. And Kurt - Blaine pushed his concerns back. Kurt was probably just really good at hiding.

As Blaine made to go up the stairs, he heard a rustling noise and froze. _Oh, of course._ Stepping back down, he looked under the staircase, the only one in Dalton that wasn't built in underneath. Wes and David were hanging from the stairs and Blaine just shook his head at his two friends.

"Best one yet, guys."

The two dropped to the ground looking disgruntled. "Are we last, at least?" Wes asked as the three made their way up the staircase.

Blaine froze. "No, you aren't."

"Who is?" David and Wes had stopped and were turning to look at him.

"Kurt's still out there somewhere."

The three boys looked at each other, Wes and David catching onto Blaine's concern immediately. "Okay, we'll go amuse the other guys. Let us know if you haven't got him in five minutes or so and we'll start searching the top floor."

Blaine nodded, heading back down the stairs. Of course there wasn't usually anything to worry about when they played hide and seek, but Kurt hadn't been at Dalton for as long as the rest of them and Blaine didn't want anything to happen to him.

Scouring the lobby again, he came up empty. He checked through all of the other rooms methodically, still finding nothing. Blaine was about to head back up the stairs when he suddenly noticed a room he had somehow overlooked. _Of course..._

Blaine quietly opened the door of the final student room, the one where he and Kurt had sung _Baby It's Cold Outside_ together. Sure enough, there was Kurt, curled up on one of the couches staring into the fire. He looked up as Blaine entered, smiling softly.

"I couldn't be bothered hiding. I guess I'm probably one of the first?"

"Actually, you're last." Blaine crossed the room and sunk into the couch next to him.

Kurt turned to him in disbelief. "How did I manage that?"

"I forgot to check in here somehow." Blaine shrugged, watching the way the light of the fire danced across Kurt's skin, giving him an eerily beautiful glow about him. "The rest of the guys are upstairs, waiting for us."

And now there was something in Kurt's eyes that Blaine could easily blame away as a trick of the light, but he _knew_ was more.

"I guess we should head up then."

"Yeah, probably."

Neither boy made an indication to move, still staring at one another across the short gap between them. Blaine moved slightly closer, letting a hand brush against Kurt's leg and hearing a quiet intake of breath from the younger boy.

"It's kind of nice, just the two of us here."

Blaine hummed in agreement, still staring into Kurt's eyes.

"We never really get to spend much time together nowadays."

Blaine's eyes dropped to Kurt's lips, licking his own unconsciously.

"Do you think -"

"Kurt, stop talking." There was laughter bubbling around the edges of his words and Kurt snapped his mouth shut, a smile playing around his mouth. The only sound to be heard was the crackling of the fire as the two boys stared at each other before something seemed to shift in Kurt's eyes and Blaine knew this was it.

Gently leaning in, slowly, to give Kurt a chance to back out, Blaine pressed their lips together. He held the contact for a second, relishing in the light touch before deepening it as he felt Kurt respond. His mouth seemed to know exactly what to do so Blaine left it to it, wrapping his hands around Kurt's waist and rubbing them gently up and down his back. He felt Kurt shiver underneath him and broke away reluctantly, knowing things would get too heated if they continued. After all, it was their first kiss. They had all the time in the world to explore their relationship.

"Wow." Kurt seemed lost for words and Blaine chuckled gently, drawing him closer into his arms. Kurt leaned his head against Blaine's shoulder with a little sigh and the two boys sat there, completely content.

"Blaine, your pocket's buzzing."

Or not. Sighing, Blaine reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out his phone. "Yeah?" he answered, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Blaine, we've searched the entire top floor and there's no sign of him. Do you think we need to call in one of the teachers? I can't think of anywhere else he could have gone, Kurt isn't the type to break the rules for something like this anyway -"

_Oops._

"Wes, it's okay," he said, cutting off his friend's panicked tirade. "I've found him."

"Oh, okay, great. He's found him, guys!"

Blaine shook his head as Kurt looked at him curiously. "So why are you guys... oh. _Oh_!"

"Yes, Wes. _Oh_. So, if you don't mind -" Blaine left the sentence hanging, trying not to laugh at his friend's sudden change in demeanour.

"Yeah, of course. Just - yeah. We'll be up here if you decide to join us."

"Use protection!" David's voice came from the background and Kurt's eyes widened, clearly having heard what their friend had said.

"Goodbye Wes." Blaine hung up and stared at Kurt for a second before they both burst into laughter.

"We really do have idiots for friends, don't we?"

Blaine just nodded as Kurt curled into his side again. He stroked the younger boy's hair and just sat staring into the fire. After awhile, he presumed Kurt had gone to sleep and was considering whether to take him to his room when his boyfriend spoke.

"We should play Sardines next time. And I'll hide."

Blaine chuckled. "Only if you tell me where first."

* * *

**I've been accused of basing Wes off Yossarian in Catch-22. Basically, I mentioned I was getting my daily dose of crazy from that book and my beta said, "we're going to see that in your stories aren't we? And it's all going to be taken out on Wes." **

**... yeah, she's right. It's not exactly based on him, he's just my crazy Warbler. Not that they're not all crazy.**

**Anyway, do you all know how to play Sardines? It's inverse hide and seek; one person hides and the rest of the people have to find them, but when they do they have to hide with them. I can just imagine Kurt finding a nice little spot for him and Blaine to hide in together... ;) **


	64. Shopping

**You're all wonderful! You know why? Because I am currently 38 reviews away from 2,000... *mind blows* Let's get over that target, okay? :)**

**In two weeks time, I'll be in Australia. I only told one person (excluding family of course) over there that I'm coming back and swore them to secrecy. I'm going to show up at my closest friend's houses and just confuse the hell out of them because last thing they heard, I was in New Zealand. It's going to be awesome. As long as I don't show up at my closest guy friend's place and find out my ex is there, because they hang out all the time. I plan to go the next eight months not seeing him once, or at least not talking to him. **

**Oh, hey, the poll's working! Well... I believe so anyway. I've gotten one vote on it, so everybody go check and see if you can vote. And vote, obviously. I think the issue was I had it as multi-select and it didn't like that for some reason. So now you can only vote for one, but at least you can potentially vote! **

**From**_** The Codebreaker: Shopping: screw blazers! But keep ties. And for a good reason too ;)**_

***minor fangirl squeal***

**They're not wearing their Dalton ties, I'm afraid. But there is definitely a tie! And I don't know enough about stores in America to even hazard putting a store name on it. **

**For the purpose of this fic, the male section has a wide enough range that it covers Kurt's flamboyant fashion sense as well as Blaine's more practical style. As much as I want to show Kurt having a fight with some random girl in the middle of a sale over a piece of clothing, this works a lot better for my story. **

**TGTDOSBDK - and I don't mind where this is set after that. It just is. It's probably non-canon when you look at the couples, but whatevs.**

**And Angela hasn't edited it. She's in Vegas. I don't know how I'll cope without her... I'm feeling lost. And alone. And less crazy.**

* * *

Shopping

"Okay, show me the back?"

Blaine tried to suppress a yawn as the figure on screen turned around, revealing the back of a dress. To Blaine it looked like ... well, the back of a dress. But Kurt hummed approvingly. "That's great, Tina. Put your hair up with those dangly earrings we bought last time and Mike will fall at your feet."

"Awesome, thanks heaps Kurt." The girl returned to her seat, smiling at the boys. "And you too, Blaine."

Blaine nodded, smiling politely as Kurt and Tina chatted about something. He allowed his thoughts to drift away to homework and solo ideas -

"WHAT?"

Blaine jumped, almost falling of his seat as he turned to face Kurt. "Why am I only JUST hearing about this?"

"I thought you knew!" Tina raised her hands defensively. "Santana found out first, she told Quinn who told Mercedes who told Rachel who told me. I figured someone had filled you in along the line."

Kurt was shaking his head rapidly. "No, but it's okay. I don't have any plans for tomorrow."

"But who's going to help you carry your bags?"

Kurt frowned for a second before a smile lit up his face. Blaine just had enough time to realize he should be concerned before Kurt was signing off, promising Tina he'd catch up with her tomorrow before turning towards him.

"Blaine...?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Kurt?"

"I have a favour to ask." Kurt was looking slightly nervous and Blaine felt his dread growing, knowing there were only a few things that got Kurt this excited, and judging by the look on Kurt's face it was going to be one of the ones he hated.

"There's this sale tomorrow -"

Blaine groaned, effectively stopping Kurt mid-sentence. "Kurt, why me?"

"Because you're my boyfriend and you love me and you can be my Ken doll who I dress up in pretty things?" Kurt pouted.

"I thought this was meant to be you trying to _convince_ me I wanted to go?" But Blaine knew he was sold. As much as he detested shopping, he knew shopping meant spending the day with Kurt and seeing Kurt in various outfits...

"Pleeeeease?"

He sighed. "Fine."

Kurt squealed happily. "Okay, we need to get there first thing to fight the crowd, so I'll meet you in the foyer at seven -"

"What? Oh no, I didn't sign up for that!" Blaine raised his hands in protest. "The shops don't even open until ten. I'm not leaving here before nine."

Kurt pouted again but Blaine refused to waver. He was _not_ losing his Saturday sleep-in as well as being dragged through shops. As much as he loved spending time with Kurt - and he _loved_ spending time with Kurt - shopping was not his thing and he planned to make the experience as short and painless as possible.

* * *

"Kurt, I really don't think you needed to park all the way down the road."

Blaine made his way along the footpath in a half-run, trying to keep up with his boyfriend who was striding ahead determinedly. It was quarter to ten and Kurt had been complaining that they were going to be too late, which Blaine couldn't understand because the shop wasn't even _open_ yet.

"Trust me, Blaine. We did."

"Why? How many people are actually going to be there?"

And then they turned the corner and Blaine's question was answered. _Hundreds_. His mouth dropped open as he took in the mass of people jostling each other eagerly as they waited for the door to open.

"Come on, there's Mercedes!"

Kurt grabbed his hand, pulling him through the crowd in search of his friend. Blaine allowed himself to be dragged along, still enjoying the sensation of Kurt's hand in his. After all, they had only been together for a couple of days, all of these experiences were still new and wonderful for both of them.

"Mercedes!" Kurt grabbed his friend's hand before the crowd pulled him away and the two of them were dragged through to a small clearing of sorts where a group of the New Directions girls were standing. They all immediately engulfed Kurt in hugs, Blaine stepping back slightly to let them.

"You too?"

Blaine turned to see Mike Chang standing beside him. He raised an eyebrow. "Me too?"

"The bag carrier." Mike gestured to the other boys standing there; Finn, Puck and Sam.

"Um, yeah, I guess. You guys do this voluntarily?"

Puck pulled a face. "No way. I'd rather be trying to woo Lauren, but Quinn blackmailed me into coming. Finn got promised a long make out session, Mike's just kind of whipped and Sam's working towards asking Mercedes out. Brittany carries Santana's bags while she shops for both of them, so that's everyone covered, now that you're here to help Kurt. Assuming you're doing this for Kurt and not equally as fashion obsessed."

Blaine pulled a face. "Definitely not, though he does make me try stuff on." The other boys winced sympathetically. "So, who carried Kurt's bags before me?"

Mike and Finn looked at one another. "Well... nobody. Kurt never asked and we all had girlfriends at the time. I mean, we'd take a few of his bags when we dropped some at the car, but he never had someone to carry them around the shop."

"Which is why it's good you're here," Finn added, before his eyes suddenly narrowed. "Wait, we call this the Boyfriend Club." Blaine bit back a laugh at that. "Are you and Kurt..."

Blaine watched with amusement for a few seconds as Finn's hands waved around before helping him out. "Dating? Yeah, I thought he told you, he called his dad the other night and let him know..."

Finn frowned. "No, he didn't. Why wouldn't he -"

"THEY'RE OPENING!"

Both boys were saved from the awkward situation as the girls and Kurt turned to their respective bag carriers, grabbing their hand and pulling them into the store. Blaine found himself being dragged behind Kurt again as they pushed through the doors.

Thankfully the store was huge, meaning the shoppers could spread out inside without fear of being crushed by one another. Blaine found himself separated from the rest of the guys as he and Kurt headed to mens clothing, Kurt calling a quick goodbye over his shoulder. As soon as they got there, Blaine realized the advantage of being guys; their section was almost completely deserted while the sound of yelling and squabbling rose over from the girls side already.

"Alright, let's see." Kurt turned and looked at Blaine for a moment as if making a decision. "Hold your arms out."

Blaine obediently stretched his arms out in front of him. Kurt nodded. "Follow me."

"What -?"

But Kurt was already pulling things off the rack. "No... no... this might work.." The first item landed in Blaine's outstretched arms, followed by another and he quickly caught on to his role. _Hey, at least I'm not trying things on._

Following Kurt through the shop, Blaine's arms progressively grew heavier until he couldn't take it anymore. "Kurt, can we go to the change rooms now, _please?_"

Kurt sighed but led Blaine over to the change rooms. There were only two in the male section and one had an OUT OF ORDER sign displayed. Blaine didn't think anything of it at first until Kurt looked at him, biting his lip.

"What's up?"

"There's clothes in there for you too. So we're either going to have to take turns, which will take forever, or -"

Kurt's voice trailed off but Blaine knew what he was thinking. His mouth was slightly dry as he responded. "Share? I - I'm okay with that. You know, if you are."

"Yeah.. yeah. Shall we?" Kurt gestured towards the door and Blaine stepped in first, dropping the clothes gratefully on the bench and stretching his arms. Kurt followed him, locking the door behind him.

For a moment the two boys stared at each other until Blaine coughed. "Well, how about you face that way," he gestured vaguely to the wall behind Kurt, "and I'll face this way, and we'll just turn around when we're both ready?"

Kurt nodded. "Okay." His confidence seemed to return as he began sorting through the clothes. "So these are yours. Try this shirt with those jeans first and - yeah. I'll just -"

He turned to face the wall, Blaine doing the same. They both changed in silence, Blaine incredibly aware that behind him was quite possibly a half naked Kurt and his mind was going places that a charming dapper young mind was _not_ meant to go.

"I'm done," he said, still hearing a slight rustle of fabric from behind him.

"Okay, hold on - I just need to ... alright."

Blaine turned and his eyes widened. The shirt was not particularly flattering on Kurt, possibly a size too big. But those _jeans_...

"Hm, that colour's good on you, though I think I'll prefer the green, but the cut doesn't quite work. Same for the jeans. These will probably be better -" Kurt pulled another pair of slightly tighter looking jeans out of the pile with a green shirt, adding a silver tie to the pile. Blaine fought hard not to stare at him as he did so, but his legs just looked _incredible_.

"Did you sew those on or something?" he blurted out before he could stop himself.

Kurt began to laugh, looking down at the jeans. "No, not quite. Like them?"

_Like them?_ Blaine knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mind off those jeans for the next few weeks. "Yeah, they look great," he stammered out.

Kurt blushed slightly, smoothing his hands over the fabric. "I don't like the shirt though," he decided. "Anyway, try those on."

Blaine obediently turned around, pulling off the other clothes and discarding them on the floor, figuring he'd pick them up later. He shrugged into the other pair of jeans, noting they were a lot tighter than he was used to, then pulled the shirt over his head. Grabbing the tie, he deliberated tying it properly before deciding to just hang it around his neck for now. Feeling slightly self conscious, he ran his hands over the soft fabric for a second before clearing his throat.

"I'm done."

"Alright, turn around."

Blaine turned and felt his eyes glaze over. Kurt was wearing the same jeans as before - though the effect hadn't lessened at all. Oh no, quite the opposite. Paired with a light blue, fitted shirt, Kurt looked - _wow_.

Blaine suddenly realized he had been staring at Kurt for a few seconds and looked up, expecting a look of embarrassment or awkwardness. Instead -

Kurt was staring at Blaine's chest, his eyes wide and mouth slightly open. A second later, his eyes shot up to catch Blaine's and the two stared at each other.

Blaine thought he would feel his own share of embarrassment when this moment finally came. Instead, he felt something shift inside him and he stepped towards Kurt who still hadn't moved. The tension in the room crackled as if electric, and something shot between Blaine and Kurt, a pulse of understanding and acceptance and -

Blaine reached out a slightly trembling hand to run across his boyfriend's face before letting it drop. He wanted to kiss Kurt _so badly_ but he still wasn't sure if Kurt was ready for that sort of thing and he didn't want to rush him -

Kurt reached out to grab the loosely hanging tie around Blaine's neck and pulled him back in, crushing their lips together.

_Okay, maybe it's alright._

Blaine allowed his thoughts to drift away as he kissed Kurt back, feeling himself pushed back into the wall with Kurt still gripping onto the tie. Their lips moved together and Blaine could't resist nibbling slightly on Kurt's bottom lip, feeling it part, giving Blaine access to his mouth and -

There was a sudden knocking on the door and Kurt pulled away with a gasp. "Hey, is that Kurt or Blaine?" Mike's voice drifted through the door.

"Um, yeah." Blaine replied, still staring at a breathless Kurt.

"Oh, okay. Where's Kurt."

There was an awkward silence for a second before Kurt spoke up. "Hi Mike."

"Oh! Sorry guys! Um, the girls just want to let you know that they're pretty much done, Quinn just wants Kurt's input on something but - yeah, you guys just... um, take your time. The guys'll be out the front, Blaine."

"Thanks, Mike," Kurt replied and they heard the sound of footsteps disappearing.

Kurt let out a sigh of relief and Blaine looked at him curiously. "Well, imagine if it was Finn."

Blaine winced. "True." He gestured to their clothing. "We need to -"

"Yeah." Kurt eyed him reluctantly for a few seconds then turned around, Blaine doing the same.

As they stepped out of the changing room, clothing in tow, Kurt leant over and grabbed the outfit Blaine had just discarded. "Go meet the guys, I'll get these and meet you out there."

Kurt turned to walk away and Blaine let his gaze linger for a moment before turning away.

He couldn't _wait_ to get Kurt back in those jeans...

* * *

**The established couples in my story are; Klaine, Puckzies, Finchel, Chang-Chang and future Samcedes. I'm unsure about Brittana, all I know is that Artie probably wouldn't be a great deal of help shopping. Quinn's single. Poor Quinn! I like writing her single though, I think she needs to learn to stand on her own feet without the security of a guy. Like Rachel was meant to but totally failed to. Yeah. Just another plotline that sort of sunk.**


	65. Dance

**2000! I love you all. The two thousandth reviewer was _InfiniteSummer _reading Chapter 20 and talking about Chris Colfer's hips/dancing. I figured it was quite easily the perfect review to bump us over the line :) **

**I had a Glee dream last night that I'm sure you'll all love. Except those who hate horror stuff - just don't read this, okay? So I was playing hide and seek (yes, probably prompted by the chapter a few nights back) with Finn, Rachel, Puck, Quinn, Brittany, Santana, Kurt and Blaine. We were in this old abandoned house and I was the seeker. Except as soon as I found anybody, I'd murder them. Gruesomely and vividly. I think Rachel was first and I'm fairly sure I chopped her up with an axe and hid her in a cupboard. Finn got a pair of scissors through his throat. Puck was killed in an audio visual booth thing, I think he got a knife. Quinn got stabbed through the chest. **

**But when I found Brittany, she was sitting there with her cat that had just had kittens and she somehow knew I was murdering people even though I'd been silent. And she invited me in for dinner and asked me not to kill her for her cats sake. So I gave her five minutes to get away in the opposite direction but warned her if I saw her again, I would kill her. Santana was my target, I got her then went outside. I remember killing Kurt at some point but he ended up alive and outside with Blaine and Brittany. And then they'd 'won' and we decided to go back in and find the others who were 'still hiding'. And I went in and went to the room where Rachel's body had been hidden and it was gone, and I realized Brittany had taken her five minutes to go and clean up after me so I wouldn't get in trouble.**

**And I woke up going ... what the hell was that? Angela takes credit (I got a couple of emails from her!) because they were all ways she had threatened to kill my ex for the crap he put me through. **

**On to something entirely more pleasant! From**_** The Codebreaker **_**and similarly prompted by **_**e(Anonymous)**__**: Compromising positions - Kurt misjudges a jump or something and lands on Blaine's lap**_

**Vague time frame: after Sectionals, somewhere before Regionals, I don't really care what's happening outside the Warblers at this point. It's not important. **

* * *

Dance

If people said that New Directions couldn't dance, they clearly hadn't seen the Warblers.

They called it the two-step shuffle for a reason. Nobody's feet left the ground any more than to take a single step, no elaborate gestures or hand movements, no swapping positions except when their singing required it. Simple and easy, and the audience didn't really care about their moves when they could create an entire _band_ with their mouths after all.

Most of the Warblers were very happy with this set up. They had Blaine out the front who could occasionally bust some kind of move for them, the rest could sway in the background and pretend that they were only doing this because they _wanted_ to, not because they couldn't do anything else.

Because, you see, the Warblers _couldn't_ dance. Not a step. It was a part of their group dynamic which they accepted and worked with, and so far what they had been doing had worked for the better part of two years.

And then Kurt Hummel came along.

* * *

"Okay, Group One will cross in front of Group Two, swapping positions. Blaine will stay out the front as the groups combine before splitting again as he moves between them... yes, Warbler Kurt?"

Wes raised an eyebrow at Kurt's raised hand but allowed him to talk. Kurt had only been a Warbler for a short time and, to be honest, Wes was glad he was finally getting the nerve to speak up. He knew Kurt had gone through some drama at his old school which had made him slightly skittish for the first few weeks, but Blaine had assured him that Kurt was a very confident and slightly sarcastic person when he was in his prime.

"Do we do anything else?"

_Maybe that's not such a good thing_.

"Like what, Warbler Kurt?" David leaned towards Kurt from Wes' side. The council were seated in the front row of seats in the auditorium with the assembled Warblers onstage, preparing to run through the choreography for a number they were considering for Regionals. They were just about to begin practice when Kurt had decided to interrupt.

"Like... actual dancing? Moves that require _some_ thought and concentration?"

Wes heard Jeff snicker from behind Kurt and immediately knew it was going to be one of _those_ days. "Kurt, the Warblers are renowned for our a capella performances. We are not known for our dancing."

"Well, why not?"

Blaine stepped forward, giving Wes a look of badly concealed mirth at his expense. "Because none of us can dance."

Wes wasn't sure what he was expecting. He had _hoped_ that Kurt would simply concede and return to his position so he could keep instructing them on their choreography.

Instead Kurt burst out laughing.

The rest of the Warblers looked at each other, confused. Wes turned to David. "Why do I get the feeling this is going to end badly?" he whispered. David shrugged, still watching the hysterical boy on stage.

Blaine stepped towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder hesitantly. "Kurt?"

Kurt straightened up. "I'm sorry. It's just - I have terrible luck. New Directions suck at dancing too, with the exception of Brittany and Mike. The rest try and fail. And now you guys who don't even try."

"Kurt, are you saying you can dance?" Thad called from next to David.

Kurt looked mildly offended. "Of course I can. I was a cheerleader after all."

The other boys started murmuring to themselves and Wes saw Blaine's eyes glaze over slightly.

Wes came to a decision he would later regret. "Why don't you show us?"

David leant over to him. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean, look at Blaine."

But Kurt was already making his way over to the iPod dock, pulling out Wes' phone and slotting in his own. He flicked through it for a seconds before hitting play and making his way back to the middle of the stage as _4 Minutes_ began to blare through the speakers. Except this wasn't the proper version, instead it sounded like it had been recorded.

Kurt turned and looked at the assembled Warblers on stage. "I suggest you stand back," he said. They all quickly complied, Blaine still standing at the front of the group.

Then Kurt turned to the council members and two things happened. First, _Kurt's_ voice came blasting out of the speakers along with another girl who must have been a part of the New Directions club. Wes immediately found himself trying to remember why they hadn't given Kurt any solos yet.

But most importantly, Kurt began to dance. And oh yes, he _could_ dance.

There was complete silence, save the music, as Kurt dominated the stage. Wes managed to tear his eyes from the boy a couple of times to see how the others were reacting. Most of the boys looked suitably impressed. Nick and Jeff were nodding along to the music - the extent of their dancing ability. And Blaine -

Blaine was staring at Kurt, his mouth slightly agape. He followed every move with his eyes, as if believing that Kurt would disappear if he looked away for a second. Wes groaned quietly to himself as he realized what he'd created.

Finally, the music stopped and Kurt finished his routine, panting slightly from the exertion. "Haven't done that in awhile," he explained.

The silence continued and Kurt frowned. "Was it bad? I know I was a little rusty -"

"That was _amazing_." Blaine's voice, slightly hoarse, travelled across the room. The rest of the boys began to murmur in agreement and Kurt flushed, a smile on his face.

"The question is, can you teach us?"

Wes turned to stare at David in shock. "You can't be serious! We can't do that sort of -"

"All in favour?"

Every hand in the auditorium rose, save Wes and Kurt's. Kurt began to bounce on the balls of his feet. "Oh, this is going to be awesome!"

Wes groaned. Well, at least he could say he had seen it coming when the whole thing failed miserably. Which, of course, it would.

"Okay, this is one of the routinues McKinley tried and rejected when they first performed last year. So we're not stealing their ideas, don't worry. It's my choreography anyway."

Kurt began to move the boys across the stage, positioning a couple of groups of Warblers in different places across the stage before leading Blaine to the center and beckoning the council members out of their seats.

"I'll normally be standing next to Blaine," and even Wes found the blush that crossed his face to be endearing, "but for now I'll stand out the front and show you what to do." He led Wes and David over to the back of the formation, showing them where to stand before heading back out the front.

"Alright, so the routinue starts with Cameron and Jesse crossing over Ethan and Thad, who then head towards..."

* * *

"I think we've got it!" Kurt clapped his hands together, surveying the exhausted looking Warblers.

"So are we done?" Wes seconded the thought submitted by a tired David. They had been practicing for close to an hour now and, for boys who had never experienced any type of dance, an hour was a long time.

"No, now we need to put it to music." A collective groan rose and Kurt chuckled. "Hey, you guys aren't even singing yet."

Blaine turned to look at Wes, alarm written across his face. "I don't think I can sing and focus on this routinue. Can you?"

Wes shook his head as Kurt started the music and headed to his position next to Blaine.

"Okay! Three ... two... one.. go!"

That was about where it all fell apart.

Wes could only watch on in horror as the chain reaction began. It started with Jesse who had walked the wrong way, bumping into Ethan who stumbled and fell. His head knocked into Thad's who staggered in the other direction, managing to take out Jeff and Nick in one swoop. They fell to the ground, right in Kurt's path as he spun to face Blaine.

There was no chance. Kurt went straight over, crashing into Blaine and they both went down, Kurt on top of Blaine.

_I knew this was a bad idea. _Wes covered his face with his hands, shaking his head at the ensuing disaster, then peeking out a second later to see -

Kurt and Blaine making out on the floor?

Wes dropped his hands to his sides, staring at the two boys. Blaine's arms were around Kurt's waist and Kurt was cupping Blaine's face in his hands as they kissed. The Warblers who weren't on the ground in pain had all stopped to stare at the two boys.

Someone coughed, trying to get a response. Nothing.

"Um..." David looked at Wes nervously. "Should we break them up?"

Wes raised an eyebrow, then took a deep breath and put his best Warbler Council voice on. "Junior Members Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel! Cease and desist!"

Kurt jumped away, sitting back on his heels as Blaine quickly sat up. Both boys were a deep red as they remembered where they were.

Wes stepped forward, turning to address all of the Warblers. "Alright, gentlemen, I think we've learned a few important lessons here. First, we need someone from first aid on hand any time we try a new routinue. Thad, Ethan, are you guys okay over there?"

He received nods from the boys, Thad still holding his head from where he was slumped on the stage. "Second, Kurt and Blaine are prone to public displays of affection in public. Now that they're together, we're all going to need to keep that in mind." The two boys appeared to grow even redder, staring at the stage and avoiding everybody's eyes.

"However, we could use their chemistry to our advantage in duet choices. So the council will talk with you two later."

Kurt looked up hopefully as Blaine took his hand, a smile playing on his face.

"And finally,"

Wes stared at the entire group sombrely. "We are _never_ trying that again."

A chorus of amens met his proclamation and Wes sat down, satisfied.

* * *

**_4 Minutes _is ... guh. _Damn _sexy. New favourite song, up there with _Go Your Own Way _and _I Feel Pretty/Unpretty _... and the entire Warbler album. But that goes without saying.**

**Oh, and ... "Warblers can't dance, Warblers can't dance, Warblers cannot dance! They only sing a capella and they cannot dance, even if Kurt Hummel's trying to teach them!"**

**("Seriously guys, the song's not even that funny!")**

***cough***


	66. Taste

**I spent my afternoon walking around a graveyard for an hour and a half. Our youth group is playing spotlight up there next week so I thought I'd better scope it out (though I don't know how I'll go in the dark, I'm not good with dark places at the best of times!). And it was honestly one of the most wonderful, strange, peaceful and ever-so-slightly eerie experiences I've ever had. I read every single stone that was in there and found out that the oldest stone was 1857 and the most recent was 2010. The 'oldest person' was 100 (and the only person who reached 100 in the entire cemetery - and they died in 1907!) while the youngest was four weeks and I nearly cried when I saw that. It wasn't creepy like I thought it would be, it was more a place of peace than anything. It was on one of the hills that looked over our tiny little town and I sat on one of the benches looking over the graveyard and the town and it was just... I can't even describe it. Try it sometime :)**

**The poll's going strong :) I'll give it a couple more days because I've got another I want to put up and I know you can have more than one but I don't want to. Just... because. Yeah. **

**From **_**The Codebreaker: Kurt wonders what Blaine's favourite coffee tastes like - and finds out in a less than conventional way**_

**People argue about how far away Dalton is from McKinley. Some say two hours, others say a lot less. For the purpose of this story, Dalton is half an hour away and McKinley is fifteen minutes from the Lima Bean, making Dalton fifteen minutes from the Lima Bean... mainly because I've already written over 48 hours of them in various cars and I'm a little sick of it. **

* * *

Taste

"Medium drip and tall nonfat mocha?"

"What were the dates of the Battle of Gettysburg? - oh, thanks," Blaine leant over the counter to grab the two coffees before turning back to Kurt who was biting his lip.

"Uh, July first to third, eighteen ... sixty three?"

"Correct." Kurt smiled as they made their way out the door towards his car. "Kurt, I don't know what you're worried about, you know this stuff off by heart."

"This coming from the guy who's quoting the review sheet questions at me?" Kurt raised an eyebrow at Blaine who at least had the decency to blush slightly.

"Anyway, don't stress it. In a couple of hours it'll all be over and we can relax for a few weeks!"

Kurt chuckled as he pulled out of the Lima Bean parking lot. It might have been a bit out of their way, but Kurt and Blaine had visited every coffee shop in the Westerville area and quickly come to the conclusion that nothing quite beat the Lima Bean. Not that Kurt was complaining if it meant a fifteen minute drive with just himself and Blaine...

"Oh, I forgot to ask, what did you end up getting on French?"

Kurt turned to Blaine incredulously. "Blaine, I'm fluent. What do you think?"

Blaine chuckled. "Okay, you don't have to deflate my ego quite so badly."

"You got a 92. I don't think you can consider yourself _that_ wounded."

"Yeah, okay." The two slipped into a comfortable silence as they flicked through the radio stations before quickly deciding that nothing good was on. Well, Blaine had _thought_ that Avril Lavigne was an acceptable music choice; Kurt had informed him that no such filth would be played in his car and they had somehow had a ten minute argument about music. Something that happened frequently in their friendship.

At any rate, they were back to comfortable silence. As Kurt began to mentally go over his revision for the exam that afternoon, Blaine took a sip of his coffee and sighed happily. "Nothing beats coffee."

Kurt hummed in agreement, drinking his own as they stopped at a red light. "Nothing beats Lima Bean coffee. Especially not a Lima Bean mocha."

"Oh, I don't know about that. I think a Lima Bean medium drip is _much_ better."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Do you now? Do you have any kind of proof for that accusation?"

The next thing he knew, his drink had been snatched out of his hand. "Hey!"

Blaine took a sip from his cup, swirling it around his mouth experimentally before swallowing and handing it back to Kurt. "Hm, not bad. But -" he raised his own cup to his mouth again. "Yeah, this is definitely better."

"Oh, is that so?" Kurt pulled into the Dalton parking lot, finding a spot and parking the car. He turned to face Blaine who was still drinking his coffee.

"Going to let me try yours?"

Blaine swallowed his mouthful and looked at his cup. "Um, I would but it's all gone."

"Oh." Kurt looked at the cup, then at Blaine who was licking his lips.

Wait, _what?_

But there was Blaine staring right at Kurt and licking his lips as if to get imaginary drops of coffee off them. "Mm, that's a pity. It tastes reaaaally good."

Kurt couldn't help the smirk from crossing his face. "Is that right?"

Blaine nodded, still looking at him as if _daring_ him to -

Kurt leant over and crushed their lips together, eliciting a muffled gasp from Blaine who it seemed hadn't actually believed Kurt would do it. But now that he was, Kurt was going to make the most of it and do a thorough... comparison.

Kurt darted his tongue out to gently lick at Blaine's lips which parted for him immediately. As soon as he did, Kurt's tastebuds were assaulted by a mixture of flavours - a strong but not overwhelming taste of straight coffee mixed with his own mocha, a lingering trace of something sweet and something undeniably _Blaine_.

Pulling back, Kurt smiled at the dazed boy, licking his own lips. "You know, I'm not sure. Can I have another taste?"

* * *

**I think this wins for one of my shortest. I was writing four different stories at the same time when this one happened and I couldn't be bothered going out on any of my usual tangents. I don't think it needs to be long though, do you? **

**The correct answer is "no, Sarah, it's perfect the way it is." ;)**


	67. Song

**I forgot to mention it last chapter: "I don't have to dance for you!"**

**And thanks to _MeeplesForTheWin, TestingFate, aunthay, Caitlyin, brittieeexx, Klaineforthewin, Charlotte-LOVE-, nutcase29, Mrs. Malfoy-Goode, ShevyLikeTheCar, keariel, paracelcious, cole5418, sailorjupiterox, littlemarsz, BeccaJamieThomas93, yayasforreal, Kasumi the Stargazer, MyPartnerInCrime, KoalaInPinkSunglasses, the Master of the Hobos, HarmonyLover _and_ Call me Mad _for following my orders last chapter ;) you're all darling, I honestly couldn't believe how many people did that! Others commented along the same lines of course, but these guys all quoted it word for word. Special mention to _i'llrockyoursocks _for putting on a cockney British accent to do hers!**

**From **_**The Codebreaker: Kurt and Blaine debate if they have a 'song'.**_

**TGTDOSBDK. Kurt is still at Dalton, but he knows he's going back to McKinley as soon as possible. So does Blaine. **

**My first take on this involved Mercedes, Sam, Facebook and Warblers. I scrapped all that because I figured it was about time I kept it simple and just completely and beautifully Klaine.**

* * *

Song

"Do we have a song?"

Blaine propped himself up on his elbows to look over at his boyfriend who was lying next to him in the grass. They had taken the day off from homework and assignments, choosing instead to come out to Lima to visit Kurt's family only to find that Finn was out and Carol was away for the weekend. They had spent half an hour with Burt before he had been called out to an emergency in the shop, apologizing to the two boys as he darted out.

Left alone, Kurt had brought Blaine outside where they had spent the afternoon lying in the sun together, listening to music playing softly from inside the house and talking about whatever thoughts drifted into their heads.

Like this one, which seemed to have come out of nowhere. Blaine blinked. "I - I don't know."

It wasn't something that Blaine had considered, which surprised him because both he and Kurt practically oozed music. It wasn't uncommon for one of them to randomly serenade the other and they had already had a mock-argument over their wedding song - Blaine was happy to go for traditional but Kurt had disagreed.

"Well, what makes a song _belong_ to a couple?" Kurt rolled over to look at him, leaning up slightly on one elbow. "None of the New Directions guys seem to stay in couples for long enough to get a song, so do you know any couples that have one?"

"I think Wes said his and Jessica's song is _She's Got A Way. _He said it was the song that was playing when he first realized he was in love with her."

Kurt smiled. "Okay, that's kinda cute. I didn't think Wes had it in him." Blaine chuckled as he lay back down, rolling onto his side to face his boyfriend. "But that's kind of one sided isn't it? I mean, you realized you had feelings for me when I sung _Blackbird, _but -"

"But you decided back when we sung _Baby It's Cold Outside_."

Kurt gave him a beautifully appreciative look and Blaine felt his heart warm like it did any time Kurt looked this happy.

"Yeah. So that doesn't work for us unless we make a mashup."

Blaine snorted. "I'm sorry but I refuse to tell people that our song is _Blackbird, It's Cold Outside... _or _Baby, It's A Cold Blackbird..._ or -"

"Okay, you can stop there." Kurt raised a hand, laughing. "I get the picture. You're too cute sometimes, you know that?"

Blaine felt himself blush and Kurt chuckled again. "So," he said hastily, "our song can't be the moment we realized we liked one another. When else can it be?"

"I guess there's always the moment we met." Kurt's eyes glazed over a little and Blaine knew he was remembering back to their moment on the stairs, then running through the hallway together and then...

"_Teenage Dream?_"

Kurt winced. "Oh. Look, I'm all for us having a nice romantic song but I have standards. No Katy Perry, please?"

Blaine pouted but reluctantly agreed. "Plus, think of the explanation we'll have to give our kids someday about why their parents song is talking about getting their hands on each other's skintight jeans..."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Getting a bit ahead of yourself there, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine blushed again and Kurt smiled, gently reaching out to touch his face. "Hey, I love the idea too. All the more reason for us to pick a good song."

"But we don't really get to _pick _it, do we?" Blaine thought about all the people who had mentioned their couple song. "They're just songs that kind of happen, that sum up the relationship and highlight important events. What else are we missing?"

"Oh, of course. What about when you asked me out... but there wasn't music." Kurt deflated and Blaine shrugged.

"But we were _talking_ about music. _Candles_, remember?"

"Of course I remember." Kurt hit him lightly. "How could I forget? The first song we sang together as a couple was talking about broken relationships and being disappointed by the person they love. How absolutely romantic."

Now it was Blaine's turn to hit him. "The song was about moving on to happiness, you know that. You weren't complaining at the time, but I _guess_ that's out too." He gave a long-suffering sigh, ignoring Kurt's eye roll. "So, I'm out of ideas. Do you have any more?"

"Well," Kurt whispered, "the only other one I can think of is when we kissed for the first time."

Blaine swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. "But we haven't done that yet."

And - _oh_, Kurt was so close and his lips were right _there_...

"Well, maybe we should rectify that situation."

Blaine nodded - because honestly, what could he _say_ to that? - before leaning in to gently capture Kurt's lips. He allowed their lips to stay there, gently pressed together for a few seconds before slowly deepening the kiss while keeping it soft. Kurt's lips were moving against his, gently and so sweetly that Blaine almost wanted to cry because he had _never_ thought this moment would come for him.

Kurt pulled away gently, resting his forehead against Blaine's and staring into his eyes and Blaine was amazed by how much vulnerability was there. He knew Kurt was opening himself up completely, and he knew he was doing the same and it was _wonderful_.

Then Kurt smiled. "Listen," he whispered.

Blaine listened. Faintly, from inside the house, came the sound of music.

_"I am the sound of love's arriving_

_Echoed softly on the sound_

_Lay your head upon my shoulder_

_Lay your hand within my hand_

_I give you all that I am."_

"Our song?" Blaine whispered, reaching over to touch Kurt's face gently.

"Our song."

Kurt drew him back in for another kiss, just as sweet and beautiful as the first as their song played on in the background.

"_And I breathe where you breathe,_

_Let me stand where you stand,_

_With all that I am."_

* * *

**I accidentally deleted the whole story just before posting it and flipped. It came back though.. obviously. **

**I thought it was time for a sweet story. Not tooth-rotting sweet, but pure innocent sweet. I hope I captured it, I nearly cried writing it so I hope that's an indication. The song is _All That I Am - Rob Thomas. _I was trawling my iTunes trying to find something and I stumbled across this... and it ended up being perfect. It's a bit different to what they usually do, but I love it anyway. **

**(I want this so so badly.)**


	68. Karofksy

**I did my first interview for my journalism course today! It went well if I do say so myself. It helped that it was the guy I run youth group with... but still! Interviewing someone is intimidating...**

**I'm going away again... But this time I'll be back in two days so you'll only miss one night of updating, and of course you're getting two chapters right now because I love you all too much and you're spoilt rotten. You're welcome :) this time, instead of being thrown around, bruised and covered in mud, I will be soaking in hot pools. Much nicer. So, to celebrate, have some angst. **

**From **_**Shadowstar556: During BIOTA. In it, Blaine compares Kurt to Karofsky and says Kurt is acting like him. That's just horrible! So... after that 'little' fight, Blaine later on realizes that what he said was dumb and he probably hurt Kurt. After what Blaine said, Kurt has been having nightmares about Karofsky. Blaine's dorm is next to Kurt's single dorm (due to his trans.) and hears muffled noises. Blaine gets up and walk to Kurt's door, only to find it unlocked. He walks in to find Kurt, in the corner of the room on the ground crying. Comfort time! But this isn't a very happy ending. Kurt, in a moment of anxiety, kisses Blaine and, shocked by his action, runs out of the room. Blaine is left alone and he realizes he loves Kurt.**_

**This is the first story I've done where there's real Klaine angst. Yeah, there was the f****ight**** one but that was more letting off steam and ended happily. This doesn't. If you don't like reading angst that ends unhappily, do not read this. I won't hold it against you, I hate reading stories that are usually all fluff and suddenly finding a chapter like this without warning. So this is your warning. CONTAINS UNRESOLVED ANGST.**

**Kurt and Blaine would have taken the same car to the coffee shop, and we're pretty sure that the two haven't resolved things before the end of the episode (not that we know WHEN it happens at all, the producers are pretty terrible at their follow through sometimes... I mean, we've heard nothing more about Prom even though the build up was huge...) so if Blaine stormed out, he probably left completely, meaning he most likely drove off and left Kurt there. **_**There's**_** something to think about, isn't it?**

**Random note, you know what one of my main issues is with the coffee shop scene? Blaine actually lowered himself to wearing that **_**hideous**_** red vest. I'm sorry but I hate them with a passion. The uniform looks so snazzy and then they do that...**

* * *

Karofsky

As Blaine stormed out of the coffee shop, Kurt was left to his thoughts. While he briefly regretted how he had handled the situation, his mind kept going back to the statement Blaine had made that had shocked him to the core when he had brought up Karofsky.

"_Sort of exactly what you're saying to me right now, isn't it?"_

Kurt knew full well that Blaine had snapped in anger and didn't really mean what he had said. But now that the thought was in his mind, he couldn't get it out. He had been doing his best to not think about Karofsky since his transfer, but the smallest of things would trigger it. The sound of a locker slamming and Kurt would flinch, expecting to be shoved into it. A casual punch to the shoulder and Kurt had to fight from running away. And any time Kurt had to enter the locker room, his mind would go straight back to -

_No. Not here._

Kurt realized his breathing had gotten ragged and quickly stood, making his way out of the shop before he could freak out too noticeably. Outside he slumped on a bench and tried to stop his hands from shaking too much.

_Don't go back there, Kurt,_ he told himself, finally managing to pull himself away from the memories. Looking up, he saw Blaine's car had already gone and sighed, resigning himself to walking back to Dalton. The walk only took twenty minutes so Kurt set off, hoping it would help him release his thoughts.

It didn't. Kurt arrived at Dalton still feeling shaky, just as the sun began to set. He saw Blaine's car in the parking lot and quickly made his way to his room, praying he wouldn't run into his so-called-friend along the way. Right now, the last thing he wanted was to see Blaine.

Making it to his room safely, Kurt fell on his bed, completely exhausted. As much as he usually dreaded the night, he found his eyes closing before he could work on clearing his mind of thoughts of Karofsky...

* * *

Blaine sat at the table, idly picking at his food. Wes and David were talking away beside him about setlists, something Blaine would normally enjoy giving his input on. Tonight, he simply nodded when the two boys said something to him, completely lost in his thoughts about the way he had reacted that afternoon.

While he had been upset, Blaine knew that his treatment of Kurt was completely unacceptable. Yes, Kurt had been a bit insensitive and hadn't really thought about how Blaine was feeling. But he had only been trying to help and Blaine had lashed out at him, told him he didn't understand and -

Blaine sighed. _How could you say that to him? _He had been berating himself ever since he had jumped in the car at the coffee shop - and how could he drive off and leave Kurt?

Wait, was Kurt even back at Dalton? Blaine was suddenly assaulted with images of Kurt sitting at the coffee shop waiting for Blaine to come back, or Kurt being attacked while he was walking home, or hit by a car -

"Guys, have you seen Kurt?"

Wes paused, looking over. "Finally, he talks."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'm serious, Wes. Have you seen him?"

Wes shook his head but David nodded. "I saw him come in about an hour ago when you were sitting in the choir room beating up the piano and feeling sorry for yourself."

Blaine stood, pushing his chair back with a screech. "Where did he go?"

"His room, I think?" Both boys were looking at Blaine, concerned. "Blaine, what's happened?"

He shook his head. "Nothing. Everything. Damn it - I'm going to go talk to him."

He missed the looks of worry the two shot at each other as he quickly made his way out of the room and up the stairs. Twice he stopped, going to turn back as his doubts overwhelmed him, but pressed forward. He owed it to Kurt to sort this whole mess out.

Kurt's door was shut and Blaine paused, his hand hovering to knock when he heard a whimper from inside.

"No... please, no..."

"Kurt?" Blaine knocked softly on the door with no reply. The whimpering continued and Blaine tried the doorknob to find it unlocked. He slid the door open to be met with a sight that made his blood run cold.

Kurt was curled in a ball in the corner of his room, shaking. Blaine could immediately tell he was having a nightmare and, judging by his frantic muttering, Blaine knew what it was about.

"No.. leave me alone... I won't tell anybody... please don't..."

"Kurt." Blaine knelt down next to his friend, resisting the urge to reach out and shake his shoulder. Kurt's muttering paused and Blaine tried again.

"Kurt, wake up. It's Blaine."

Kurt's eyes snapped open, searching wildly around the room until they caught on Blaine.

"Hey, it's just me. Are you alright?"

Kurt swallowed, rubbing his hands over his face. "I - I don't know. Should I be?"

Blaine winced. _Well, _his conscience piped up, _you did deserve that._

"Kurt, I'm sorry"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Okay."

Blaine blinked. "Okay?"

"Okay."

_What the hell does that mean?_ "So, do you forgive me?"

"Sure. If that's what you need to hear, then of course I forgive you." Kurt was refusing to meet his eyes and Blaine fought back a spike of anger. _Now's not the time to get angry. You're in the wrong, remember?_

"Kurt. You know that's not what I mean."

"You seem to be saying a lot of things you don't mean, Blaine. Or maybe you _do_ mean them."

That stung. "Kurt, you know I was just angry when I said that. Of course I didn't mean it." Blaine battled his temper but he knew he couldn't hold back for long. So did Kurt apparently, who seemed to be taking some kind of perverse pleasure in winding Blaine up as some kind of twisted form of revenge.

"So what did you mean to say when you compared me to the Neanderthal who tried to make my life a living hell, exactly?"

"Kurt, stop it." Blaine clenched his fists, looking at the defiant boy in front of him.

"No, I don't think I will. In fact, I think I'd better do something in _character_, don't you?" Kurt hissed out as he finally looked up. His eyes were burning wildly with anger and hurt and Blaine had never seen Kurt like this before. The pain from everything that had happened to him was finally about to explode and Blaine's own frustration abated as he suddenly realized that Kurt's anger was dangerously out of control.

"Hey, Kurt, it's okay, just calm -"

"Don't you tell me to calm down! If you think I'm like Karofsky then I'd better _prove it_!"

And with that, Kurt leant forward, grabbing Blaine's face in his hands and pulling their lips together.

Blaine froze as Kurt kissed him, feeling a million different emotions unlock at once. He knew how it felt to be violated, to have something precious taken away that he was never going to get back. He understood Kurt's pain more than ever before and found he couldn't hold it against the boy for acting the way he did after being provoked so badly.

And he realized he was in love with Kurt.

Kurt pulled away, his anger fading into shock, then horror.

"Oh.. oh _God_, oh Blaine... I -"

Kurt jumped to his feet and bolted out of the room. Blaine could hear the sound of his sobs as he disappeared.

Blaine stared at the wall, unmoving, for the rest of the night. Kurt never came back.

* * *

**I didn't think it would end up quite **_**this**_** angsty. Wow. I've actually shocked myself... but considering the previous chapter was pure gives-you-cavities fluff and the next one is going to be pretty much the same, I think it's a good thing. **

**I almost want to write a follow up oneshot to this. But it'd get so so very angsty. And I couldn't promise a happy ending. Regardless, let me know if anybody would like to see this.**

**If you're reading this on the night I posted two chapters at once, practice some self restraint. Don't click the Next button! You can do it! **

**(Totally go read the next chapter. You'll love it.)**


	69. Text

******_paracelcious _asked if I 'just walk in a cute cloud of adorable fluffiness'. The answer, my dear readers, is yes. I really do. I'll be walking down the road and an idea will pop into my head and I'll literally have to stop myself from grinning or laughing in public. I take to reading a prompt before I have to go somewhere so the idea can mull itself over in my head. I always have a notebook so I can scribble down ideas or lines that come to mind... that's where most of my oneshots start actually, I'll think something, write it down and then base a whole story around it. **

**I'll be back tomorrow night with proper updates :) until then, think of me relaxing in a 30 degree Celsius pool, possibly with snow on the ground around me. Unless you're reading this within hours of me updating it instead of practicing that self restraint we talked about in the authors note and waiting. Then you can think of me sitting in the car, listening to my Glee songs :) **

**So, to even out the angst, have some pure fluff of the technological variety =D**

**From **_**Shadowstar556: I challenge you to make a chapter made ONLY out of texts between Kurt and Blaine :)**_

**CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! Established Klaine before Original Song. At first, I didn't like this idea at all because how can you do a kiss via text? Then I thought of this and now I love it :)**

* * *

Text

_This meeting is so boring - Kurt_

_I know, just bear with it. If we nod politely and don't kick up a fuss, it'll be over soon. And don't let Wes catch you texting, we'll get a ten minute lecture on how important this stuff is and we should be paying more attention. If we're lucky - Blaine_

_But it's not! We've already picked our setlist, our outfits, our choreography, our stage positioning, why does it ALL need to be deliberated? And why in front of us? - Kurt_

_Because Wes is a control freak and doesn't want us to have fun ;) - Blaine_

_True that. By the way, why didn't you gel your hair today? - Kurt_

_Ran out. I know it looks terrible. - Blaine_

_It so doesn't, I never realized it was so .. curly - Kurt_

_Ha, you're blushing - Kurt_

_Shut up. Thad's trying to read this now, he wants to know what you said - Blaine_

_Should I send you something suggestive to make him flip out? - Kurt_

_Not much can freak out Thad - Blaine_

_Is that a challenge? - Kurt_

_Oh baby, I can't wait until Wes leaves for the weekend. We've already christened your bed, and I've been dying to do his for awhile now. We're doing awesome at keeping our escapades secret, even though right now all I want to do is come over there and make out with you in front of everyone cause you're so damn sexy - Kurt_

_Did I break him? - Kurt_

_No, he's okay now. I think he stopped breathing for a few seconds. You're evil, Kurt Hummel ;) - Blaine_

_dude, this is thad. you're insane. and i dont want to know about it. or hear about it. and i never want to see it. youre banned from my room._

_Well, Thad, that's what you get for spying - Kurt_

_Says the spy... - Blaine_

_Shut up, you. Oh you're kidding! Why couldn't Nick have just kept his mouth shut? - Kurt_

_Because he wanted us to go through ANOTHER half hour of torture while Wes second-guesses his duet ideas? - Blaine_

_This place is so weird - Kurt_

_Good weird? - Blaine_

_Sometimes. I miss McKinley but at the same time it drove me crazy. A different kind of crazy though, I can't even compare them. I am glad I came here though, it's been fun - Kurt_

_Yeah. You're settling in really well :) - Blaine_

_Well, I've had a great friend-who-graduated-to-boyfriend to help me :) - Kurt_

_Any time :) - Blaine_

_Are we going to have a conversation of smiley faces now? - Kurt_

_:) - Blaine_

_I refuse. - Kurt_

_:( - Blaine_

_Oh don't pout - Kurt_

_HA! That's what you get for that. Lousy excuse by the way - Kurt_

_Well what was I meant to say? I was texting Kurt and he wouldn't send me a smiley face and made me sad? That makes me sound about 12 - Blaine_

_Yeah, but saying Thad kicked you makes you sound like a 4 year old. You're lucky Wes can't give out detention - Kurt_

_Oh, shut up - Blaine_

_Kurt, I was kidding - Blaine_

_Please? - Blaine_

_What can I do to make it up to you? - Blaine_

_;) - Kurt_

_Why are you sitting all the way over there? - Blaine_

_Because I left my notebook in Chemistry and when I got back Thad had stolen my seat and you were too polite to tell him to move... - Kurt_

_Oh yeah - Blaine_

_What would you do if you were here? - Kurt_

_Blaine? What's wrong? - Kurt_

_Nothing - Blaine_

_Don't lie to me, I know that look. Did I say something wrong? - Kurt_

_Sort of - Blaine_

_Oh. - Kurt_

_No, not like that! I just ... when you asked what I'd do if I was there... - Blaine_

_Tell me? - Kurt_

_Well.. I guess I'd kinda want to kiss you - Blaine_

_Kurt? Say something, please? - Blaine_

_If you aren't okay with that then it's totally fine - Blaine_

_You look like you're going to faint... I'm worried. If you don't text me back in the next 30 seconds, I'm coming over there - Blaine_

_Sorry, just trying to deal with the shock. You actually WANT to? With me? - Kurt_

_No, with Thad. Of course with you. You thought I didn't? - Blaine_

_You're not the only one who knows looks and you've got insecure written all over your face. Kurt, you're my boyfriend. Of course I want to kiss you. I just didn't want to rush it, I wanted you to be ready. I planned to to talk to you about it in the next few days actually, I can't believe we're having this conversation by text... - Blaine_

_Mm. Stupid Wes and his meeting. If it weren't for him, would you do it? - Kurt_

_If you wanted me to - Blaine_

_I do - Kurt_

_Then yes :) - Blaine_

_So why are you letting Wes stop you? Might make the meeting more interesting anyway - Kurt_

_Well in that case... - Blaine_

* * *

_I think we broke them. - Kurt_

_Yep. ALL of them - Blaine_

_Does that mean the meeting's over and we can go? Because it's kinda stupid to text you when you're right next to me and we could be doing other things... - Kurt_

_I knew there was a reason I loved you. Let's go - Blaine_

* * *

**I still smile every time I read this. **


	70. Surprise

**I'm back! I arrived home to somewhere close to 200 emails from you guys... that took a long time to sort. But I loved it :) **

**To summarize my weekend: New Zealand is bloody _cold_ but thermal pools are wonderful. I spent a day sitting in 30 - 40 degree C [86 - 104 degrees F] pools when the temperature outside was about 10 degrees C [50 degrees F]. And then on my way home, we drove into this place where the seals normally are in winter and went down this stream which links up to the sea and ends in a pool with a waterfall. And in that pool was about seventy BABY SEALS. It was the most _adorable _thing I've ever seen. I can't even put it into words, I just can't. **

**One quick note - people ask me for elaborations of stories I write here, and I'm slowly working through some of those. For anybody who hasn't seen them yet, I have posted two already. _The Drunken Ramblings of Blaine Anderson _is an elaboration off Fair when Kurt threatened to tell the Warblers what Blaine said when he was drunk and someone asked me what Blaine did say. And most recently is _Origin _which comes from Road Trip where I mentioned it was a tradition and I was asked how the tradition started. So go check those out :) and if you want to see something, let me know. I can't make promises at all, but I read everything I get so it's worth a shot as long as you know it's sent with the risk of getting knocked back.**

**Also, in regards to prompts, I'll be capping them in just over a week. I have also simply had to reject a lot of prompts I've been getting and I haven't been able to get back to everybody and say I'm not doing their prompt. So I do apologize if you don't end up seeing your prompt getting written, but with everything else that's going on, it's just crazy over here in my email inbox. I hope everybody understands. **

**From **_**The Night Sings Alone: do you think you could write one where **__**Blaine bursts into the choir room with the Warblers, serenades Kurt in front **__**of N.D., and then in the moment they kiss?**_

**Do I think I could? Uh, yes! Is there even any question about it?**

**You know, I don't actually know what time of day the Glee rehearsals are at. I previously assumed just after school, but they're often between other classes, or so it appears. So I'm making this practice an after school one that lasts until 4pm. **

**Also, I **_**swear **_**the choir room has two doors. Maybe that's just me. But it's having two doors for the purpose of this fic.**

* * *

Surprise

Kurt tapped his foot idly, counting down the minutes until rehearsal would be over and he could leave. It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying being back with New Directions... except when Rachel wouldn't _shut up_ about her impending nose job. No, it was that he had a date with Blaine that afternoon. Their first real date, and Kurt was almost dying with anticipation.

He glanced at the clock, swearing it hadn't moved since the last time he had looked at it. Which, considering he had glanced at it about ten seconds ago, would probably be accurate. _Just twenty minutes left_, he told himself, trying to force himself to listen to Mr. Schuester.

It didn't help that the rest of the Glee club seemed surprisingly fidgety today. Rachel was also constantly checking her watch and Mercedes' fingers were lightly dancing on her phone. Even Mike and Tina had stopped making out for the occasion - Kurt just didn't know what it was.

"So we're all gearing up for our _Born This Way _performance, and we had a great mashup yesterday by Rachel and Quinn," the group murmured appreciatively as the girls smiled. "This whole week has been about being open with who you are, and therefore about _honesty_."

Kurt's eyebrows raised slightly at the inflection in their teacher's words. Something was _definitely _going on here.

"In the spirit of this week's message, I've called in some visitors to help us."

Kurt couldn't hold back a groan. "Mr. Schue, if you've invited your girlfriend back, please spare us. We don't need to know about any honesty going -"

The beginning notes of a harmony drifted in from the hallway and Kurt choked on his words.

No. Freaking. _Way._

Wes and David burst through the doors and made their way to either side of the piano, grinning at Kurt. The rest of the Warblers quickly followed, assuming their formation and leaving a gap in the middle. Kurt knew, _knew_, what was coming next but his mouth still dried up the second Blaine entered the room because - _oh, wow._

Blaine wasn't in uniform. He was dressed simply in jeans and a green t-shirt, his hair was curly and ungelled, and Kurt found himself completely mesmerized before the older boy even began to sing._ Is this boy really mine?_

But as soon as his mouth opened, Kurt felt himself knocked down all over again.

"_I think that possibly,_

_Maybe, I'm falling in love with you,_

_Yes, there's a chance,_

_That I've fallen quite hard over you,"_

It wasn't just the fact that Blaine's voice was deliciously rough - though that certainly helped - but that he was staring _straight at Kurt._ And there was no doubt in Kurt's mind that this song was completely for him.

"_No one understands me quite like you do,_

_Through all of the shadowy corners of me,"_

Blaine twirled on the spot before facing Kurt again, his arms outstretched as if to say _this is me, take it or leave it?_

_... _oh, Kurt was going to take it alright.

"_I never knew just what it was about this old coffee shop I love_

_All of the while I never knew,"_

The rest of New Directions were swaying in their seats as Kurt felt the grin break across his face. He knew Blaine was referring to the Lima Bean, where they had so many memories together, and he also knew that if it were possible, Blaine would be singing this song to him there. But this was all they could have and Blaine was taking it with both hands.

"_I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine,_

_Now I'm shining too,"_

Kurt chuckled because, sure enough, his eyes were filling up with tears. The rest of the Warblers made their way over to where the New Directions girls were sitting and pulled them up, spinning them around the room. The guys quickly followed, Mike and Nick leading them in an extended and impromptu routine.

Kurt turned his attention back to Blaine to find him standing just in front of him, hands outstretched. Laughing, Kurt allowed himself to be pulled up and into the middle of the chaos. Blaine kept a tight hold of his hands as he continued.

"_If I didn't know you, I'd rather not know,_

_If I couldn't have you, I'd rather be alone,"_

By now Blaine was smiling so wide that Kurt didn't know how he could sing, yet the words still came out perfect. The Warblers and New Directions had all stopped dancing and were standing in a huddle around the two boys who were still holding hands.

"_All of the while,_

_All of the while,_

_All of the while, _

_It was you, you..."_

Blaine let the last note linger before the room dropped into silence. Kurt stared at him, still not comprehending how someone this _perfect_ could be standing here, holding his hands and staring at him like he was the world.

Kurt leant in and kissed him, letting his lips linger for a few seconds before pulling away gently to gauge Blaine's reaction. He only had a second to see something _burning_ in Blaine's eyes before their lips were meeting again, still gentle and chaste but passionate and romantic and overwhelming at the same time.

Blaine pulled away, resting their foreheads together as he whispered, "I do love you, you know?"

And Kurt couldn't help the shiver that raced down his back at those words. "I know. I love you too."

There was a sniff from behind Kurt and he reluctantly pulled away, turning to see Rachel and Mercedes holding onto each other with tears running down their faces. Kurt chuckled, stepping over to hug the two girls.

"I can't believe you all organized this! And Rachel.. I can't believe you let the spies in."

Rachel sighed as the rest of the New Directions teenagers laughed. "We made her," Mercedes explained. "But I don't think she can complain about this. We're all so happy for you two."

The two groups all made various noises of agreement and Kurt felt himself choke up again. Blaine's hand found his and squeezed reassuringly as he just nodded, unable to find the words.

"Okay, well it was great having the Warblers here." Mr. Schuester stood, smiling at Kurt. "And you guys are dismissed. Good to see you again, Blaine."

As the two groups made their way out - Kurt idly noticing Wes and Mercedes laughing together about something, looking far too close for just two friends - Blaine turned back to him with the most beautiful smile and Kurt felt his heart skip a beat again.

"So, can I take my boyfriend out on a date?"

Seriously, Kurt thought to himself as the two left the room, could he _be_ any more perfect?

* * *

**Landon Pigg - Falling In Love At A Coffee Shop**_**. **_**This song was requested by **_**hoza13**_** and I fell in love with it as soon as I read the lyrics. I could have used this in one of my coffee shop prompts but I don't really want singing in those and this was just too perfect. **


	71. Flirt

_**Lolasatsuma and similarly prompted (sort of) by EyesOfAWolf202: At the show that show that Blaine was going to perform 'BICO' with a girl, Kurt and the ND's go to watch and it just so happens that the girl who is performing is flirting with Blaine (but it's not mutual) and asks to be his boyfriend. Looking for a scape coat, Blaine says that Kurt is his boyfriend, but the girl doesn't believe him. Looks like they have to prove it, in front of everyone...**_

**I don't know how the Kings Island shows work. Heck, I don't know if they're real. Probably are. Anyway, so I've written it this way. If it's wrong, well then it's wrong. Again, I haven't seen one so I don't know. **

**Twisted it a little bit so we have Kurt to the rescue!**

* * *

Flirt

"I'm telling you guys, this is going to be _amazing!_" Kurt knew he was gushing as he led his friends in but didn't care. They took their seats, Kurt slotting himself between Mercedes and Quinn and eyeing the stage eagerly.

"Now, I've done extensive research on this Celine girl and -"

"Rachel, nobody wants to know." Mercedes cut the girl off, shaking her head until Kurt put a hand on her arm.

"Actually, I kind of do. What did you find out?"

Kurt ignored the way Tina leant across from the other side of Quinn to exchange a knowing glance with Mercedes. Like there was anything to _know_...

"She graduated from Crawford last year, and -"

Kurt's head whipped around to stare at Rachel. "She's a _graduate?_"

"Yeah. You didn't know that Blaine's the youngest person to ever perform in this slot?"

"I - no." Kurt shook his head. _No wonder he wanted to practice._

"Anyway, her performance history isn't very extensive. Crawford made it to Nationals twice while she was there but never won. And she's performed here for the past two years, making her the first high school student to win a slot, but of course she was older than Blaine is now." Rachel consulted her notes, ignoring the other girls rolling their eyes. "That's the extent of it really."

Kurt nodded, then turned his attention back to the stage as the lights dimmed and the show was underway. The other girls seemed to enjoy the first few performances, with the exception of Rachel who criticized everybody who stepped onto the stage, including the announcer. Kurt had smiled and clapped politely but was on the edge of his seat waiting for Blaine.

"And finally, a performance from the girl who took the spot of our youngest performer last year, Miss Celine Henderson!" Kurt sat up a bit straighter, knowing what was coming next.

"This year, however, she is joined by Mr. Blaine Anderson, who is currently attending Dalton Academy and knocks Celine off her spot for youngest performer. Please help me in welcoming these two to the stage, Celine and Blaine singing _Baby, It's Cold Outside_."

Kurt was now literally sitting on the edge of his seat as Blaine entered the stage, holding the hand of a blonde haired girl who Kurt immediately took a disliking to. The audience clapped with Kurt and the New Directions girls cheering as they took their positions and began.

"_I really can't stay,"_

Kurt raised an eyebrow as the girl began to sing and grudgingly admitted that she was quite good. Nothing on Blaine of course, who parried back with his line as the playful banter began. Celine backed away, darting around the piano as Blaine followed her.

Maybe he was biased, but Kurt was fairly sure that the performance was nowhere near as good as when Blaine performed with him. Yes, their voices danced well together, but there was a slight awkwardness in the way Blaine begged this girl to stay that had been completely nonexistent when he had practiced with Kurt.

"_Oh, but it's cold outside!"_

As she backed away, Celine suddenly gave Blaine a look that made Kurt's teeth clench. It was one he had seen on Santana's face many times when she was after her latest conquest; the look that Kurt had dubbed her '_come hither' _look.

Apparently he wasn't the only one to have noticed. Blaine's eyes widened slightly as he delivered his next line - flawlessly of course, nothing would stop him from performing to perfection - and the girls broke into murmurs beside him.

"Did she just -?"

"I think so, but doesn't she know he's gay? Kurt?"

Kurt turned to Mercedes who was looking as confused as the rest of the girls. "I don't know, 'Cedes. It's not like Blaine screams gay like I do."

Mercedes reached out and took his hand as she turned back to the performance and Kurt took far too much comfort from this gesture. He had never told his diva friend that he was in love with Blaine, but somehow she knew and knew this was affecting him more than he let on.

It wasn't that Kurt was _jealous_, after all Blaine looked a little like a deer in headlights as the girl continued to flirt with him. It was that people could get the wrong idea about him, that they could believe he was single and for the taking.

And the fact that he _was_ didn't make any difference in Kurt's mind. Because in Kurt's mind, Blaine was his and always had been.

"_Get over that hold out!"_

Kurt drew his attention back to the stage as the two linked arms and sang their final line, Blaine in full performance mode.

"_Oh but it's cold outside!"_

The audience were on their feet as the two finished singing. Blaine moved to unlink their arms but Celine held on, curtsying to the audience and pulling Blaine down so he had no choice but to bow.

Kurt was clapping along with the rest of the audience but he couldn't help but bite his lip. As the announcer concluded the show, he turned to the New Directions girls who were already grabbing their bags.

"Come on, let's go find him." Quinn took his arm and Kurt smiled at the normally-icy girl's sudden protectiveness. The five of them made their way out of their row and towards backstage where Blaine had told them they were more than welcome after the performance.

Stepping behind the curtain, Kurt froze, Tina accidentally running into him as he took in the sight in front of him. Blaine was standing with his back to them with Celine right in front of him, a hand on his arm as she stared into his eyes.

" - come on, you know you felt the chemistry between us. So what say you give me your number now and we'll go out for a little ... _celebration."_

"I -" Kurt saw Blaine's hand come up to rub the back of his neck, a trait he adopted when he was feeling nervous or unsure. "Look, you're a lovely girl. I just don't play for your team."

"I'm sorry?" Kurt knew he was right in his earlier judgement. _Blonde bimbo._

"I'm gay."

Kurt watched the girl closely, his hand still tightly wrapped around Quinn's. At first she looked shocked, then a smile played over her face.

"Riiiight," she drawled. "That's what they all say. C'mon studmuffin, let loose a bit!"

"No, I'm actually serious here." Kurt knew Blaine was getting worked up and he didn't want to see his friend snap in front of a crowd of people.

"I could be the best thing you've ever tried..."

Kurt released Quinn's hand and strode over, tapping Blaine on the shoulder and linking his arm into his friend's. "Hey, baby, that was awesome! I knew you'd do a brilliant job." He smiled down at Blaine who was looking completely lost.

"I - oh, yeah. Thanks Kurt." Luckily Blaine had caught on quickly, pulling Kurt in closer to him gratefully. "Babe, this is Celine."

"So nice to meet you!" Kurt held out a hand for the girl to shake which she completely ignored, staring at the two boys.

"So wait, you're really ... no, I still don't believe it."

Kurt raised his eyebrows innocently. "Excuse me, you don't believe what?"

"That this hot guy here is actually gay," Celine explained. "He's been trying to turn me down and obviously pulled you in to help his case out. But I'm the kind of girl who _doesn't take no for an answer_." Her voice had dropped into a growl and Blaine shuddered.

Kurt heard the New Directions girls stepping up beside him, glaring at the girl, but his focus was on Blaine, who was looking so incredibly uncomfortable. If he could do anything to get Blaine out of this situation, he would ...

_Oh. Of course you can._

"Oh yeah?" Kurt shot the girl his best _bitch, please _look. "How many straight guys would do this?"

Turning back to Blaine, Kurt reached up his free hand and pulled Blaine's head towards his, letting their lips meet.

Blaine gasped slightly under his mouth before unlinking their arms to wrap both around Kurt's waist, deepening the kiss. Kurt allowed their mouths to explore for a second before reluctantly - _so _reluctantly - pulling away. He turned to Celine, twisting in Blaine's arms as he wrapped them around his stomach and pulled him back into him.

"So are you done hitting on my boyfriend?"

The girl scowled and stormed away without another word. Kurt chuckled before freezing when Blaine leant in and whispered in his ear. "Boyfriends, huh?"

Before Kurt could apologize and try to make some kind of excuse, Blaine nipped his ear lightly and he lost all coherent thought.

"I take that as a yes," Kurt murmured when his mind stopped swirling with thoughts of Blaine doing that _again_..

"Absolutely," Blaine breathed before Rachel cleared her throat. Kurt sighed and turned his attention to the girls watching them, still wrapped in Blaine's arms. Mercedes had a huge grin on her face and Quinn was smiling softly. Rachel and Tina looked at each other before Tina turned to them and blurted out;

"Santana's going to be so mad that she missed this!"

* * *

**Because she so would! I don't know why I didn't write her in. Probably because if I wrote her, I'd have to write Brittany too and I didn't really feel like writing ditzy and sensual in on top of all of that. **


	72. Defy

**I've had a real writers block-y day. Thankfully _Kiss _is still written a few weeks in advance of posting, but I've had three different stories open this afternoon and barely been able to write a word on any of them. And then Angela and I had a communication breakdown on _Edge of Glory, _which got fixed quickly but meant the latest chapter had to be started all over again. And I think I lost a prompt that I wanted to write. **

**On the plus side, my hair is now the colour of chocolate (instead of a strange reddish-brownish-orange that it ended up after a bad home dye job that I never got around to changing) and Angela and I are married on Facebook. **

**From **_**ArtisanBleu: Kurt sings Defying Gravity in one of the rooms of Dalton, thinking he's by himself when Blaine is actually right there watching**_

**So I squealed when I finally got up to writing this. Just sayin'**

* * *

Defy

Kurt stepped into the choir room, trailing his fingers along the beautiful piano as he walked over to stare out the window. Looking over the grounds of Dalton, Kurt still couldn't quite believe he was here. There was something about Dalton that still made him feel like he was a commoner shopping in a high-end store, even though Kurt knew most of it was just the school. Not all of the boys were born into high society, Blaine might be well-off but he definitely wasn't part of the snobby wealthy. In fact, Wes and Ethan were probably the only Warblers who were, and Kurt hadn't known that until Ethan's chauffeur had shown up to take him home for the weekend.

Which wouldn't have startled him as much if it hadn't been the chauffeur for his _private jet._

It felt like only yesterday that Kurt had been joining up for New Directions and they were singing _Don't Stop Believing_. And now, here he was, a Warbler.

Kurt smiled fondly as he remembered the many memories he had of McKinley. While there were a lot that he would rather forget, he knew his Glee club moments would stay with him for a very long time. His dad and Carol's wedding stuck out in his mind and Kurt found himself idly humming along to _Marry You_ as he remembered the beautiful day.

Casting his mind further back into memories, Kurt turned to sit on the piano bench. Every time he saw the empty piano when the Warblers were practicing, he had to double-take at the fact that Brad wasn't sitting there. Even though the man had almost become furniture to the rest of the Glee club, he had always been there.

Positioning his fingers on the keys, Kurt began to sing through his range, working way up. As he hit a perfect High F, he was suddenly reminded of doing exactly this when he was practicing for _Defying Gravity_. Kurt frowned, realizing he hadn't sung the song at all since he had purposely thrown it.

Well, it was definitely time to change that. He didn't know the song well enough to do the accompaniment, so it was time to sing Warbler fashion.

Standing up, Kurt turned his gaze back towards the window as he began to sing the song from so long ago.

"_Something has changed within me_

_Something is not the same,_

_I'm through with playing by the rules of someone else's game,"_

Now that he thought of it, Kurt realized that he should have sung this song a long time ago - the day he freed himself from the captivity of McKinley and secured himself in a place of safety.

"_Too late for second guessing,_

_Too late to go back to sleep,_

_It's time to trust my instincts, close my eyes and leap,"_

Kurt drew the last line out, loving the way it echoed around the silent room. He stepped towards the window, resting a hand against the pane as he belted out the chorus.

"_It's time to try defying gravity_

_I think I'll try defying gravity,_

_Kiss me goodbye,_

Kurt briefly touched a hand to his lips, drawing back the memory of Karofsky then pushing it back in a fluid motion as he sang on, drowning it from his mind.

"_I'm defying gravity_

_And you won't bring me down,"_

And the realization hit. _This is my freedom song._

"_I'm through accepting limits,_

'_Cause someone says they're so,_

_Some things I cannot change,_

_But 'till I try I'll never know,"_

Kurt felt his voice rising as he started hitting the higher notes, building into a torrent of emotion that he never knew he still needed to release. He had taken all the bitterness and hurt and transformed it into a song of hope.

"_Too long I've been afraid of losing love,_

_I guess I've lost,_

_But if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!"_

Running through the chorus, Kurt felt the raw power behind his voice and knew _he_ was in control of his life. This was _his_ song, _his_ choice.

"_Kiss me goodbye, I'm defying gravity, _

_I'll think I'll try defying gravity,"_

Kurt drew in a breath, preparing to hit the final, beautiful note.

"_And you won't bring me down,_

_Bring me down!"_

Kurt allowed a smile to cross his face as the final note echoed around the room, fading away slowly. "Perfect," he whispered to himself.

"Absolutely."

Kurt jumped, turning to face the door where Blaine was standing.

"Wh - how long have you been there?"

"Since you started singing. I was going to say something but then you -" Blaine waved a hand, swallowing heavily. "I couldn't interrupt that."

Kurt stepped across the room towards his friend, stopping a few steps from him and surveying his face. Blaine looked _wild_, like he was struggling with something internally, but he also looked at peace, like no matter what happened, he would be okay.

He also looked gorgeous, but Kurt had always known that.

A few seconds of silence passed, then Blaine uttered a strangled sound. "Kurt, I've never heard anything so _beautiful_."

Kurt knew there were no words left. Neither of them needed them. Instead, he watched Blaine close the gap between them hesitantly, reaching out a hand to touch his face. Kurt's eyes fluttered shut for a second, then he reached up to do the same to Blaine.

They stood that way for no more than a heartbeat, but it could have been as long as a million burning suns. Every nerve in Kurt's body was responding to the light touch, the gentle caressing fingers.

And then Blaine leant in and kissed him. And every nerve in his body burst into flames, drowning and burning in the incredible sensation of his lips pressed against somebody else's, someone who actually cared about him. He gently kissed Blaine back, keeping to light gentle touches of their lips.

After a few moments, Kurt pulled away, lifting his gaze to stare into Blaine's eyes.

"Perfect," he whispered.

* * *

**I'm pretty sure I nearly brought myself to tears doing this. The good kind. **


	73. Petition

**Tonight is my goodbye 'dinner' with my family. We don't like putting on dinner for everybody so we make them eat first and then do dessert. So tonight, we're having pavlova, lemon meringue pie, one and a half chocolate cakes, fudge, brownies, lollie cake, fruit salad and ice cream. Understandably, I didn't bother with dinner beforehand. If I don't post tomorrow, I died of sugar overload. **

**This chapter is a little off. Neither Angela or I can work out what's wrong with it, it just is. Sorry guys. Try to enjoy it anyway, okay?**

**From **_**Jg Rox: You know that coffee shop Kurt and Blaine are always going to? I think one **__**of those cliched scenes where all the regulars have been just waiting for **__**Klaine to get together and then they do and everyone applauds or something **__**(man, this sounds cheesy) would be adorable. You're welcome make it slightly **__**less cliched than that.**_

**Aw, come on! Cheesy is gorgeous and completely necessary sometimes! And I had an idea.. and I'm sorry but I had to do it.**

* * *

Petition

"Excuse me, boys?"

Kurt looked up from where he and Blaine had been talking together softly. "Yes?"

A tall brunette girl stood before them, holding a clipboard and looking slightly nervous. Kurt vaguely recognized her as one of the baristas and presumed it was her day off. "Um, this is from all of us here." She waved an arm around the coffee shop and Kurt blinked as he realized most of the patrons were staring in their direction.

"What is it?" Blaine reached out a hand for the clipboard.

"Just read it and you'll find out." The girl smiled at them again then moved back to her table. Kurt watched Blaine read, his eyes growing wider at every sentence.

"Blaine, what is it?" Blaine held up a hand, finishing off the last few lines and Kurt was shocked to see a blush spread across his face.

"Um. Yeah, here. You'd better read it too."

Kurt took the clipboard from his now bright-red friend and began to read.

**Dear Kurt and Blaine,**

**First, the fact that the staff know your names means that you come here too often, and, as such, we feel we know you enough to make this judgement, along with the rest of the regular patrons.**

**We have watched the two of you sit at the same table every day and interact with one another. We know you are both homosexual -**

Kurt felt his blood run cold at this. _Are they kicking us out?_

**but are not currently in a relationship with each other. Our question is: why not?**

_What?_

**Therefore, we the patrons and staff of the Lima Bean, wish to formally acknowledge our request that you both get your acts into gear and admit your feelings for each other.**

**Signed,**

Below this was a long list of signatures of staff and other regular customers. Kurt's jaw dropped as he took in the sheer number of people who actually wanted him and Blaine to get together. People who didn't let the fact that they were both male distract them. Kurt felt the emotion well up at the understanding shown by a group of complete strangers that refused to conform to the homosexuality of the rest of the world.

But of course it wasn't going to happen. As much as people could assume things, Kurt _knew_ Blaine didn't see him as any more than a friend. Speaking of Blaine -

Kurt raised his eyes to look at his friend who was biting his lip. "What do you make of this?" he whispered, aware that everybody was still paying far too much attention to them.

Blaine swallowed. "I - I think they're pretty smart people."

_Wait, what?_

"So, it's true? You do like me?"

Blaine chuckled. "Kurt, of _course_."

Kurt stared at him for a few seconds more, then grabbed his collar and pulled him across the table into a kiss.

Blaine froze for a second, long enough for Kurt to start doubting himself - _did I move too fast? didn't he want... _And then Blaine was responding, pressing his lips against Kurt's eagerly. Kurt felt himself nearing the edge, about to drop into oblivion and nothing but the feeling of Blaine kissing him -

And then someone started to clap.

Kurt pulled away - suppressing a shiver when he heard Blaine _moan_ slightly - and turned to see the occupants of the restaurant staring at them. The barista had been the first to start the applause, but it grew as the patrons got to their feet and applauded.

"You're _kidding_ me." Kurt ducked his head, feeling the blush spread across his face. Blaine chuckled, grabbing his hand and rubbing a thumb over it soothingly.

"Face it, we're never going to have a normal relationship." Blaine rolled his eyes but couldn't hide the smile on his face. "We'd better get used to it."

And somehow, Kurt was okay with that.

* * *

**Win for shortest? I think so. Again, apologies for it being a little off. **


	74. Essay

**You're getting this twelveish hours early today because I'm out until tomorrow. Sorry to anybody who's expecting PM's and stuff from me as well, I won't be able to reply until then. So love you and leave you, enjoy!**

**From **_**KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek: Maybe they could be studying and Blaine has an epiphany after**__**Wes gives him a sheet with weird math questions E.G A is in love with B but doesn't know it. How would A profess his love for B when he finally realizes?**_

**Two things. One, that is the most insanely weird complex screen name I've seen to date. Care to decode it for me? And two, the review finished with "I almost faint with delight when you update so quickly by the way." That made me smile a lot. **

**Also, I'm changing it from Math to English because I had a brain explosion that turned into this. And Wes and David are the year above Kurt and Blaine. Just because. If Ryan Murphy can mess with their ages, so can I. **

**... because, y'know, I'm up there with Ryan Murphy who created the characters. Yeah. **

* * *

Essay

Blaine watched with interest as the textbook went sailing across the room and hit the wall. Across from him, Wes jumped at the noise and turned to glare at Blaine who was looking at him innocently.

"Wasn't me!"

Wes sighed. "Blaine, we're the only two people in here. You _need_ that book to study so you can pass your exams so you can actually stay at Dalton next year."

"But it's boring!" Blaine groaned, hauling himself off his bed and retrieving his book. "I've done all the practice essay questions and _they're _all boring." He hesitated, reaching over to the bedside table where his phone was lying innocently.

"Don't even think about it, Blaine." Wes didn't even look up from where he had buried his nose back in his Math textbook. "You need to study. And besides, Kurt's probably studying too."

Blaine sighed, then his brain caught up with what his friend had said. "Hold on, why do you assume I was going to text Kurt?"

He saw Wes roll his eyes before looking up again. "Because you always text Kurt."

"I so do not." Blaine grabbed his phone. "I'll prove it!"

He scrolled through his sent messages. _Kurt... Kurt... Kurt... damn._

"Anyway, now that you can see that I'm right, I stick with my earlier order of no texting Kurt. Look, if I write you up a practice essay question, will you do that? I sat the same exams last year after all, I know the general themes."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks Wes." Blaine handed over his notebook and Wes thought for a few seconds before beginning to write. Blaine took advantage of his distracted state to text Kurt anyway.

_Hey, how's the study going? Wes is being a tyrant and won't let me do anything but study. Hope you're not as miserable as me - Blaine_

"Here." Wes placed the notebook next to Blaine before snatching the phone out of his hand and taking it back to his bed with him. "You can have this back once you've completed that question."

Blaine grumbled under his breath but ducked his head to try to decipher Wes' messy scrawl, missing the scheming smirk his friend had in place.

_**The main character struggles with a romantic attraction that he seems unable to put into words, even to his closest friends. Write a soliloquy when he is faced with the task of having to explain his feelings to himself and then to the one he loves. **_

_Huh. _Blaine couldn't work out which book this theme came from but figured he would find out on the day. Thinking for a bit, he began to jot down ideas to pull together into an essay.

_So they've never told anybody how they feel... and they don't really know themselves... _

Blaine bit his lip, wondering why his mind immediately flickered to Kurt. _Well, for now he'll make a good enough person to write about._

So, if Blaine was the lead character, what would be the things about Kurt that he would be attracted to? Well, his personality was a big one. Kurt had the ability to make Blaine smile no matter what the circumstance, and he also had a way of stating the truth so bluntly but without making it seem like an insult.

_He's definitely good with his words_, Blaine wrote before looking at the sentence again. _It'll probably be about a girl in the actual essay, but I can change it later._

What else?

_His smile lights up the room. _And it was true. When Kurt was happy, everybody else was happy. His excitement was contagious and Blaine found he had a new appreciation for Disney Princess movies when watching them with Kurt because of how happy it made the younger boy to see the 'happily ever after' style stories.

_He sings like an angel. _Blaine couldn't even begin to comprehend it the first time he heard Kurt sing, and he still held a grudge against the council for not showcasing Kurt's talent.

_He's not afraid to show emotion, and he inspires others to do the same. _His hand paused, remembering the first time he had been brave enough to let down his own walls and show Kurt some of his pain. The first time he had come close to losing it in front of Kurt, he had turned to run before feeling Kurt's arms wrap around him. "It's okay to cry," he had whispered, and Blaine had broken down. And when he was finished and looked up at Kurt again, he hadn't felt ashamed.

_He's courageous. He throws himself into everything he does with passion. He takes things to heart..._

Blaine began to write the soliloquy, the words pouring out of him before he could even comprehend them. He was vaguely aware that Wes had stopped reading and was watching him, but he didn't care. The task had taken him over.

Finally finishing the last line, Blaine looked over what he had read again, the words suddenly clicking into place in his mind, right down to the last line where Blaine froze.

"Wes, I need my phone," he said without looking up.

There was a soft thud and his phone landed on the bed next to him. He saw he had a text from Kurt and opened it.

_Pretty terrible. I'd do anything for a break. If you can get away from your evil dictator, come and rescue me, okay? - Kurt_

Blaine stood up, grabbing his blazer and made his way out of the room and down the hallway to Kurt and David's room. Knocking once, he opened the door and stuck his head in to see David studying and Kurt -

Kurt was fast asleep, his head resting gently in his folded arms, history textbook abandoned at the foot of his bed.

"I decided I'd give him a break," David whispered from across the room, stretching and dropping his own textbook on the bed. "You might want to wake him up though, he's still got a lot of studying to get through. I'm going to visit Wes for a bit, see if he can help me with this question."

With that David left the room. As his footsteps echoed down the hallway, Blaine realized he had been staring at Kurt the whole time and David hadn't said a word about it. _Has everybody in this school seen what I was too blind to realize? _Blaine knew full well that Wes had written that question to make him realize his feelings for Kurt, and David was certainly in on it too.

_Does Kurt know?_

Blaine crossed the room to sit on the bed next to Kurt, taking in the sight for a few seconds longer before shaking his friend gently.

"Kurt, time to wake up."

Kurt snuffled, attempting to bury his head in his arms. Blaine bit back a gasp as he rolled onto his side, blinking up at Blaine blearily. _How could you not realize he was this beautiful before?_

"Blaine?" Kurt mumbled, his brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

"I got a break from studying and thought I'd come over and see how you're going."

Kurt propped himself up on his elbows, absently brushing a piece of hair out of his face. Blaine chuckled. "Clearly well."

"Mm." Kurt yawned before sitting up properly. "Hey, where's David?"

"He's gone to study with Wes." Blaine smiled softly as he watched Kurt struggle to keep himself awake. David had always mentioned that Kurt took a long time to wake up and Blaine was loving being able to see that himself.

"Oh." Kurt rubbed his eyes. "Sorry, I'm not a good morning person. And don't even tell me that it's afternoon," he added, as Blaine opened his mouth to say exactly that. "I know. So, what did you want to do with our newfound freedom?"

"Nothing in particular. Just wanted to spend some time with you."

As the words left his mouth, Blaine could hear the inflection in them. Kurt paused, looking at him through suddenly-alert eyes.

"Why's that?"

Blaine panicked. _Now what? What am I meant to do, I can't just say "Oh, because I just realized I'm in love with you."_

"You - you are?"

Blaine looked up to see Kurt staring at him, shocked. "Oh, crap, did I just say that?"

Kurt nodded, suddenly looking crestfallen. "Yeah, but it's okay if you didn't mean it, I don't know exactly what you were thinking but I guess it's an easy enough mistake to make -"

"Kurt, it wasn't a mistake."

Kurt's mouth snapped shut, giving Blaine the chance to start his own ramble. "I just wanted a better way to tell you, you know? I know you love romance so I wanted to make it romantic and something you'd remember, not when you'd just woken up and we're in the middle of studying for exams and -"

He felt the words cut off as a pair of lips pressed against his gently and his brain wiped of any conscious thought except _I'm kissing Kurt._

After a few seconds, Kurt pulled away, touching a hand to his lips briefly before his mouth curved in a smile. "I - was that okay?"

"Definitely," Blaine murmured before pulling him back in.

* * *

"Where is it?"

David burst in the door to see Wes sitting on Blaine's bed, holding the abandoned notebook. He sat next to him and Wes shuffled over so they could both read the words.

_Has it always been this way? Have I truly been blind for so long?_

_No - no, this isn't right. I must be mistaken_

_And yet ... there is something about him that I am seeing for the first time,_

_Something in the way he smiles, the way he moves. Something so beautiful. _

_He has courage in abundance; he is brave enough to show his heart when the world condemns him for it. _

_And yet, he is gentle. He sings as an angel does; he is an angel among men and women, an angel I wish to be mine._

_No, this can't be so?_

_But it is. I see him, I drink him in. _

_He is everything I have always wanted. _

_I... yes - I do._

_I love him. _

_I must tell him._

* * *

**I so don't pretend to be a poet. I just based it on the way people wrote soliloquies in the Shakespeare stuff I studied in High School. **


	75. Insecure

**This is the last chapter I'll be posting in New Zealand. **

**(Own up: how many of you had a heart attack when you saw 'This is the last chapter...'?)**

**Anyway, tomorrow I'm flying all day and I'll be in Australia tomorrow night. Because they're two hours behind, this means my upload times probably will change, but nothing dramatic. And I spent today saying goodbye to people, which sucked. But we've just been out to dinner and it was honestly the best meal I've ever had and the wine was amazing and I'm dead to the world. So goodnight everybody, and I'll speak to you all from Australia tomorrow :) **

**From **_**Lolasatsuma: After the GAP Attack, Klaine are in their local **__**coffee shop and Blaine is moaning about the fact that he made his love with **__**Jerimiah[sic] up in his head. Kurt confesses that he thought that Blaine was going **__**to sing with him and when Blaine doesn't believe him, he goes in for a kiss.**_

**WARNING: This is OOC Blaine and ANGST, but it does get resolved. But seriously, intentionally written OOC Blaine, okay?**

* * *

Insecure

"I just can't believe I made it all up in my head."

Kurt sighed. "Okay, can I ask you something? Because we've always been completely honest with each other. You and I - we hang out... we sing flirty duets together.. you know my coffee order... Was I supposed to think that was nothing?"

Blaine lifted his head and Kurt was astonished to see a glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes. "What do you mean?"

_Now or never, Kurt._

"I thought the guy you wanted to ask out on Valentines Day was me."

He wasn't sure what he had expected to see from his declaration. He hoped that Blaine wouldn't reject him too badly, though he'd probably chuck out some line about how Kurt's friendship meant too much to him to hurt right now.

Instead, he saw pure shock written across Blaine's face. "No... you can't be serious."

Kurt's brow furrowed. "I am. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Because you're Kurt Hummel!" Blaine clapped a hand over his mouth but seemed unable to stop the torrent of words that came flooding out a second later. "You're so confident and unique and independent and there's no way you'd like someone like .."

"Like what, Blaine?"

"Like me." Blaine ducked his head. "I'd always hoped but I knew nothing would come of it, which is why I went after Jeremiah. I know you're just joking, but please stop."

Kurt was dumbfounded. _Does Blaine really think so little of himself?_

"Blaine. Look at me."

Blaine shook his head, refusing to look up. "I - I can't."

"Why not?" Kurt couldn't understand why his confident friend had suddenly changed.

"Because I'm usually so good at putting on the brave face but I can't do it this time." Blaine finally lifted his head a little and Kurt could see the raw emotion shining in his eyes. "I hide behind a mask all the time, Kurt, and everybody thinks I'm totally in control. But I'm not, I'm scared."

Kurt took his arm and steered him to a table. "Blaine, you don't have to be in control all the time. Tell me what scares you."

Blaine sighed and looked up to meet Kurt's eyes. "I'm scared of actually showing my emotions. At my last school, I got beaten up any time I tried. I know I'm safe at Dalton but I've gotten to the point where it just scares me too much to even try."

Kurt reached out and gently put a hand on Blaine's. "Then share something with me. Tell me why you thought I was joking and why you didn't want me to be joking."

Kurt had never imagined that when he and Blaine finally confessed their feelings for each other - and he had imagined it many times in many different scenarios - it would be him encouraging Blaine to talk about his feelings.

Blaine took a deep breath, then blurted it out. "I like you. I really do, I - I just - I've never had a boyfriend, you know? And I'd never want to do anything to hurt you and I'm scared of that. I'm scared I'll say or do the wrong thing and screw it all up and you'll leave me and -"

Kurt cut off Blaine's tirade the only way he could. Leaning across the table, Kurt kissed him. Blaine spluttered slightly against his mouth for a second before relaxing into the touch.

Aware of where they were, Kurt pulled away after a few seconds. "Trust me," he urged, knowing Blaine was about three seconds from running out. "Let me in. We can learn this together, okay?"

Blaine shook his head. "I can't do it, Kurt. I - I'm so sorry."

The chair flew back, and Blaine bolted. Kurt watched him go, feeling the tears fill up in his eyes, before sighing and pushing back his own chair.

_Someday, Blaine, you'll realize that some things are worth letting in, _Kurt thought to himself as he headed out of the Lima Bean, deciding a girls night was what he needed to feel better. He pulled out his phone, and called Mercedes.

_And I've waited this long. I'm not giving up on you yet. But I'm not waiting forever._

* * *

Blaine grabbed another tissue, wiping at his eyes and forcing himself to stop crying. He had left the Lima Bean an hour earlier and the second he had gotten to his room, he had collapsed on his bed and cried his eyes out. And now he was exhausted, but his brain just wouldn't stop working.

_So, think about it, Blaine. Why are you so upset?_

Well, that was a no-brainer. He had just run out on Kurt after he had _kissed _him, telling him he was too scared to start a relationship with him. Of course he was going to be upset, especially since he knew he had probably just ruined his friendship with Kurt.

"What the _hell _is wrong with you?" he screamed into his pillow, before succumbing to his tears again.

A second later, his door burst open and someone entered hurriedly, kneeling next to him. "Blaine? What's going on?"

Blaine knew the tears were still pouring down his face as he croaked out, "It's nothing, Wes. Just go, please."

"Like hell it's nothing, and I'm not leaving you like this. Sit up."

Blaine groaned, but obediently sat up, wiping his face. Wes sat next to him, offering him another tissue and waiting until he had stopped crying again before speaking. "Now, tell me what happened."

He sighed before repeating the events of the afternoon as quickly as possible to Wes, trying to be as objective as possible so he wouldn't start bawling again. Wes heard him out silently, only raising an eyebrow when Blaine told him about the kiss. At the end, there was a few seconds of silence, before Wes asked the all important question. "So, if you like him, why won't you date him?"

"I can't hurt him, Wes, I -"

Wes shook his head. "No, Blaine. It's not about hurting Kurt, it's about hurting you. For so long, you've had your walls up because you thought someone was going to hurt you. You've liked Kurt for ages, I know that even if you don't. And here he is, offering himself to you, _knowing _that you're insecure and you're wearing masks and wanting you anyway, and you're going to let that go?" Wes paused for a second. "Blaine, how would you feel if Kurt walked out of your life?"

Blaine felt his heart drop. "It'd kill me, Wes."

"So why did you walk out of his?"

And that was when it hit him, with the force of a ton of bricks. _You just lost Kurt because you were too afraid to have him._

Blaine bit his lip, trying not to cry again. All he wanted was for Wes to get out so he could wallow in self-pity and realize just how stupid he'd been and how much he had given up -

"You can fix it, you know?"

His head snapped up. "How?"

Wes sighed. "Kurt won't just walk away, Blaine. He's waited this long for you, I don't think he'll be giving up on you yet. So find out where he is and go talk to him."

"Find out where he is? Isn't he here?" But Blaine knew that of course Kurt wouldn't come back. He stood, grabbing his keys and ignoring whatever Wes called after him as he ran down the stairs to his car. As he pulled out of the parking lot, probably driving far too fast, he ran through the list of where Kurt would go and got an answer straight away. _Mercedes._

Blaine floored it.

* * *

"Kurt, honey, it'll be okay."

Kurt sniffed, wiping at his eyes and leaning into Mercedes as she wrapped an arm around him. "I just feel terrible for _him_, 'Cedes. I can live with rejection because I've been getting it all my life. But he's living with this fear and he can't break through it, even for his own happiness."

Mercedes sighed. "I know you, Kurt. You're going to wait for him, aren't you?"

"What else can I do? I _love_ him," Kurt's voice broke a little at that, "and he cares about me too, possibly even loves me back. He helped me work through my fears with Karofsky, I need to help him with this. I just need to wait until he lets me -"

There was a loud banging at the door and both Mercedes and Kurt jumped. Mercedes got up and went downstairs to answer the door, her parents being out for the evening. Kurt sighed and settled back into the bed, feeling fresh tears spring to his eyes. As much as he said he was only feeling sorry for Blaine, truth was he felt pretty bad for himself too. Considering he had just _kissed _Blaine and been rejected...

"Kurt!"

_No way..._

Kurt jumped up, his heart in his throat. Mercedes sounded worried, excited and wary all in one, and Kurt _knew _who was at the door. He took the stairs two at a time, skidding into the foyer and stopping next to Mercedes, staring at the doorway.

Blaine was standing in the doorway, his eyes red and tear marks down his face. He was trembling, and all Kurt wanted to do was pull him into his arms and never let him go, but he knew that Blaine needed to speak, for both of their sakes.

Mercedes slipped into the kitchen and Kurt led Blaine into the living room, sitting opposite him and waiting. There was silence, then Blaine began to speak. "Kurt, I'm an idiot. I was willing to give up one of the - the best things that ever h-happened to me." Blaine stopped, taking a few deep breaths and trying to keep his voice steady. "Because I was afraid. And that's not fair, to either of us, but especially not to you."

Another silence, and the first tears spilled down Blaine's cheeks. "I _love _you, Kurt. I don't know how long I have, but I do. And I can't let my fears get in the way of that. And I don't know whether you still want me after the way I acted, but all I know is that I _do _want you. No matter what it takes, no matter how scared I am that I'll screw it up and you'll hate me, or we'll break up and never be friends again. I want to risk it, for you. Only for you, Kurt."

His own tears were slipping down as Kurt reached out, taking Blaine's hands. "I'll ask it again," he murmured. "Trust me. Let me in. We can learn it together, okay?"

Blaine smiled through his tears. "Okay."

Kurt leant in and kissed him again, and this time Blaine _responded, _kissing back with a hesitance that slowly disappeared. And Kurt knew in that moment that Blaine had given him his heart.

* * *

**Okay, this was initially written that it ended just after the kiss, when Kurt told Blaine to let him in, I had Blaine agreeing and that was that. I looked at it and went 'no, that sucks.' So I then had it ending with Kurt thinking about waiting for Blaine. Then I wrote an end authors note saying "For anybody who's feeling miserable right now..." and made up a scenario where it got resolved. Then I went 'hold it, what am I doing this for? Why don't I just _write _that?'**

**So that's what I got. **


	76. Shirt

**In response to my last chapter, I received this review from _MusicalEscape_. It speaks for itself. And it's so incredible that it gets its own page breaks.**

* * *

**_My idea of how this would've gone:_**

**_*Klaine kiss*_**

**_"Let me in, etc"_**

**_"I- I can't"_**

**_*starts to get up, fails*_**

**_"Kurt?"_**

**_"What(close to tears)?"_**

**_"I think I'm glued to the chair."_**

**I honestly don't have words. I just... *flails***

* * *

**Anyway, I'm back in Australia :) did my flights, met a family member who was coincidentally on both of the flights I took, saw my kitten again, still in the process of unpacking and it's so weird being here. It really is. But I don't think it's going to be the good kind of weird because I'd been home just over an hour and they were already on my case about finding a job. Cannot wait for university next year - living alone is going to do me some real good I think.**

**For those who want to know what time I now update, I will update anywhere between 7 and 11am GMT. Work it out from there for your own country :) and of course that will change sometimes due to work (fingers crossed!) or other commitments, but that's the basic to rely on. **

**From **_**Jg Rox: For some reason Blaine is wearing Kurt's 'Likes Boys' shirt from Born This Way, adorable Klaine fluffiness ensues.**_

**Squee :) and I know I've done something similar to this (you'll see) but I can't resist. I'm mean to my characters! I've set it around the Rumors time because there's NO Klaine and it's distressing. I don't really care when. So obviously TGTDOSBDK.**

**I was sent a manip by **_**Cori-Ackles **_**that definitely prompted this.**

* * *

Shirt

"Blaine, what are you doing here?"

Kurt jumped out of his car, staring at Blaine who was leaning on his own car in the McKinley parking lot.

"Dalton has the day off today. So I came out to see you and then I'm going to hit the shops for a little while, then come back this afternoon. Is that okay?"

Kurt smiled. "Of course it is. Especially when you ditch the uniform." Blaine watched Kurt's eyes rake across his body before he seemed to realize what he was doing. The blush spread across his face as he stammered, "I .. I wasn't..."

"It's alright." Blaine chuckled. "I know what you're like with your fashion." Plus, he kind of liked the way Kurt admired him, not that he would tell his boyfriend that. The whole 'boyfriend' thing being new to them and that coupled with Kurt's issues with anything relating to sex meant that they were taking things really slow. And any admissions like those had the potential to scare Kurt away, which Blaine never wanted to do.

Kurt smiled. "So, I'd better go in -" he gestured to the school behind him half heartedly.

"Yeah, I guess so." Blaine smiled sadly. "It doesn't get any easier, does it?"

Kurt shook his head, and Blaine felt the emotion well up as it did any time he had to say goodbye to Kurt, go to a school where Kurt wasn't there to meet up with him between classes, eat lunch with him, go to Glee club...

"Hey, homos!"

There was a splash and Blaine's vision turned blue.

Through the haze, he saw a jock throwing a cup behind him as he walked away. He felt the cold ice dripping down through his hair, running down his face, stinging his eyes. Across from him, Kurt was wiping his face as if this was normal and Blaine felt a twinge of pain as he realized that this had been normal for Kurt.

"I - that's _cold_." Blaine rubbed his eyes and Kurt winced. Blaine copied the gesture a second later as his eyes began to burn.

"Don't do that, you'll make it worse." Reaching over, Kurt gently wiped the slushy from his eyes as he blinked rapidly. "Blaine, I'm so -"

"Don't." Blaine caught his hand as he finished wiping the slushy away and squeezed it. "This wasn't your fault. I'm the one that came here, and we weren't doing anything. But you told me the bullying had stopped."

Blaine tried to look at Kurt sternly but it was hard to do when his boyfriend still had slush dripping down his face. "It has, inside the walls. This is the first time anything's happened since I transferred, I think two of us was just too big a target to pass up."

Kurt bit his lip, then seemed to come to a decision. "Come on. I can't go to school like this, anyway. We'll go back to my place and get cleaned up."

Blaine nodded, feeling the slushy drip down his face as he did and grimaced. He jumped in his car, expecting Kurt to get in his until the younger boy jumped in the passenger seat. "We'll come back for my car later. Besides, I need to call Dad."

As Blaine pulled out of the parking lot, Kurt activated loudspeaker and called his dad, getting voicemail. "Hey, it's me. Just letting you know that the school will be calling to ask why I'm not there, tell them I'm sick or something. Blaine and I got slushied so we're going home -"

"Kurt?"

Burt's voice filled the car and Kurt was cut off. "Oh, hey Dad."

"What do you mean you and Blaine got slushied? What was Blaine doing there anyway?"

"He came to see me before school," Kurt shot a glance at Blaine and he smiled despite the circumstances. "Dalton has the day off today. And then Azimo saw us and it seemed he couldn't resist."

"Do I need to call the school?" Burt's voice was gruff and Blaine knew he was holding back his anger.

"It's okay. I'll just text Santana and let her know, unfortunately she can deal with it better than the teachers can." Kurt rolled his eyes. "I'm bringing Blaine home so we can both take showers and then I don't see the point going back so we'll probably go shopping or something."

Blaine tensed slightly as he realized nobody would be at Kurt's place. Not that he didn't _want_ to spend time alone, but he didn't know what Kurt's dad would think of them being alone together.

"Alright, kiddo. You take care and tell Blaine I said hi."

Blaine raised his eyebrows at Kurt who also looked surprised. "Alright, talk to you later Dad."

"I can't believe your dad is okay with that?"

Kurt chuckled. "He knows better than to argue with me. Plus, the bullying gets to him, he's not going to do anything to potentially upset me further."

Blaine pulled into Kurt's driveway and they jumped out, Kurt finishing off a text to Santana before unlocking the door and ushering Blaine in. It wasn't the first time Blaine had been to Kurt's place, but there was something about the fact that they were _alone_ that made Blaine shift nervously and bite his lip.

"Blaine, it's okay." Blaine looked guiltily at Kurt who was smiling. "Dad knows we're here. And it's not like we're going to get up to anything, we haven't even kissed."

Oh, and Kurt shouldn't be _allowed _to say things like that, because now Blaine found his gaze dropping to Kurt's lips which were - oh, moving.

" - shower down the hall. Don't rub your eyes, just let the water wash it out. There's shampoo up there too. And -" Kurt held up a hand, "wait here, I'll grab you some clothes."

Kurt quickly darted up the stairs and Blaine looked around the house he had gotten used to, the house that screamed Kurt's decorating, albeit much less so than his bedroom. Which Blaine had only seen once, briefly, accompanied by Burt who seemed to think that the mere sight of a bed would cause the two boys to go into a frenzy.

"Okay, here." Blaine started, not having heard Kurt come back down the stairs. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just lost in thought." Blaine took the clothes from Kurt before making his way to the bathroom, Kurt heading back upstairs to his ensuite. Stripping off his clothes, he wrinkled his nose at his ruined shirt before balling it up and chucking it in the bath. Jumping in the shower, he tipped his head back and let the warm water run over his face and hair, washing out the blue ice.

Blaine was all too conscious of the fact that he was showering at Kurt's place, something that seemed just a little too overwhelming to him, so he quickly washed his hair and jumped out. Drying off, he grabbed the clothes Kurt had given him and pulled on the jeans, rolling them up at the end and smiling at how Kurt was undoubtedly going to call him a hobbit again. Then he pulled out the shirt and couldn't hide a chuckle.

It was the shirt Kurt had worn to his _Born This Way _performance last week. Blaine had asked, and Kurt had tried, but they hadn't been able to pull enough strings to get even Blaine to be able to watch. So he had seen the video that afternoon and it had taken everything in him to not pull Kurt in and kiss him -

_Don't go there. _Shaking his head, Blaine pulled the shirt over his head and stared at himself in the mirror, grinning slightly at the backward LIKES BOYS emblazoned across his torso. Then his eyes moved higher and he winced.

His hair was drying out and Blaine realized the gel had been washed out. Kurt had seen his hair curly once before but that wasn't crazy curly - he'd still had gel in it. This was curls sticking in all directions, hanging loosely over his forehead and making him feel about twelve.

Rummaging through the cupboard, Blaine came up empty on any kind of hair product. He presumed all of Kurt's products were up in his bathroom and he knew Finn didn't use anything. Running his hands under the tap, he attempted to flatten his hair to no avail.

And then the knock came on the door. "Blaine? Did it all come out?"

_Crap. _"Uh, yeah."

"Okay. Um. Well, I'll be in the living room when you're - yeah."

As he heard the sound of footsteps moving away, Blaine sighed. He gave his hair a few more swipes, trying to tame it, before unlocking the door and moving towards the living room.

Kurt was sitting with his back to the door and Blaine took a moment to admire his boyfriend. He was dressed down, wearing a simple t-shirt and jeans - though they did look like they were sewn on, as usual. And _his_ hair was perfect, Blaine noted with a touch of bitterness. He stepped into the room and Kurt turned, jumping off the couch.

"So it's all -"

Kurt froze, staring at Blaine who immediately put his hands to his head. "I know, it's horrid isn't it? But there wasn't any gel or any type of product and I couldn't do anything abou -"

Kurt strode across the room and slammed their mouths together. Blaine froze, stunned for a second before his mind caught up. _Kurt's kissing you and you're standing there doing nothing?_

Blaine began to kiss Kurt back and then he felt the hands twine themselves in his hair, raking through it and curling strands between his fingers. He suppressed a moan, wrapping his arms firmly around Kurt's waist. After a few moments, Blaine realized that for a first kiss, this was getting pretty heated and reluctantly pulled away, drawing a whine from Kurt before he realized what he had done.

"I - Blaine, I'm so -"

Blaine pressed his lips against Kurt's again, silencing him before pulling away. "If you try to apologize for it, that's what you'll get."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I should keep apologizing then," he murmured breathlessly, and damn it all if that wasn't the _hottest _thing Blaine had ever heard. But he needed to know what he had done to cause that sort of reaction from Kurt so he could keep doing it. Every day.

"So...?"

Kurt blushed. "It was just ... the hair. It's - so, so _wow."_

"Wow, huh?" Blaine teased, unwrapping his arms and taking Kurt's hand, pulling him over to the couch. Sitting down, he wrapped his arm back around his boyfriend's waist and Kurt leant into him with a sigh.

"Yeah, that and the shirt. Something about seeing you in that was ridiculously hot."

And now it was Blaine's turn to blush. "So, we've got the rest of the day to ourselves, and a house to ourselves. Shall we -"

Once again, he was cut off by Kurt's lips against his, a sensation he could well get used to.

* * *

**So, the manip I was sent that I referred to earlier was of Darren Criss with his hair curly wearing a white shirt that someone had 'shopped "LIKES BOYS" on the front of. So that was my inspiration for this. Can't you just imagine it?**


	77. Anniversary

**********IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PROMPTS! Prompts are now open for everything. Anywhere from their first meeting right up until New York, off in the future, in an alternate universe, whatever. Send them all in now because you have THREE DAYS left until I cap. I will not write everything I'm given, but just send in all of your ideas, no matter how out there, and we'll see what comes of it. After those three days, I will officially close prompts and tell you how many chapters this fic will be.**

**So you know what that means: I finally saw New York! ****I swear I'm probably the LAST person to see it, but spoiler warnings anyway.**

**To be honest, I wasn't as impressed as I thought. Sure, I knew they wouldn't win, and I knew it would be 99% Finchel. And I knew there'd only be one Klaine scene (more on that later). But still, it just seemed... I don't know. I mean, watching Kurt was like watching perfection, but other than that, there were so many parts that I think could have been done better. And I'm just really bummed about Samcedes being official but being kept a secret. I mean, I understand the secrecy from everybody in the club because of the drama, but from Klaine? Really? I think Mercedes should have told Kurt. And I want to know how they got together! And it all ended a little cliche, with Finchel getting together (though he FINALLY said what I was thinking the whole time; "There's a year until graduation." I mean, really, there is a whole year to go, why is she so fussed about it now?), and everybody so cheerful and all that. And yeah.**

**Now, for the moment I watched the entire episode for. The Klaine scene. Well, there's really only one way I can express this.**

***flails***

**Oh, hello perfection. The way Blaine just sits there and watches Kurt talk with that _smile_, and how incredibly comfortable around each other they are and then just ... "I love you." No strings, just said. And the way he just sits there while Kurt nearly chokes on his coffee .. I could analyze that scene forever. And I wish it had gone on forever. It was just... _beautiful. _Until it got cut off :/**

**So Angela and I finally got to dissect this episode. And I came to the conclusion that next season should be Klaine, Samcedes and the Warblers. Nobody else. And I'll be very happy. **

**Thank you for putting up with my ramblings about episodes. So, until November :)**

**From **_**lunargirl40: how about one where they kiss after blaine gives kurt his back story (cause frankly, ryan murphy is giving me JACK to work with!; i think he knows the fan girls are writing about his characters!)**_

**I work Blaine's back story into things a lot and I haven't decided which back story I prefer cause there's so many options out there. Obviously, we know a little bit as of Prom Queen (this prompt was sent before that episode) and my heart seriously broke when I saw that moment. But still, so much to work with... **

**I can't remember which story it was in but I made a very brief allusion to a time when it was the anniversary of Blaine's transfer and he didn't want to get out of bed. So I'm expanding on that.**

* * *

Anniversary

"Morning, boys!"

Kurt pulled out a chair and sat down next to a tired-looking Wes and David. "I don't get how you're a morning person," David grumbled, stirring his coffee absently.

"I sleep for eight hours exactly and have a vigorous moisturizing routinue that wakes me up and keeps me in a good mood." Kurt chuckled at the looks on their faces. "So where's Blaine?"

His smile died when he saw the uncomfortable look pass between Wes and David. "What is it?"

"Um, if he hasn't told you, then maybe we shouldn't."

Kurt frowned. "Guys, if something's wrong with Blaine then I'd like to know."

David shrugged. "It can't do any harm, can it?" Wes still looked unsure but allowed David to speak. "He's in his room. It's the anniversary of his transfer."

Kurt froze, coffee halfway to his mouth. "Oh," he managed to say, before putting down the cup and standing up. He strode away quickly, hearing Wes and David calling after him but not really caring. Right now his priority was Blaine.

He didn't know much about what had caused Blaine to transfer to Dalton. Blaine had briefly alluded to being taunted when they had first met, but he hadn't said anything else. Kurt had left him to it, figuring the stories would come out when Blaine was ready to talk, if at all.

But if it was so bad that he didn't come out of his room, well, Kurt needed to do _something._

Pausing outside Blaine's door, he checked the dry erase board for any definite signs of Blaine wanting to be alone. The board was completely blank, so Kurt drew up his courage and knocked.

"Who is it?"

Kurt started because the voice that had come out sounded weak and _exhausted_. "It's Kurt."

There was a moment of silence then the shuffling of feet. The door clicked open and Kurt bit his lip to keep his jaw from dropping.

Blaine was standing in front of him, still dressed in his pyjamas and hair ungelled. His eyes were bloodshot as if he hadn't slept at all - Kurt figured he hadn't. "Hi," he murmured, his voice thick and rough.

"Hi. Can I come in?"

Blaine nodded, stepping back into the room. Kurt followed, shutting the door and turning to see Blaine was already sitting back on his bed, his knees tucked up under his chin. Kurt mentally filed away how adorable he looked for another day, then sat down next to him, giving him plenty of room.

Kurt knew when he was upset, he didn't want to be touched, but he wasn't sure how Blaine was. He figured he'd leave it up to Blaine to call the shots, and just sat silently next to his friend.

"I suppose you want to know.." Blaine left the sentence hanging, his tone measured.

"All I want is for you to be as - as comfortable as you can." Kurt had almost said _happy_ but realized that Blaine wasn't exactly going to be happy today.

Blaine blinked a couple of times, still staring across the room. "How'd you know?"

"David." Kurt shrugged slightly. "He didn't say much, just.. just what today was about."

"Oh."

They sat in silence for awhile, Blaine's eyes fixed firmly on the wall. Kurt wasn't sure whether to stay or leave Blaine to his thoughts when he spoke.

"It's been two years and it still doesn't get any easier. I wish I could tell you it does, for your sake. But it doesn't."

Blaine finally turned to look at him and Kurt's heart skipped a beat. Blaine always had walls up of some kind - never blocking people out, but keeping his own emotions in. And finally, they were down. His eyes were swimming with pain and memories and Kurt just wanted to reach over and take it all away.

"Maybe in a few more years. Maybe I'll stop seeing the pictures in my mind, hearing the words, remembering the -" Blaine pressed his lips together, turning away again. Kurt recognized it as surpressing his emotions and spoke before he realized what he was saying.

"You're allowed to have emotions, Blaine. You're allowed to show them."

Blaine flinched and Kurt started regretting the words until Blaine looked back at him. "I - that's what - what caused it all."

And now Blaine's lip was trembling and Kurt hesitantly held out his arms. Blaine looked at him for a second then shuffled into them, resting his head against Kurt's shoulder. Kurt tightened his arms around Blaine's waist and just held him, waiting.

"It was my best friend, Kurt."

Kurt sucked in a breath as he heard the absolute agony in Blaine's voice. "He - his name was Jake. We'd been friends since we were eight and said we'd stick with each other through thick and thin. Neither of us were popular - he was into tech stuff, I was into music."

Blaine smiled a little, looking up at Kurt and he couldn't help but smile back. "We both got bullied, not much in our first years of high school of course, just the occasional name. For the most part we were just ignored and we were fine with that."

Blaine's head ducked again and Kurt raised a hand to gently run it through his hair. Blaine sighed a little and Kurt's heart flipped at the sound before focusing back on the words coming out of his friend's mouth.

"But then they seemed to realize something was different about me - something even I hadn't realized yet. I was never sure from the start like you, Kurt." Blaine had told him before that it had taken him awhile to come to terms with his sexuality, but it was never something he was ashamed of. And there was no shame in his voice now, just a lot of pain.

"And the names started, names I'd never even _heard_ before." Blaine sniffed and Kurt knew he had started to cry. "I - I had to look them up. And once I found out what they were calling me ... well, that's when I started having to work out whether it was true or not. And once I realized it was, I thought I'd talk to Jake about it."

Blaine shuddered in his arms and Kurt pulled him closer, rubbing circles into his back. "We were just hanging out one afternoon when I brought up the subject of the names and he admitted he didn't know what they meant either. So I told him that they were all ways of calling me gay, and he looked horrified." Kurt heard Blaine supress a sob before continuing. "He said he couldn't believe someone would call someone else things like that. Then I realized his indignation wasn't about me being called names but about people insinuating that I was gay. He thought that was the biggest insult. I - I asked him why." Blaine sniffed again. "I wish I hadn't now."

"He said that a guy liking another guy was possibly the s-sickest thing he'd ever heard, that it wasn't normal. And he went on and on about it and I just - just sat there, not sure what to do. And then finally, he looked up and saw the expression on my face and he - he just _knew_."

Blaine raised his head to look at Kurt, tears streaming down his cheeks. "I ran. And when I got to school the next day, everything was different. Suddenly Jake was hanging out with the jocks and calling me names along with them. And then I found out that he'd outed me."

Kurt reached a hand up to gently wipe the tears from Blaine face, wishing he could offer something more in support. Strangely enough, he wasn't feeling like he was going to cry - an odd feeling of calm had settled over him as if he knew he had to stay strong for Blaine.

"The next few years were ... it was torture, Kurt." Blaine's head dropped again, curling into Kurt's chest and muffling his words. "He slowly moved from verbal harrassment to physical. Our school had a Sadie Hawkins dance and I asked the other gay guy in our school to come with me. And when we were waiting for my dad to pick us up, Jake and the other guys came along and beat the living crap out of us."

Kurt gasped and knew Blaine had heard it. His head came up and he stared at Kurt looking concerned. "I'm sorry, is it too much?"

"No, just - just a shock. I never would have thought ... Blaine, you told me you got taunted, not bashed."

Blaine sighed. "I - you can see how well I handle talking about it." He gestured to his tear-streaked face, smiling ruefully. "That's the end of the story anyway. After that happened, my dad pulled me out. Same with the other guy, he's actually overseas now. And I came here."

Kurt leant down and kissed Blaine on the forehead. He wasn't sure why, but it felt right. "Thank you for telling me."

Blaine smiled as his tears finally stopped. "You're welcome."

Kurt reached out to wipe his tears away again, Blaine catching his hand when he was done and squeezing it. "Thank you for being there for me."

"Anytime," Kurt murmured.

There was a moment of silence when they just stared at each other before Blaine bit his lip. "Kurt.. I - I want something to remember this day for that doesn't remind me of the past."

Kurt waited, but Blaine stayed silent, and - oh, did his eyes just flicker down to Kurt's _lips?_

"Yeah?" Kurt waited for Blaine's eyes to catch his, then deliberately looked down at Blaine's lips, flicking back up to see the hope ignite in his eyes.

"Yeah."

"I can do that." And leaning down, Kurt gently pressed their lips together. The touch only lingered for a few seconds before Kurt pulled away, but he felt the dynamic shift as he looked in Blaine's eyes again.

And then Blaine seems to return to himself. "I - if you didn't want that to change anything, we can still just be friends, that's fine."

"And if I did?" Kurt almost couldn't believe the words were slipping out of his mouth, but there they were and Blaine's eyes widened a little before a grin split across his face.

"Then that's _more than_ fine."

Kurt ducked his head and captured Blaine's lips again, determined to make a new set of memories to replace the old. Because Blaine could be happy now.

* * *

**I hate crying!Blaine. I was teary during SOWK when they looked at each other in that split second before the hug and Blaine's lips were pressed together like he was holding it all back. If they ever make Blaine cry properly, I'll bawl my eyes out for _days._**

**New segment! _MusicalEscape _gave me the lovely 'alternate segment' for my last authors note abut the previous chapter and I think it's going to be ongoing =D expect to see that living here from now on. So this is the segment that she wrote about last chapter:**

* * *

**_*Talking, etc*_**

******_"Hey, homos!" *slushiness ensues*_**

**_"Kurt, can I take your coffee?"_**

**_"Sure."_**

**_"HEY, AZIMIO!"_**

**_"What, fagg-"_**

**_*Is hit with grande non-fat mocha (Kurt's) and medium drip (Blaine's)*_**

**_*Falls to ground* "IT BURNS!"_**

**_I would have them throw a cookie too, but it would be a shame to waste a yummy cookie on such an idiot._**


	78. Girls Night

**************IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PROMPTS! Prompts are now open for everything. Anywhere from their first meeting right up until New York, off in the future, in an alternate universe, whatever. Send them all in now because you have TWO DAYS left until I cap. I will not write everything I'm given, but just send in all of your ideas, no matter how out there, and we'll see what comes of it. After those two days, I will officially close prompts and tell you how many chapters this fic will be.**

**************Two plugs/recs I need to make because both of these people came to me and asked my permission to write these fics. First, _A Thousand Ways To Tell A Love Story _by _Mrs. Malfoy-Goode_, which is essentially the Samcedes version of _Kiss_. Second, _Confessions _by _squishierhugs_, which is all the different ways Klaine could have said they love each other. Both are prompt stories, so go check them out and send some prompts, okay?**

**************And someone asked about my mention of Blaine's horrid red sweater vest thing back in the Karofsky chapter. I was referring to the one he wore during that episode - the Dalton uniform has a dress shirt, blazer, tie and optional sweater/vest thing. And it's bright red and hideous. Look past the scarf and you can see it here: http : / / holybackflippingwarblers . tumblr . com / post / 3334185119 / capturingescape - findabetterdream - i -swear - in (removing spaces of course)**

**************For anybody who has ever heard of the Klaine chemistry equation, I'm dying over this right now. Potassium = K, Lanthaum = La, Iodine = I, Neon = Ne. Someone on Tumblr asked their teacher what those four combined would make. The answer? FIREWORKS. It's fate.**

**************And finally... KLAINE LIVE, KLAINE LIVE, THEY FREAKING KISSED! If you haven't seen any of the Klaine Skits from Glee Live, search for The Klaine Skit (my favourite 'normal' one was New York). Then search Klaine Skit Kiss and you'll find their Dublin one and you WON'T be disappointed. **

**************From **_**TheNorthernBelle: What if Blaine and the girls of ND were over at Kurt's house for some reason, and Blaine stumbles upon the outfit Kurt wore for the Bad Romance number. And then that could lead to someone, maybe Rachel or Mercedes, to pulling out a video of said performance, much to Kurt's embarrassment. But of course Blaine finds it sexy as hell and just can't resist the urge to kiss Kurt.**_

**Girly sleepover! :D there's so much potential in this... I didn't have Blaine discover the outfit though, sorry! **

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Girls Night

"Pleeeeease?"

Burt sighed and Kurt pouted for good measure.

"Alright. But no funny business."

Kurt squealed, hugging his dad before running back into the house and grabbing his phone. "Still there?"

"Yeah." Blaine's voice travelled down the phone and Kurt's smile grew even wider.

"He said it's okay!"

He heard Blaine chuckle before responding. "Okay, I'll be there in about an hour. Just got to finish up this paper and tell Wes and David I'll be out for the night."

Kurt said goodbye to his boyfriend and immediately headed to his bedroom to begin preparation for the night. He knew Mercedes was on her way and would be there any minute. Rachel had a dance class so she'd be arriving after Blaine, but Tina and Quinn would be there shortly after Mercedes.

On cue, a knock was heard and Kurt abandoned his pedicure kit to answer it. Mercedes swept him up in a hug before releasing him and looking at him scrutinizingly. "Okay, you look like you just got the latest _Vogue _released early or something." She paused. "Wait, _did_ you?"

Kurt laughed, leading Mercedes upstairs to his room. "No, even better. Dad said Blaine could join us tonight!"

Mercedes raised an eyebrow. "Is he going to be interested in this stuff? Not that I'm against him coming," she added hastily at Kurt's look, "but I just didn't see him as that type of guy."

"I didn't think so either but you know we both love _Vogue_ and I'm just dying for an excuse to get that gel out of his hair and see what exactly is his description of 'unmanagable.'"

Kurt knew the smile on his face was huge, but he didn't really care. Mercedes was smiling too. "You're really crazy about him, aren't you?"

"Yeah. And the best part is that he's crazy about me too."

Mercedes hugged him again before helping him unload his supplies for the night. Kurt could barely keep still and Tina and Quinn's arrival half an hour later only made things worse because he know in a matter of _minutes_ his boyfriend would be arriving to _stay the night_ at his house.

Tina and Mercedes exchanged a knowing smile. "Kurt, breathe," Mercedes ordered and Kurt realized he had been freaking out a little.

"Sorry, it's just exciting, you know? I mean, it's Blaine and it's me and we're actually _dating _and I never actually thought this kind of thing would happen and now he's coming _here_ and -" Kurt realized he was rambling and shut his mouth with difficulty, to the laughter of the three girls.

"I can't remember the last time I saw you this happy," Tina commented, opening the bottle of purple nail polish and beginning to work on Mercedes nails.

Kurt shrugged. "I can't remember the last time I was this happy."

There was a moment of awkward silence, then a knock on the door.

"He's here!" Kurt moved to get up, then realized Quinn had just finished painting his toenails and if he moved, he would smudge them into the carpet.

"Relax, Kurt." Quinn smiled at him, capping the nail polish. "I'll go get him."

As Quinn left the room, Kurt had to bite his fist to keep from laughing because Blaine was _here_.

* * *

Blaine stood outside the door, moving from foot to foot anxiously. He knew it was okay with Kurt's dad that he was here but still - what if he was the one to answer the door and wanted to have a _talk _with Blaine or something? The door opened and Blaine tensed, only to see Quinn smiling at him.

"It's alright, it's only me."

He chuckled sheepishly, knowing he was caught out. "Good to see you again, Quinn."

To his surprise, the girl stepped forward and gave him a hug. "You're shaking," she commented and Blaine felt the blush cross his face as he entered the house.

"I - yeah.. it's just -"

"I know." Quinn led him up the stairs. "Kurt's the same."

Before Blaine could ask what she meant by that, she had pushed open the door and announced, "Guess who I've got?"

"Blaine!"

Tina was the first one to hug him as Mercedes and Kurt smiled from their positions on the bed. "I'd hug you but -" Mercedes wiggled her fingers which were a bright purple. Kurt chuckled.

"Yeah, I can't even get up. Come to me," he ordered and Blaine noticed his toenails were silver. He dropped his bag in the corner and quickly crossed the room, sitting next to his boyfriend to give him a hug.

"Feels like forever since I've seen you," he murmured.

Kurt laughed again. "I was at Dalton yesterday. It hasn't even been a full day yet."

Blaine shrugged. "We're in the honeymoon stage, I'm allowed to miss you unnecessarily." He saw Kurt's smile soften and knew the whole concept of them actually being _together_ was as amazingly surreal to him as it was to Blaine.

"Okay, we're waiting for Rachel before we actually get into the facials and stuff, but we need to do your nails." Kurt gestured to Tina who was surrounded by bottles of nail polish. "What colour?"

Blaine bit his lip, staring at all the colours on the floor. "Um... rainbow?"

Tina laughed. "This is going to be fun. Come here." Blaine obediently sat on the floor next to the girl, holding his hands out to be painted. He noticed Kurt was painting Mercedes' toenails while she was doing Quinn's fingers. A comfortable silence settled around the room as the group painted until the girls apparently decided they couldn't hold it in any longer.

"So, Blaine," Mercedes started. "Are you treating Kurt right?"

"Oh, hell no, you are _not_ doing this, 'Cedes!" Kurt was turning bright red and Blaine couldn't help but laugh.

"Isn't that something you should be asking Kurt? I'm doing the best I can but I don't know -"

"He's practically perfect, okay?" Kurt had stopped painting to hide his face and the girls all laughed. Blaine felt a warm feeling fill in his chest as he watched his embarrassed boyfriend before Quinn turned to him.

"And is Kurt treating you right?"

Now it was Blaine's turn to blush. "I - of course he is. How could he not?" He fought against covering his face as well, but was glad he hadn't when Kurt uncovered his and gave him the most beautiful look that Blaine just wanted to jump over there and kiss him -

He was broken out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. "Should someone get that?" he asked, when nobody made a move to answer it.

"No, Finn will." Kurt shrugged and Blaine remembered that the two were back on again. He looked at Quinn briefly who was focused on braiding Tina's hair and let it go. If Rachel was invited tonight, then things must be fairly well sorted between the girls.

After a few minutes, the sound of footsteps was heard and then Rachel entered. "Sorry I'm so late, we ran over and then I came straight - Blaine!"

Blaine smiled at the slightly overwhelming girl. "Hi, Rachel."

"Kurt, I didn't realize your father was so encouraging of you and Blaine spending the night together." As usual, she was straight to the point and Blaine winced slightly.

Kurt sighed. "There's four other people here, Rachel, I think it's fine. And now that you're here, we can start facials!"

The girls quickly swept the nail polish into a box as Kurt pulled out various bottles. "Okay, Tina, here's yours. Rachel, I got a new one for sensitive skin that you should try. So maybe if you can do Rachel's, 'Cedes, and then Quinn can do Tina's?"

Quinn smirked. "And what are you and Blaine going to be doing?"

Kurt blushed again but pulled out another bottle. "I'll be giving Blaine a facial, obviously. What did you think?" He quickly raised a hand as the girls all opened their mouths. "That was rhetorical and you know it."

Turning his back on the giggling girls, he gestured to Blaine who obediently lay down on Kurt's bed, trying not to think too hard about the fact that he was lying on _Kurt's bed _and Kurt was sitting right next to him, staring down at him.

"Hey," he murmured and Kurt smiled.

"Hi. Now, close your eyes and hold still."

Blaine shut his eyes, not quite sure what to expect. He had never actually been given a facial before and - _oh..._

Kurt's hands were sweeping over his face softly, pulling his hair away from his forehead. There wasn't even any product on them and already Blaine was sinking into bliss. "I forgot to tell you," Kurt whispered, leaning closer to Blaine's ear, "how _incredible _your hair looks like that."

He bit his lip as Kurt's breath rushed across his ear, trying to deal with the sensory overload. Kurt's hands moved away and he heard the sound of a bottle being opened, then they were back and something was being smoothed over his face. Blaine was vaguely aware of Kurt explaining what he was doing, but all he knew was Kurt's hands moving, scraping, washing, smoothing...

"You're done."

Blaine opened his eyes slowly, pouting a little. "Already?"

Kurt chuckled. "Good, isn't it?"

"Mm. Incredible." As the relaxed feeling wore off, Blaine became aware of the conversation in the rest of the room and remembered that there were actually other people there.

"Oh, Kurt!" Rachel called out from where she was lying against a beanbag, Mercedes rubbing some kind of white cream into her face. "I forgot to tell you about our dance class today."

"Can you just _hold still_?" Mercedes sighed. "I'm almost done, just wait would you?"

Rachel huffed but allowed Mercedes to finish before sitting up and facing Kurt. "Okay, so we were working on our latest routine and they've put it to _Bad Romance!_"

The girls and Kurt all began to laugh, Blaine looking at them. "What's the significance of that?" he asked. He knew there were a lot of songs that had memories attached, the Warblers were the same, but there seemed to be something in particular about this song.

Kurt suddenly stopped laughing. "Oh... um, nothing special."

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "Nothing special, yeah right. Do you still have your outfit, Kurt?"

"I - um... I might."

"What's going on here?" Blaine asked, watching Kurt's face slowly turning red.

Tina grabbed her phone and sat on the bed next to Blaine. "I got Mike to record it and send it to me. I can't believe Kurt's never shown -"

"Tina, please don't do this!"

But the movie was already playing and Blaine could only stare.

* * *

Kurt groaned, putting his head in his hands as the familiar strains of the song began to play out of Tina's iPhone. The other girls began to sing along softly and Kurt peeked through his fingers to see what Blaine was doing.

Blaine was staring, transfixed, at the screen. His jaw had dropped slightly and Kurt couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. Glancing at the screen, he saw the camera zoom on himself as he strode across the stage and he heard Blaine swallow heavily beside him.

After what felt like forever to Kurt, the movie finally ended with the girls and Kurt striking their respective poses. Tina shut the video and put her phone away and the room went silent. Kurt refused to look up, staring firmly at his hands which were twined together. _I can't believe he just saw that, he's probably going to laugh his head off and then break up with me..._

"Kurt."

Kurt hesitantly looked up and realized Blaine was staring straight at him with something _burning_ in his eyes, and before he could even begin to decipher it, Blaine's hands were on his face and a pair of lips against his.

Kurt's brain stopped completely for a few seconds, until finally kicking into gear and reminding him that perhaps he should kiss _back_. But before he could get too lost in the incredible sensations their mouths were causing, Blaine pulled away and rested his forehead against Kurt's

"That was so _hot_," he almost growled and Kurt shivered.

"So was that."

Kurt sighed and broke away, turning to see the four girls watching them. "Can't we have a minute of privacy?"

Mercedes shook her head, a grin on her face. "Come on, you know us better than that."

Blaine laughed. "I guess we'll have to get used to it. Oh, Kurt, I picked up the latest _Vogue _on the way too."

Kurt chuckled as the girls stared. "But - but that doesn't come out for three weeks," Tina stammered out.

"My friend's dad is the publisher, so we get them earlier."

Mercedes turned to Kurt, wide-eyed. "Kurt, did I ever tell you how much I approve of and love your boyfriend? Because I do. A lot."

As Kurt rolled his eyes at his friends, he felt Blaine's arm slip around his waist and couldn't help but smile. He definitely had the best friends - and best boyfriend - any gay guy could ask for.

* * *

**Hello sappy and cliche ending.**

**Blaine's nails are rainbow because during one of his live performances, Darren Criss had rainbow nails... incidentally, that's probably about when people started **_**really**_** arguing that he wasn't actually straight... I just loved it so much though. He was doing a Warbler performance so full Dalton uniform, gelled hair... and rainbow nails. And these weren't just one finger a different colour. No, these were **_**spirals **_**of colour. I want to know who did his nails and get them to do mine! Google images for the awesomeness. Do it!**

* * *

_**MusicalEscape: so heres what happens after Kurt leaves Blaine's room:**_

**_*Gets phone book*_**

**_"Jake Eberly... 37 Oak Street, Lima Ohio. Oh. THAT Jake."_**

**_*Gets out phone*_**

**_"Hey, Puck? Remember that favor? I'm calling it in. I need you and the guys to pretty much destroy this guy's life. Uh-huh. Name's Jake Eberly. Yup. That's the one. Thanks. Bye."_**

**_-Found in a dumpster in California-_**

**_"Hello, this is News Channel 13. A teenager from Ohio by the name of Jake Eberly was found huddling in a dupster outside a Starbucks. He kept repeating the words 'no more... no more pandas please...' If you have any information regarding what might have happened, please call ***-****."_**


	79. Interrogation

******************VERY IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT PROMPTS! Prompts are now open for everything. Anywhere from their first meeting right up until New York, off in the future, in an alternate universe, whatever. Send them all in now because you have ONE DAY left until I cap. I will not write everything I'm given, but just send in all of your ideas, no matter how out there, and we'll see what comes of it. When tomorrow night's chapter is posted, that will be the cap, and I'll tell you how many chapters this story will be.**

******************I'm also bored so I'm setting up a 'betting pool.' Guess how many chapters it's going to end up being - winner gets a free unposted chapter of their choice. Okay?**

******************Internet is down on my laptop for some reason so anybody who's PM'd me, I won't be able to reply for awhile. I stole this computer while everyone else was out, but I'm surviving off my iPod right now which is only really any good for emailing Angela. **

******************To the anonymous Chinese person who asked if they could translate my stories into Chinese - please do! Just as long as you make sure to link where you got them from, and if you post them on FanFiction, let me know what account name you're using and where the stories are :)**

******************From **_**AndInsanityEnsues: Finn, despite his kinda cute stupidity, **__**suspects something's going on between Blaine and Kurt. He then proceeds to **__**give a very confused Blaine the third degree in front of the New Directions, **__**with some of them adding in their two cents. Kurt is embarrassed and fed up **__**and just wants Finn to shut up...**_

* * *

Interrogation

It was a normal afternoon at Dalton, until the phone rang.

Kurt sighed, looking up from his book to grab his phone and checking the caller ID. "Hey, Finn, what's up?"

Blaine looked up briefly then returned to his Math homework, as Finn's voice travelled down the line to Kurt. "Hi, Kurt. Um.. can you look out your window?"

Kurt frowned. "Okay?" He stood, keeping the phone pressed to his ear as he moved to the window. As he moved the curtain aside and looked out into the courtyard, he couldn't suppress a gasp. "What are you - never mind. I'm coming down."

"Wait, Kurt?"

"Yeah?" Kurt turned, heading towards the door before stopping at Finn's words.

"Um, bring Blaine with you."

Kurt's brow furrowed as he glanced back to his friend who was sitting up, looking at him. "I - sure."

He hung up and shrugged. "All of New Directions are down in the courtyard and they want both of us to go down there."

Blaine blinked a couple of times before standing up. "Why do they want me to come down? I've only met Finn and a couple of the girls."

Kurt pulled open the door and stepped into the hallway, Blaine following behind. "I don't know. But it's better to just go along with it and ask questions later."

The two boys made their way down the stairs and into the courtyard which was mercifully empty apart from the large group of McKinley students. Kurt and Blaine walked towards them, Kurt accepting hugs from a few of the girls before moving back to stand with Blaine, eyeing them all suspiciously. "So what are you all doing here?"

Everybody's attention was turned to Finn who coughed nervously then stepped forward. "I - Kurt, there's something I need to talk to you about. I was going to come alone but I told Rachel and she wanted to come, then she let it slip in Glee rehearsal and then everybody decided they wanted to follow."

"Well, we said we've got your back, Kurt. It doesn't matter what school you're at." Puck cracked his knuckles menacingly and Kurt frowned.

"But guys, nothing's going on here. I'm not in any kind of trouble. No tolerance bullying policy, remember?"

Finn shuffled uncomfortably for a second before taking a deep breath and looking up at Kurt. "We know that. But it's come to my attention that there's something going on with you and Blaine and I decided it was my -"

"Our!" Tina chipped in.

" - fine, our responsibility to come and make sure he's treating you right."

Kurt shook his head, trying to work out what was going on. He turned to Blaine who was looking just as confused. "I - guys, we're not dating. Why did you think -"

"Alright, let me start this off." Finn stepped forward and turned his attention to Blaine. "So, full name?"

"Um... Blaine Darren Anderson?"

Mike nodded, looking down at a piece of paper he held. "That checks out."

Kurt tried to look at the paper but Mike whisked it out of his view. "Checks out against _what? _It's not like he has a police record or anything!"

"Good question." Finn said. "Do you have a police record?"

"Of course I don't!" Blaine turned frantic eyes to Kurt who winced apologetically.

"Hey, it's not that bad," Puck spoke up from the back before Kurt turned his glare on him. Mike was about to speak when Kurt interjected.

"Guys, do you want to tell me what the hell is going on? Why are you giving my _friend_ the third degree?"

Mercedes was the one to step forward this time, putting a hand on Kurt's arm in a way that was meant to be reassuring. It wasn't. "Kurt, we know you're a private person and you weren't planning to tell us about Blaine being your boyfriend. We just want to make sure he's doing the right thing by you."

Kurt tried to argue before realizing the boys had continued to interrogate Blaine. "Previous boyfriends?"

Blaine coughed. "Um, none."

The answer to this question surprised Kurt - because seriously, _none_? - long enough for Finn to get another question in. "So how far exactly have you pressured Kurt into going?" Finn looked like he really didn't want to ask the question, but it seemed he felt he had to.

"Nowhere! We haven't _done_ anything!"

Puck whistled. "Dude, that's harsh. Kurt has needs too."

Kurt groaned, putting his head into his hands. He wasn't sure exactly where the group had gotten this idea from. Sure, he'd told Mercedes a few times that he was interested in Blaine, but had made it perfectly clear that it wasn't reciprocated. And now Finn suddenly seemed convinced that Kurt and Blaine were a couple.

He realized he'd left Blaine to try and fend for himself again and cut into his friend's frantic stammering. "Finn, let me ask you something. If, hypothetically, Blaine and I _were_ dating, which we're _not_, where would you have gotten your information from?"

Finn appeared to puzzle over the sentence for a second and Kurt briefly regretted using the word _hypothetically _before his step-brother answered. "Facebook, of course."

"Finn, my relationship status is single. So is Blaine's... right?" He turned to Blaine who nodded jerkily.

"Yeah, but you're always talking about going out for coffee, and that has to be dates, right?" Finn turned back to the assembled New Directions teenagers who all nodded.

"Sorry, Kurt. We know you most likely did want to keep it a secret, but we need to be sure that this Blaine is an acceptable choice for you. His vocals are certainly powerful enough, but -"

Kurt cut Rachel off, not wanting to hear any more about it. "Is there anything I can do that will actually convince you guys that we're not dating?"

The group turned and began to talk amongst each other and Kurt took the opportunity to talk to Blaine. "I'm so sorry, I don't know where they've gotten this idea from, but they're ridiculously protective of me. I think they're trying to make up for the McKinley thing. Hopefully they'll ask us for something that'll be easy enough to prove, then they'll leave us alone."

Blaine chuckled, but it sounded forced. "I have to say, this is a first." Then his voice softened. "At least they're looking out for you."

"Yes, well, I'd rather -"

"Alright!" Finn turned back to the boys and Kurt sighed. "We've decided there's only one way to prove that you're not together."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, waiting for whatever the group had come up with.

"You have to kiss."

He heard Blaine choke beside him. Before Kurt could get any words out, Quinn interjected.

"Kiss, and then tell us honestly that it didn't mean anything."

Kurt gulped. _You can't do this, _a snide voice popped up in his head. _They'll know that you like him for sure._

But he knew it was the only way he could get out of the situation and give Blaine some peace. He turned to his friend who looked slightly nervous and Kurt tried to ignore the sinking rejection that Blaine wouldn't look nervous if he actually _wanted _this.

"Well," he said, gesturing slightly.

"Um, yeah."

Kurt stared at Blaine for a few seconds, hoping he'd make the first move. But when it was clear he wasn't going to, Kurt took a deep breath then leant in, pressing their lips together gently.

He wasn't quite sure how or when their simple _we're-only-friends _kiss had turned into this, but as his hands twined around Blaine's neck and he felt the pressure of Blaine's lips, dancing on his and searching for ways to please Kurt, he couldn't quite bring himself to care.

After a few moments of reveling in Blaine, Kurt suddenly remembered how this whole thing had started. He pulled away, leaning in to whisper in Blaine's ear. "So now we have to turn around and tell them that didn't mean anything. Can you do that?"

"Not if you paid me," Blaine murmured and Kurt felt a shiver run up his back. "You?"

"Not for all the _Vogue _collections and vintage scarves in the world."

Blaine chuckled before they pulled apart and turned to look at New Directions, their hands finding each others as Kurt surveyed the reactions. Most of the girls looked happy, Mercedes was absolutely beaming and Kurt knew they'd be talking later. Puck was winking suggestively and Mike and Sam looked fairly nonchalant. Finn, however, was pulling his hands away from his eyes.

"Guys, I said kiss not make out!"

Kurt laughed, finding everything funny and not really caring how much of an idiot he must look right now. "Well, I'm afraid we can't disprove your point. Sorry."

Not that he was _that_ sorry after all.

* * *

**Poor Finn... ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape: **

_***Starts facial***_

_**"BLaine, -blah blah blah blah-"**_

_**"Kurt..." *reaches up and kisses him***_

_***After a minute, they pull back***_

_**"OH MY GAGA BLAINE, THAT WAS AWE- *Touches face, looks down at clothes* If I didn't love you so much, I would probably kill you because you got NAIL POLISH on MY CLOTHES and your facial thing is IN MY HAIR."**_

_***Girls giggle***_

_**"Ummm... I love you too?"**_


	80. Mechanic

**-PROMPTS ARE CLOSED-**

**Thank you so much to everybody who has sent in a prompt over time, but especially in the last few days I've been barraged with a _lot. _So thank you for making this story possible. You guys have thought of some stuff that I never would have _dreamt _of writing before this, but I've had a blast and will continue to have a blast writing a lot of your ideas. **

**Now, I've said many times that I never thought this story would make it past ten chapters. I started this when I was completely new to FanFiction, I didn't have any followers and I couldn't see this idea picking up too quickly. But somehow you all found me, and I get the absolute pleasure of telling you that (including the 'Due To Popular Demand' chapter which never made it into my numbering system) this story will be... 228 chapters long. **

***appropriate length of awed silence***

**It's unreal to me. It really is. I accept congratulations in the form of cake.**

** But anyway, that means that the two closest reviewers in the betting pool were _MusicalEscape _and _Secrets of the Fall_ - so send me a PM and we'll get around to your prizes! :) **

**I know already that people are going to send in prompts after this date - either because they didn't read these notes, they forgot, or they thought of something _really _good. If it's the latter, send me a PM and we can talk about oneshot possibilities. Otherwise, I will just be ignoring any prompts received - you guys can write them! As much as I'd love to keep writing forever, I know I'll get sick of it soon and I do have other things I need to be doing with myself. And other stories I want to work on.**

**Also, for your consideration, I've already written up to #125 =D**

**From **_**princessjenni **_**and similarly prompted by**_** rachaelann: Any chance of a story with mechanic!Kurt at his dad's garage? Sexy, sweaty, greasy overalls are not in enough stories! x**_

**Can I get a 'hell yes?' *Imaginary audience echoes***

**... can you tell I'm bored?**

* * *

Mechanic

Blaine pulled over to the side of the road, frowning. He knew enough about cars in his brief experience with his Dad to know that the strange clunking noise coming from the front of the car was _not _a good thing. Sighing, he jumped out and popped the hood before jumping back as a thick stream of smoke emerged.

Whipping out his phone, Blaine hovered over his roadside assistance number before remembering that Kurt's dad was a mechanic. And considering he was on his way to visit Kurt for the day, it would probably just be easier to get him to look at it.

He called Kurt's number and attempted to wave away the smoke as he waited.

"Hey, Blaine. What's up?"

"Hey." Blaine tentatively took another step towards his car, trying to see what was causing the smoke. "Um.. my car's smoking."

There was silence, then - "Okay. Blaine, step away from the car."

The tense quality to his friend's voice was enough for Blaine to hastily move away from his car as Kurt began to talk to his dad in the background, explaining the situation. "Where are you exactly?"

"I'm the street over from the Lima Bean." Blaine turned, trying to catch a road sign. "Not sure exactly -"

"I know it," Kurt interrupted. "We're coming now, just sit tight and _don't go near the car."_

Blaine hung up and sighed, staring at his car. The smoke had abated for the most part but he stuck to his word. After a few minutes, a truck pulled up and Kurt jumped out of the passenger seat, his dad following close behind.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Blaine raised his hands in defence as Burt began to examine the car. "It just started rattling, then... that."

Burt was doing something in the background, preparing to load up the car. Blaine didn't really pay much attention, not caring a lot about the mechanics of cars. Ever since his dad had tried to force him to show an interest, Blaine had wanted nothing to do with them, apart from having it in good enough condition to drive.

"Come on, we're going to walk over to the garage. It's just down the road." Kurt gestured in the opposite direction and Blaine followed as his car was loaded onto the truck. "Dad will be there in a minute."

"Thank you so much for this." Blaine smiled at the younger boy and felt a minute satisfaction when Kurt blushed. Lately, he had been starting to wonder whether Kurt might have stronger feelings for him than just friendship, but he hadn't acted on it. Blaine knew he needed more than just a suspicion to risk their friendship over something like this.

"Don't worry about it." Kurt cast a wistful look over at the Lima Bean as they passed it. "I'm dying for a coffee."

"Why don't I go get you one?" Blaine suggested. "I'll meet you down at the garage in a few minutes."

Kurt smiled and Blaine fought to keep his own blush down, amazed at the kinds of feelings a simple smile from this boy could bring to the surface. "That'd be great."

Blaine headed over to the Lima Bean, placing their usual orders. It was a testament to how well the boys knew each other that Kurt hadn't even bothered telling him his order, knowing Blaine would know. As he waited, Blaine let his thoughts drift to the idea of him and Kurt being more than friends; going on dates, holding hands, kissing...

"Order up!"

Blaine blinked, jerked out of this thoughts. "Um, thanks." He grabbed the two cups and left, trying to stop himself from thinking about the idea. _Face it, for now you're just friends. Be happy with that. _

The walk to the garage was quick and Blaine entered the workshop to see Burt standing behind the desk in overalls, writing something in a book. "One of them for me?"

Blaine winced. "Um, no. I'm sorry sir, I can go get -"

Burt chuckled. "Don't worry, kid. Kurt doesn't let me drink coffee anyway."

"You know why that is, Dad!" Kurt's voice floated out of one of the rooms. "I'll be there in a second, Blaine!"

Burt shrugged, pushing a piece of paper over the desk. "So, you've got to fill out a report for me. Standard stuff, I won't read it, neither will anybody else but it has to stay in one of those cabinets for ten years in case you decide to sue me or something."

Blaine chuckled and, taking a seat, began to fill in the paperwork. It was all pretty standard stuff, details about his car, where he was, if he was at fault for the damages, insurance and so on. He finished pretty quickly to find that Burt was already over by his car. Putting the paperwork on the desk, he wandered over to see what was going on.

" - can't see anything under here."

Blaine frowned as he realized a pair of feet were dangling out from underneath the car. _I thought everybody else took the day off on Sundays?_

And then the trolley came wheeling out and Blaine lost the ability to breathe.

Kurt stood up, brushing off his overalls and sighing at the grease stains on his hands. "These take forever to come out. Oh, hey Blaine. Feel free to watch."

With that, Kurt turned back to his dad and began to discuss possible faults, but Blaine didn't take in a word. Luckily Kurt had only spared him a glance, because Blaine was sure he hadn't exactly looked sane. But -

_I never imagined that..._

Sure, he knew that Kurt sometimes helped his dad out in the workshop. But Blaine had always thought of Kurt sitting behind the desk helping with the filing or something. He had never _dreamt _of seeing his friend covered in grease wearing overalls...

Okay, he might have. But never in ones he thought would come _true_.

Blaine tried to stop himself from staring as Kurt pulled out a toolbox and began to work on the car. Which, of course, failed miserably. At least if he was caught, he could always say he was watching what was happening to his car.

"Blaine, a word?"

A hand had landed on his shoulder and Blaine realized Burt had been watching him the whole time. _Well, crap._

Blaine followed Kurt's dad back over to the desk where he stood in front of Blaine. "Look, I'll make it simple. I know you're interested in my son, if your staring is any indication. Promise me you'll look after him and I'll be on my way to get the parts your car needs that we don't have here."

Blaine blinked. Then again. No, the scene hadn't changed. He was being given permission to date Kurt and be left alone with him.

_Um, what?_

"I ... yes, of course. I'd never dream of hurting your son, sir."

Burt shook his head and Blaine felt a pang of fear before he said, "Enough of the sir. I'm Burt, okay?"

And with that, Burt strode out the door. Blaine watched him go for a few seconds before suddenly realizing the implications of their ten-second conversation and turning back to his car. Kurt was walking over to him, wiping his hands on a rag and Blaine noticed a small smudge of grease along his jawline, making his heart skip a beat.

"Where'd he go?"

It took Blaine a few seconds to realize that a question had been asked. "Oh... um, to get some ... some - parts. Right. Apparently he didn't have what you needed to fix it."

Kurt frowned. "I swear we did -"

"How long have you been doing this?" The question was out of Blaine's mouth before he could stop it but Kurt seemed unfazed.

"A few years now. I find it nice to actually get my hands into something and do some work."

Blaine couldn't find the words, and this time Kurt noticed. "I - I know it's not exactly stereotypical ... or fashionable. Gosh, you must think I'm a total slob looking like this." He ran his hands over his stained overalls self-consciously.

"No!" Blaine realized the words had come out louder than anticipated and cleared his throat nervously. "No, you ... you don't."

Kurt chuckled. "I know I do. It's alright."

Blaine shook his head. "Kurt, you don't understand. You _don't_."

"Well I certainly don't look attractive, that's for sure."

And that was it. Blaine needed to make sure Kurt _knew_ how incredibly _hot_ he looked.

"If you didn't, would I do _this?_"

Blaine stepped forward, taking Kurt's face in his hands and pressed their lips together. It wasn't overtly passionate, but it wasn't exactly chaste either. Kurt responded instantly, moving his lips lightly along Blaine's before pressing deeper.

And then Blaine somehow remembered that he had a point to make. Pulling away, he murmured, "Trust me, you're hot. So hot that I kind of need to invent a new word to tell you just how hot you are. Something like supermega... foxy... awesome...hot. Yeah."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "We have about five minutes before my Dad gets back and you're using it to make up words?"

Blaine chuckled as Kurt began to kiss him again.

* * *

**So... this happened to me. I was on my learners and driving to work when the car began to rattle. I pulled over, it died and there wasn't as much smoke but there was a little. Of course I got blamed for breaking the car, but it wasn't me. We picked up a cheap side-of-the-road number and it ended up dying, no matter how much work we put into it. I don't actually know what was wrong with it, which is why this story doesn't have much in detail of what was wrong with Blaine's car or how they fixed it.**

**In AVPM, where that supermegafoxyawesomehot line comes from (in case, somehow, someone didn't know that), Darren actually did add-lib it. And in the words of Angela: "**_**Isn't it weird how the only adjective able to describe him is the one he created?" **_**;)**

**Send me reviews telling me how supermegafoxyawesomehot Darren is, okay? :)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape: _As the ND girls squealed, Puck cleared his throat._**

**_"Me and Santanna would like to speak to Blaine for a moment." _**

**_Blaine glanced at Kurt, who was talking excitedly with Mercedes. He walked to_ ****_the side of the group, where a very intimidating duo stood._**

**_Puck and Santanna crowded close, way into Blaine's personal space._**

**_"Dude, these are for you." Santanna thrust a few discs into Blaine's hands._ ****_Puck continued. "There's Kurt's Cheerio performance, and a few others." _**

**_"Oh, and if you hurt him, I would like to let you know my brothers are_ ****_mobsters. I also have TONS of razor blades in my hair."_**

**_Without another word, the pair left, leaving a shaking Blaine in their wake._**

**_*Later*_**

**_"We only got four minutes to save the world!"_**

**_Blaine stared, transfixed, at the screen._**

**_"Hey, what're you watching?" A familiar countertenor peeked over his shoulder,_ ****_then slowly turned red._**

**_'CRAP!' Though Blaine, as he watched a number of emotions flicker across his_ ****_boyfriend's face. 'This is NOT going to end well.'_**


	81. Tangled

**Much love to _AphraelFT, Full-Empty-Spirit, wynnie the pooh, Call me Mad, Hazy84, little-writer61, BeccaJamieThomas93, StarkidGleek2011, GleekHolly97, Becky456, Klaineforthewin, Chasing Aspirations, Klaine4Eternity, KoalaInPinkSunglasses, InfiniteSummer _and various others and anonymous readers for following orders last chapter and telling me how supermegafoxyawesomehot Darren Criss is (and my spellchecker now recognizes that as a word. Win!)**

**For those who were talking about when this story will come to an end, I will continue posting one a day unless there are extenuating circumstances preventing that. So, all going to plan, if I'm posting Chapter 81 today (today for me being Thursday 7th July) then Chapter 228 will be posted on Thursday 1st December. So there's just under five months left to go of this fic... so don't stress! That's a _long _time =D though it makes me think I should have waited for another 30 prompts so I could have finished the chapter on the 31st December... but 1st December is pretty cool as well I think :)**

**From **_**hoza13: was thinking that it would be super adorable if you wrote a fic were[sic] they **__**were watching tangled and started singing a long to I see the light and their **__**eyes lock and they kiss at the end of the song. i thought it might be kinda **__**interesting because the two main characters in the movie dont get to kiss but **__**instead blaine and kurt would get their happy ending.**_

**Okay, so I haven't seen Tangled. I know, isn't that sad? I haven't seen Rio either, or Kung Fu Panda 2... :( anyway, so I didn't feel comfortable writing this prompt, but it sounds so cute that I really don't want you Tangled fans to miss out. So...**

**I called in a guest writer! The work in this chapter is only edited by me, it was written by _SquirrelzAttack_, also known as Angela. She's my beta and the one I'm writing the collab (_Edge of Glory) _with and I love her and I pitched the idea to her and she jumped straight on it. So if you enjoy this chapter, go and check out her stories! :) And send me back some reviews on this, letting me know what you think, okay? She thought she did a terrible job but I personally **_**adore **_**it.**

**Oh, and that's why this was posted a few hours early, so she could see responses now before she goes to sleep :) **

* * *

Tangled

"Excited for our movie night?" Blaine asked, grinning hugely and flopping down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn in his lap.

"You are _such_ a child." Kurt teased, unable to suppress a grin of his own.

The two boys were sprawled comfortably on the squashy couch in Kurt's basement, a pile of Disney DVDs stacked haphazardly on the coffee table. These 'movie nights' had become weekly occurrences as of late, and with each one Kurt fell just _that_ much harder for his best friend. It was hard for him to keep his feelings in check. Despite being a self-proclaimed baby penguin, Kurt sometimes found himself staring at Blaine and just wanting to plunge his fingers into those loose curls and –

"Kurt?"

Kurt blinked, realizing that Blaine had been trying to get his attention.

"Um, what?" Kurt asked, fighting to keep back a blush. Oh god. He was blushing.

Blaine smirked cheekily. "Which movie do you want to watch first?"

"Tangled!" Kurt said eagerly, swiping the case from the table. He would never admit it, but he'd already seen the movie about ten million times, and had all the songs memorized word for word.

"Okay, okay, we'll watch Tangled first!" said Blaine laughingly, gently taking the case from Kurt's hands. "Obsessed, are you?"

Kurt flushed and looked away, mumbling something incoherent about not being the obsessed fanboy that he was. Blaine laughed, crawling over to the DVD player and popping open the Tangled case.

"It's okay," he said laughingly, "I'm obsessed too. It's like my favorite Disney movie ever. Except Ariel the Little Mermaid."

"You _do_ have a weird obsession with that movie." Kurt said, rolling his eyes.

"You like it." Blaine accused, sitting down next to Kurt as the opening credits played.

_You have no idea_, Kurt thought.

* * *

Blaine watched eagerly as the first lantern was lifted into the air. _I See The Light_ was his favorite song in the entire movie. He had _all_ the lyrics memorized, and had sung the song at the top of his lungs on more than one occasion. It was just so _sweet_, the way that the scene played out.

"_And at last I see the light_

_And it's like the fog has lifted_

_And at last I see the light_

_And it's like the sky is new"_

Blaine turned his head to one side, listening carefully. If he wasn't mistaken, another voice had joined Rapunzel's. A certain countertenor's voice. A smile broke out onto Blaine's face. In his opinion, Kurt's voice was even softer, sweeter, and more beautiful than Rapunzel's. Grinning madly, Blaine looked over at his best friend. There was a funny, warm sensation in his stomach, and he was certain it had nothing to do with the movie.

"_And it's warm and real and bright_

_And the world has somehow shifted_

_All at once everything looks different_

_Now that I see you"_

_You love Kurt_. Blaine blinked at the realization. The lyrics to the song rang through his mind. _Now that I see you_. His heart softened. Could the song be any more fitting?

Almost without thinking, Blaine stood and offered Kurt a hand, smiling like the dapper gentleman he was. He wasn't quite sure where he was going with this, but it just felt right. And he always _had_ been better at expressing his feelings through song. Kurt smiled a bit hesitantly before taking his hand, standing up just as Blaine started singing.

"_All those days chasing down a daydream_

_All those years living in a blur_

_All that time never truly seeing_

_Thing, the way they were"_

Gently, Blaine reached up and placed a hand on Kurt's cheek, stroking the soft skin with one thumb. Kurt leaned into his touch a little, looking like he didn't quite believe what was happening. Blaine laced their fingers together with his free hand, still singing over the TV.

"_Now he's here, shining in the starlight_

_Now he's here, suddenly I know_

_If he's here, it's crystal clear_

_I'm where I'm meant to go"_

Love and understanding suddenly blazed in Kurt's gray-blue eyes. He smiled softly, his face lighting up. Reaching up, he lightly pried Blaine's hand from his cheek and linked their hands, joining in for the next line.

"_And at last I see the light"_

Blaine pulled Kurt a little closer, taking the next phrase.

"_And it's like the fog has lifted"_

They joined together again in perfect harmony, their combined voices echoing around the room.

"_And at last I see the light"_

Kurt tilted forward so that his forehead was pressed against Blaine. Blaine breathed in his familiar scent.

"_And it's like the sky is new"_

Kurt's voice sent chills down Blaine's spine, and for a moment, he was convinced that an angel was serenading him. They joined together once more, drowning themselves in the pure perfection of the moment.

"_And it's warm and real and bright_

_And the world has somehow shifted_

_All at once, everything is different_

_Now that I see you"_

Leaning forward, Blaine pressed his lips against Kurt's in a tender, lingering kiss. It was light, a contact that lasted for no more than a second, but it had all of the hypothetical fireworks and furry woodland creatures that first kisses were supposed to have. Breaking away, Blaine moved so that his lips were brushing Kurt's ear, and he whispered the last line of the song, unable to wipe the silly, love-sick grin from his face.

"_Now that I see you"_

* * *

**=D I hope you all love Angela's work as much as I do. **


	82. Dork

**Story ideas are literally falling out of my brain. I currently have _ten _WIP's... eleven if you count one I started ages ago and then abandoned without publishing any of it. I've had to force myself not to work on or publish chapters of two of them even though they're my favourites right now. But once _Sail _has been completed, expect to see some more of my chapter work =D including my first Nick/Jeff-centric fic!**

**Now, I have a potentially awkward/bad/whatever you want to call it, question. And if I somehow cause offence by asking this, I really do apologize. But for one of my upcoming stories, I need some information about 'straight camps.' So I was wondering whether anybody knew information about them, knew of someone who went there or (heaven forbid) has been to one themselves, and was completely comfortable with divulging that information, if they could possibly contact me via PM? I know it's a big ask, and I understand if I don't get any responses, just thought I'd chuck it out there anyway.**

**Oh, and in our work on _Edge of Glory_, I stumbled across this gorgeous article about Telly Leung (Wes). He's an absolute sweetheart, and he auditioned for Blaine. Now, imagine that. If Darren Criss hadn't auditioned, there's a big chance that Telly Leung would have been kissing Chris Colfer. And apparently they're both gay... *imagines scene with sappy smile on face***

**Ahem! Anyway...**

**From **_**hoza13 **_**and similarly prompted by**_** MyPartnerInCrime: it would be nice if you did a fic showing blaine's adorable dorky side (cause lets face it even though he doesnt really show it we know he has one hehe :D) and at first he's all shy about it but then kurt tells him that he loves him for it and that he doesnt have to be embarrassed about it cos ya know its cute hehe**_

**I had the stupidest sappy grin on my face the entire time I wrote this. This is dedicated to all of my fellow AVPM/S fans who believe that Darren was, is and forever shall be the REAL Harry Potter. And let's consider this a TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Dork

"Not again!"

Kurt looked up from his latest edition of _Vogue _to see David throwing down his phone in disgust. "I wish they'd just learn to get along," he muttered as he sat up, pulling on his shoes.

"What's going on?"

David sighed. "Wes and Blaine are fighting again and they need me to go and sort it out." He stood up, stretching before turning to Kurt. "Want to come? You might be able to help."

Kurt obediently followed along, confused. As far as he knew, Wes and Blaine got along brilliantly apart from stupidity from the former. To hear that they fought constantly was worrying to Kurt, especially since Dalton was meant to be a safe place with zero tolerance.

"I can't take this anymore!"

As they neared the door, Blaine's voice echoed out and Kurt winced. His boyfriend sounded frustrated and close to tears. David held out a hand to stop him as Wes replied.

"You can't take it? Try being me! Try having to put up with your obsessions every single day when I _know_ they're wrong!"

Kurt's jaw dropped. He had never thought that Wes would actually be homophobic, but here he was, screaming at Blaine for being interested in guys. He looked at David who appeared unfazed. _Does this happen all the time? _

He heard a thud like someone had thrown something, then a gasp. "How dare you!"

"You're the one that's wrong!" Blaine's voice was rising and a few heads were poking out of doors along the hall. David gestured to them and they seemed to understand, rolling their eyes as they returned to their rooms. By now Kurt was dumbfounded. _How can they all let this blatant display of homophobia go on?_

"David," he hissed. "Aren't we going to do something?"

David shrugged. "Eventually. It's not too bad yet."

"Not too _bad?_" Kurt stared at him and David smirked as another thud echoed out of the room.

"Just wait. You'll understand in a minute."

Kurt shook his head, pushing David's arm aside and striding towards the room. Just as he was about to level with the door, Blaine's voice came out again and he froze.

"Look, Wes." It was clear he was trying to be calm. "I know you prefer Gandalf but Dumbledore is absolutely the better wizard. So the sooner you stop your fantasies and see the light, the better."

_They're ... fighting about fictional characters?_

"Make sense now?" David had followed him, smirk still firmly in place.

Kurt nodded then shook his head and David chuckled quietly. "Come on, it gets better."

David pushed the door open and walked in with Kurt following behind. What he saw in the room tested all of his self control to not collapse laughing.

Wes was sitting on his bed dressed in a Frodo costume with his arms folded. He was glaring at Blaine who sat opposite him wearing ...

Kurt couldn't control it any more and burst into laughter immediately attracting the attention of the two boys. "Is ... is that a - a _Harry Potter costume?_"

Blaine blushed bright red. "David!"

"He was going to find out anyway," David said, sitting next to Wes who was also looking slightly embarrassed. "Have you made a decision yet?"

Wes sighed. "No, Blaine still insists that we watch Harry Potter. I tried to tell him that everyone's going to want to dress up in these types of costumes rather than _that_ but he won't believe me."

David rolled his eyes. "Guys, we've got like four hours to ourselves tonight. We can watch _both_."

"Oh." Wes blinked a couple of times, then scooped up the two DVD's - which, judging by the state of the cases, were the items that had been thrown earlier - and stood up. "Well, in that case, no harm done right Blaine?"

Blaine had covered his face with his hands and was refusing to reply. "Well, Wes and I are going to go set up for tonight. See you later guys."

With that, the two boys left, leaving a mortified Blaine and a highly amused Kurt.

"Blaine?"

Kurt sat down on the bed next to his boyfriend who still had his face covered. "I can't believe this is happening," he muttered and Kurt had to bite back a chuckle.

"Hey, come on. It's alright. Look at me?"

Slowly, Blaine moved his hands and peeked up at Kurt, his face still red. Kurt took in the costume - the complete Gryffindor uniform, lightening bolt scar and curly hair - and smiled. "I've got to say, the resemblence is striking."

Blaine groaned. "This is mortifying. I - you were never meant to see this. I didn't want you knowing how much of a dork I really am. And now you're going to tell me how immature I am and how you made the wrong choice and you're going to break up with me and -"

"_Blaine._" Kurt couldn't hide the mild exasperation in his voice as he smiled at his boyfriend. "Seriously? I think it's adorable."

Blaine sighed in relief. "Really? I didn't think you were into this kind of thing."

"Well, I'm not obsessed, as it seems you are." Blaine blushed again and Kurt chuckled. "But any excuse for you to wear your hair like that is _fine_ with me."

And now the tables were turned. Blaine was suddenly smirking while Kurt felt the blush spreading across his face. "Oh, is that so? You like my curls?"

Kurt was determined to turn the conversation back around in his favour. Too often it ended up with him being the flustered one while Blaine always stayed Mr. Cool-Calm-and-Collected and Kurt was sick of it. So, giving Blaine his most suggestive look (thankfully he had improved since the baby penguin debacle), he murmured, "You have _no_ idea."

Blaine's eyes widened and he swallowed. "I - well, maybe you should show me."

"Maybe I should." Kurt raised his eyebrows, drawing up all of his courage and ignoring the voice in his head that tried to tell him that Blaine wasn't thinking the same thing as him, Blaine didn't want this...

Kurt leant in, tangling his hair in his boyfriend's hair as their lips met. And the voice was instantly silenced as Blaine responded, drawing Kurt closer to him and wrapping his arms around him as they kissed. Kurt felt a moan building in the back of his throat as he ran his hands through the curls but held it back. After a few seconds he pulled away, keeping his hands in Blaine's hair and smiling at his dazed boyfriend.

"... wow?"

Kurt laughed. "Something like that, yeah."

"You know, if this works for you, you should really see my Dumbledore costume."

Kurt froze, staring at Blaine who looked serious. "What?"

"That's it. That just crosses the line. We're over."

With that, Kurt turned and walked out the door, covering his smirk as he heard the spluttered protests of his boyfriend. "But Kurt, he's _gay!"_

* * *

**Oh dear. Oh... dear...**

**I'm not sure where _MusicalEscape _has disappeared to at the moment. Hopefully they'll be back soon! **


	83. Queen

**I don't know how many times I'm going to have to reiterate this. I AM NOT TAKING ANY MORE PROMPTS. I'm flattered that you all want me to write things, but this story is already going to be 228 chapters, so no more please! **

**Thank you so much to those of you who responded about info on 'straight camps.' The story is going to be ridiculously hard and heartbreaking to write, but I'm going to do it anyway. Expect to see that start coming up around the time that _Sail _ends. Or earlier, if I can't exercise any self-control ;)**

**From **_**EternalTearsOfBlood **_**and similarly prompted by**_** Lozzipalooza X:What about the scene where they're in the hallway? What happened while it switched over to the others? (in Prom Queen)**_

**Now, I know why Blaine acted the way he did, but we all just wanted to see him hug Kurt or something! So, I've worked around it. I know this isn't entirely literal and wouldn't be the case for everyone, but this is how it is for me to be honest so I'm using it. And I got annoyed at Blaine for acting so .. well, weird, the first time I saw it. But I've done far too much analyzing of their characters and this is my interpretation of Blaine's character.**

**Also, this was really quite difficult to write. Because the way the scene was acted out, there's virtually _no way _they could have kissed in that time. Both of their moods before and after the switch... it just couldn't be done. So I did my best, but it is very off. **

**TGTDOSBDK. **

**Onwards!**

* * *

Queen

"_... 2011 McKinley High Prom Queen is..."_

As Principal Figgins opened the envelope, Kurt twisted his fingers together in nervous anticipation. He could see the look on Quinn's face and knew if she didn't get this, she'd probably be ready to do something drastic like hit someone - hopefully _not _Figgins. Santana looked bored but Kurt knew she was tense, just praying for her name to come out so her and Karofsky could keep up their charade -

"_...Kurt Hummel."_

_Kurt Hummel... Kurt... Hummel... Kurt Hummel._

_No._

He couldn't think, couldn't breathe. Eyes were turning towards him, a spotlight guy who had been so bad at lighting when it came to performances suddenly obtained a brilliant accuracy, shining one directly on him. Blaine was at his side, standing just as still, his head turned towards him. It was too much... too much.

Before he realized what was happening, his feet were carrying him out of the auditorium. Behind him, in the dead silence, he could hear Blaine's voice. "Kurt, stop! Kurt!"

But he couldn't stop. The second he passed the doors, the tears began to stream down his face. He bolted down the hallway, his sobbing mixed with the sound of pounding footsteps and his ragged breathing and the thoughts swirling in his head, _they hate you, they've never accepted you, you're just a joke to them -_

"Stop! Stop, Kurt, please, just stop, come on.."

Kurt finally became aware that Blaine was behind him and stopped, turning. He knew he looked a sight but right now he couldn't care less.

"Don't you get how stupid we were? We thought that because no one was teasing us or beating us up that .. that no one cared. Like some kind of progress had been made. But it's still the same." Kurt's voice was breaking as he stumbled over his words, just trying to release how much it truly _hurt_.

Blaine took a step forward, his hands dropping to his sides. "It's just a stupid joke."

But Kurt knew Blaine was trying to convince himself of that more than he was trying to convince Kurt. And Kurt knew better.

"No, it's not. All that hate, they were just afraid to say it out loud. So they did it by secret ballot. I'm one big obvious practical joke."

Blaine stepped towards him again, and Kurt could see the helplessness in his eyes. He knew Blaine was just as rattled by all of this as Kurt was. "We should never have come. You were right." He raised a trembling hand to his mouth, knowing what was waiting for him back in that hall; the mocking, the jeers, the people who so clearly _hated _him. "I'm not going back in there. No way."

As Kurt moved away, Blaine ducked around in front of him. "Kurt, please don't do this."

And even though Blaine knew what he was like with being comforted and hugging, he found himself pulled into his boyfriend's arms. Kurt tensed for a moment before realizing that his touch wasn't pitying like nearly every other hug he had experience when he was upset had been, but comforting. And he knew that the hug was bringing some semblance of comfort to Blane too. After a few seconds, he relaxed and buried his head in Blaine's shoulder.

"It's going to be okay, Kurt. They're just idiots, you know that. You're stronger than them, even if I can't be."

Kurt sniffed, pulling back a bit. He knew that was the heart of the problem for Blaine - that he couldn't _do _anything right now. His boyfriend had been hurt so many times, enough to make him want to run away and hide. Kurt didn't want himself to end up there, and he knew Blaine didn't want him there either. But Kurt wanted to be there for Blaine too. He may be the one who was visibly upset, but he knew Blaine was just as emotional as he was.

Lifting a hand, Kurt brushed it gently across Blaine's cheek. "We both can be."

Blaine shook his head. "I can't, not tonight. There's no place for me to stand up to these people."

"Not standing up to them, no. That's my job. Your job is to heal, Blaine, and to realize that you do deserve to have the happiness that others have. You deserve to be able to slow dance with your boyfriend at Prom, you deserve to be able to _come _to Prom without being afraid. You deserve to be able to kiss your boyfriend as well - and I know you've been holding back out of fear. Well I'm not going anywhere, okay? And... heck, you deserve the world, Blaine. And I'd give it to you if I could."

Kurt realized he was rambling and cut himself off, staring into Blaine's eyes and willing his boyfriend to understand. A few seconds passed in silence, then something shifted deep in Blaine's eyes, something that had clearly lived there for a long time.

"I really am crazy about you," he murmured, before closing that final distance between them, pressing his lips against Kurt's.

Kurt took every ounce of love he held for Blaine and pressed it into the kiss. He wanted Blaine to know that this _was _okay, for both of them. That no matter what was going on in that hall, this was them, this was real and this was _okay_.

He broke the kiss, staring at Blaine for a few seconds before moving out of his arms. Blaine's expression changed and he glanced towards the gymnasium doors - there was still a lack of noise coming from the room. Blaine slumped down against the lockers, staring up at Kurt.

And now that he was thinking about it again, Kurt remembered the situation that was currently at hand. _So, what do you do now? You're a student here, no matter what happens. How are you going to handle it?_

"Would you at least sit down?" Blaine sighed, and Kurt knew his feelings of uselessness had returned. "Do you want to go? We don't have to stay."

Kurt realized he had begun pacing, but his mind wasn't as frantic as before. He had something stronger pulling him through now - the fact that what he and Blaine had was more than any of these other high school idiots were ever going to experience. "Wasn't this prom meant to be about redemption? About taking away that lump you had in your throat from running away? If we leave now, all it's going to do is give me a lump too."

"So, what do you want to do?"

And Kurt Hummel never backed down. He was the McKinley High 2011 Prom Queen and he was going to damn well take it and be a better prom queen than any of those bitches inside could be.

"I'm going to go back in there and get coronated."

* * *

**We all know what happens next :)**

**Like I said, very off. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. If you didn't like it... well, I've figured in 228 chapters, everybody will end up having at least one they didn't like. That's totally understandable. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape has returned! =D**

**_"Show me how much you love my hair"_**

**_*smirks* "Okay, B-"_**

**_*Door is kicked down*_**

**_"I'M HERE TO SAVE THE WORLD FROM THAT HORRIBLE MOP OF HAIR ON LOVE CHILD OF A HOBBIT AND SCHUESTER'S."_**

**_"Hi... Sue..."_**


	84. Prom

**Forgot to mention I have a new poll up, but some of you smart cookies/stalkers found it anyway ;) This one is how you'd like Blaine to transfer to McKinley, his motivation behind transferring. Because, I mean, he's a season regular now, he _has _to. Go ahead and vote :) **

**And for those of you fuelling Angela's crazy by voting for the llamas, please stop. You're all enablers ;)**

**Oh, and the results of the other one? The winning quote: "Blaine and I love football. Well, Blaine loves football; I love scarves." (Personally I wanted the comment about Sam fitting tennis balls in his mouth [which came second], but this was a definite favourite too)**

**From **_**TwihardGleek2011 **_**and similarly prompted by**_**BeccaJamieThomas93:in the beginning of Prom Queen, Kurt and Blaine talk, could you make them kiss after that? You'll see what I meab[sic] when you watch it, its the very first time they talk**_

**Another public place kiss... oh well.**

******I'm struggling with altering the Prom ones simply because the whole episode was beautiful _without _PDA. I was always getting frustrated when each episode went by and there was no more Klaine kiss scenes, but now that we're at the end looking back, I can see the value and beauty in not having them kiss again. I mean, they probably kiss in private, but because we nearly always see them in public, we know their relationship isn't a big show of PDA. It's between them, and that's a beautiful thing to see in this day and age. They're like this gorgeous little courtship that I want someday. **

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Prom

"Give me your hand."

Kurt reached out across the table, smiling slightly as Blaine looked at him, confused. Usually they avoided any kind of physical affection out in public, but this was more important. Taking Blaine's hand, Kurt took a deep breath. "Blaine Warbler. Will you go to Junior Prom with me."

He wasn't sure what he had expected. All Kurt knew was that he was excited about the possibilities and he wanted Blaine to be the same. After all, this was his opportunity to take his _boyfriend _to Prom.

"Prom?"

Kurt frowned. Blaine hadn't exactly sounded excited...

"It'll be the social event of the season." Kurt paused, a horrid thought breaking into his mind. _Maybe he doesn't want to be seen with you in public at all. Maybe it's not about Prom, it's about you._

"You don't want to go to Prom with me?" Kurt pulled his hands back, frowning.

Blaine seemed to realize what he had said. "No... no, no! Of course I - of course I want to go with you! It's just... Prom..." He lifted his now-free hand to rest against his face, an expression on his face that Kurt had seen on his own many times - the attack of memories. Blaine hadn't talked much about his past, and Kurt respected that. He knew Blaine had dealt with his share of bullying, of course, but he didn't know the extent. Blaine had only ever referred to it as _taunting_, after all. And Kurt wouldn't normally push, but Prom was important to _him_.

"What about Prom, Blaine?"

Blaine dropped his eyes to the table, shaking his head slightly and beginning to talk in a low voice. "At my old school, there was a Sadie Hawkins dance. And I had just come out, so I asked a friend of mine - the only other gay guy in the school. While we were waiting for his Dad to pick us up... these three guys... um... " Blaine seemed to be searching for words, before shrugging, "beat the living crap out of us."

Kurt had never heard Blaine talk this way before. He was used to his overly confident boyfriend who preached courage and standing up for yourself. Here was a person who was still defeated by the memories of his past - and with good reason. _Why didn't he ever tell me it was that bad?_

"I - I'm so sorry." Kurt couldn't find the words, and was simply praying that Blaine didn't start crying because he wasn't good with crying people, and if Blaine cried then _he _would probably cry and then they'd just have a ruined date and no Prom.

Blaine looked up at him again. "I'm out, and I'm proud and all that, this is just..." Blaine trailed off, murmuring something under his breath that Kurt couldn't catch, but his mind was whirring with ideas anyway.

"This is perfect. You couldn't face up to the bullies at your school, so you can do it at mine. We can do it together." Blaine smiled, ducking his head, but Kurt could tell he still wasn't totally sold on the idea. He knew what he had to do. "But I have to say, Blaine, that if it makes you feel uncomfortable at all, we'll just forget about Prom. We'll go to a movie instead."

It almost killed him to say the words. Kurt had _plans _for Prom. He had his outfit organized, what Blaine would wear to match, how they would arrive... but he knew what was important. He didn't want to take Blaine to something that made him uncomfortable or scared. And if that meant giving up on his Prom night, he would do it. Blaine was more important.

Blaine was staring at him with an expression that Kurt had only seen back in the study room when Blaine had finally asked him out. "I am crazy about you," he murmured, shaking his head again.

Kurt fought with himself to keep the smile from crossing his face. _That's not an answer yet, you know. _"So..." he ventured, "I'll take that as a... yes?"

Blaine continued to stare at him for a few more seconds and Kurt couldn't stop himself from shivering slightly under the intensity of his gaze. And then Blaine's face softened. "Yes."

Kurt couldn't stop himself from jumping in his seat and squealing. _I'm going to Prom with my boyfriend!_

"Yes. You and I are going to the prom."

Kurt was grinning more than he thought possible, but Blaine wasn't finished. "And the fact that you were willing to give up something like Prom for me, Kurt, is amazing."

And that intense stare was back, and _finally _Kurt understood it. It wasn't just affection, it was _attraction. _Kurt glanced around quickly to make sure nobody was paying attention to them before reaching out to take Blaine's hand again. "You're worth it," he breathed.

Blaine shook his head again before leaning over the table and capturing his lips. Kurt squeaked slightly before melting into the kiss. And then Blaine was pulling back, their hands still linked together and Kurt became aware that they were in public again.

"Right now," Blaine murmured softly. "We're going to pay the bill, go outside, find somewhere secluded and do that _properly_. And then we can talk Prom."

Kurt kicked his seat back, grabbing Blaine's hand immediately. "Oh believe me, I've got Prom _all _planned out."

* * *

**Any dialogue I get wrong, I apologize for. I have just been watching the episodes and writing what I think is being said, so yeah. On that note, slowing episodes down to watch things and repeating them yields some fascinating information. For example, watch Mercedes's peformance of _Hell To The No _in Original Song, and when she sings "I'm a whole lotta...", look at Will in the background. Priceless moment right there.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Hey, Artie... Why I'm calling? Well, you're on yearbook comitee, right? So, I want you to mess with the prom royalty page. Yup, Karofsky and Azimio. And please, give the other spots to people who deserve them. Thanks."**_

**_*In the yearbook...*_**

**_Prom Queen 2011: Dave Karofsky_**

**_Prom Queen 2011: Azimio Adams_**

**_"The two queens were seen dancing in the parking lot, after prom was over."_**

**_Prom Princess: Tina Cohen-Chang_**

**_Prom Prince: Sam Evans_**

**_"The two minor royalty were seen grinning and joking, but stayed with their respective dates."_**


	85. Mistaken

**Today has been one of those days where I just couldn't get anything written. Probably because I'm sick of not being able to find a job and sick of looking for one and just want to get out of here and go to university already. Anyway, it's a really good thing I write chapters well ahead of time because I have fifty chapters written of this that aren't published yet, in case I get too busy or have days like these. The only thing I could write was my part of _Edge of Glory _which you can expect to see updated in the next 24 hours :)**

**Lady GaGa is currently in Australia and I was watching the small show she did for one of our news programs. A few audience members got to ask questions and one was one of these boys dressed up in GaGa fashion asking about high school bullying. Then it zoomed out to show the boy sitting next to him and you just _knew_... It's heartbreaking. And for any of you out there who deal with that sort of bullying, or any at all, I'm so sorry. Stay strong because there are always people who love you. I love you all :) **

**From **_**Kat3418: In the episode Hell-o that when Will asks the group what they **__**say when they answer the phone, Kurt says 'No, she's dead this is her son' and **__**what if he and Blaine were hanging around Kurt's house and he answered the **__**phone and said it then was sad and Blaine makes him talk about his mother **__**maybe? and of course he misses his mother, perhaps he cant remember her voice **__**without playing a cassette tape she made for him before she died (maybe she's **__**the reason he sings?)**_

**This is one of those non-canon ones, and it's summer holidays and Kurt's still at Dalton. Okay? Well... it kinda has to be okay because I've written it. TGTDOSBDK, so canon until there. **

**I'm also of the theory that the song **_**Blackbird **_**means more to Kurt than just Pavoratti's death.**

* * *

Mistaken

"So, what do you want to watch?"

Kurt rummaged through the DVD's, turning slightly to look at Blaine who was sitting on the couch. "Um... I don't know. What do you have in the way of Disney?"

"Everything?"

Blaine chuckled. "Okay, your favourite then."

Kurt smiled as he turned back to the box, pulling out _Beauty and the Beast _and putting it in the DVD player. This was the first time he and his boyfriend had been able to just spend time together relaxing. Between exams, Regionals, Warbler performances and trying to keep in touch with his McKinley friends, the first three weeks of their relationship hadn't exactly been special.

But now it was summer and they were more than ready to make up for lost time. Kurt had endured the 'serious talk' with his dad the previous night before Blaine had been allowed to come over for the day. Nobody else was going to be home, and Burt wanted to make sure that the boys were going to stay safe. Kurt had quickly rushed to reassure him that he and Blaine hadn't so much as kissed yet and all they were going to do was watch a movie. Burt had relented, telling Kurt he'd be at the shop until two.

Kurt shook his head as he realized the movie had started. Standing up, he moved over to sit next to Blaine on the couch, slightly unsure about where to actually sit. He eventually opted to sit slightly closer to Blaine than usual and after a few seconds he felt his boyfriend's arm curl around his waist. "This okay?"

"Absolutely," Kurt replied, leaning into Blaine slightly and smiling.

The movie had only been playing a few minutes when the phone rang. Sighing, Kurt stood up and moved over to the phone. "Hello?"

"Oh, hi, is that Elizabeth?"

Kurt felt the familiar pain in his chest as he answered, "No, she's dead. This is her son."

"Oh... oh, I'm so sorry! I was just one of her friends from school... anniversaries and ... oh dear. I'm very sorry. I should -"

The person at the other end hung up and Kurt placed the phone into its cradle, gripping the edge of the counter for a second before pulling himself together. As he turned to go back into the living room, he found Blaine right behind him, looking concerned.

"Kurt? What just happened?"

Kurt bit his lip, feeling the emotion well up again. He knew if he talked about it now, he wouldn't be able to keep in control and he never let anybody see him out of control...

And then he looked at Blaine. Blaine, his boyfriend, the one who had stood up to Karofsky with him, who Kurt had seen hungover and half asleep. Blaine, the only person Kurt ever felt comfortable being himself around.

"That was one of my mom's old friends. She thought I was her."

The tears welled up and he sighed, knowing there was no point trying to keep them back. He felt a hand on his back gently guiding him to the couch. Sitting down, he felt Blaine sit next to him with his arm around him again.

"That happens a lot?" Blaine's voice was gentle as he traced small circles across Kurt's back.

"Yeah," Kurt admitted, his voice choking up slightly. "I mean, I don't blame them. I'm used to people hearing my voice and thinking I'm female. It - it just brings back memories, you know?"

Blaine stayed silent next to him and Kurt felt the words beginning to pour out. "I miss her a lot more than I let on. Dad's great, but there's only so much he can do and I don't want to make him uncomfortable by talking about boyfriends or anything with him, even though I know he'd listen."

Blaine murmured quietly and Kurt felt a tear slip down his cheek which he brushed away quickly. "It's nearly been ten years now. And anybody who tells me it's going to go away in time, that after awhile I won't even think about her, they're _wrong_. Nothing will ever take away her memory."

He knew his voice had risen and made an effort to calm himself down as Blaine said, "Nobody should expect it to, Kurt."

Kurt nodded, and then all the fight left him as he admitted the one secret he had kept inside for so long. "I've forgotten what her voice sounds like."

Blaine didn't say a word, but the hand on Kurt's back pressed against him tighter and he knew he was offering all the support he could without resorting to meaningless and overused words, something Kurt was thankful for. He bit his lip before making a decision. "Come with me."

Kurt stood, heading towards his bedroom. He heard Blaine following and knew he was breaking the promise he had made to his dad, but this wasn't like _that_. Entering his room, he gestured for Blaine to sit on the bed, then walked over to his bookcase and pulled out a cardboard box. There was silence for a few seconds as he stared at it, then Blaine's voice broke it. "What's that?"

And it was the same curiosity he had used when he was asking about Pavoratti's casket, thankfully without the hint of laughter. Kurt moved back over to the bed, sitting next to his boyfriend and putting the box on his knee. "This is all the things I kept of her."

There was a quick inhalation beside him, then - "Kurt, you don't have to..."

"I want to." Kurt ran his hands over the box for a second before pulling off the lid. His breath caught in his throat as it did every time as he took in the contents of the box.

"Tell me about it?"

Kurt reached in and pulled out a perfume bottle, still half full. "This was her favourite. She was wearing it that day." Uncapping it, he leant in and inhaled, shutting his eyes as the scent - _her scent _- wafted over him. He allowed himself a moment to remember before putting it down and picking up one of her scarves. "She's the reason I wear so many." Kurt chuckled a little and saw Blaine smiling out of the corner of his eye. "She had the best fashion sense."

"That's where you got it from, of course."

Kurt smiled, putting the scarf down before turning back to the box and hesitating. His hand hovered over the tap recorder, and Blaine seemed to sense that something was wrong.

"Kurt, you know you don't have to show me everything. I don't mind."

And it was that more than anything that decided it. Pulling the recorder out, Kurt turned to Blaine, shuffling slightly so Blaine's arm was still around his waist. "I'm going to cry," he warned.

Blaine laughed quietly. "That's okay."

Kurt pressed play, and the words began to float out of the device.

"_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,_

_Take these broken wings and learn to fly,"_

The tears sprung to his eyes rapidly and Blaine took his hand, biting his own lip. The unspoken question was in his eyes and Kurt nodded as he began to cry silently while the music played.

"_Blackbird, fly_

_Into the light of the dark black night."_

As the song echoed around the room, the two boys held eye contact. The tears were flowing down Kurt's face and Blaine looked choked up himself. But as the final notes were played, Kurt felt the shift in their relationship. He had shared a huge part of himself with Blaine, things couldn't not change after this.

In the silence that followed, Kurt whispered, "She's the reason I sing."

Blaine reached up and gently wiped the tears off Kurt's face. "It was beautiful. I'd sing for her too."

Kurt reached up and stopped Blaine's hand where it was resting against his cheek. For a moment they sat there, their hands pressed together. "Blaine, I want you to kiss me."

It was testament to how well they knew each other that Blaine didn't question whether it might be the wrong time or ask if Kurt was sure. Instead, he nodded before dipping his head to gently press their lips together.

The hand on Kurt's back was still moving in slow circles and he almost melted into the kiss. Their lips moved gently together, not desperately but a slow search, of finding each other and knowing they had forever to keep learning about the other.

Kurt broke away gently and they stared at one another for a few moments before Kurt turned back to the box, pulling out the last item and putting the box on the floor. He spread the large photo album across their legs and, without thinking about it, leant his head on Blaine's shoulder.

"So this was when she was sixteen and..."

* * *

Burt pulled the door open, poking his head into the living room and frowning when Kurt and Blaine were nowhere to be seen. After checking the kitchen and outside, he knew there was only one place they could be, and he felt his temper rising. Kurt had _promised _that the two wouldn't go into his bedroom, and now it seemed he had blatantly broken the rules.

Making his way up the stairs, Burt stopped outside Kurt's door which was slightly ajar and listened. Silence. Steeling himself for whatever might be inside, he pushed the door open slightly and froze.

"Oh, hi Mr. Hummel." Blaine looked at him, gently stroking Kurt's hair. Kurt was asleep on Blaine's shoulder, one hand entwined with Blaine's, the other resting on the book spread across their laps. Burt took a look at it and realized it was Kurt's photo album.

"I'm sorry, I know we've broken the rules, but someone rang asking for your late wife, and it got to Kurt a bit. He said this is how he remembers her." Blaine was keeping his voice low so as to not wake Kurt and Burt watched as his son shuffled slightly, burying his head further into Blaine's shoulder. Blaine continued to stroke his hair as he talked. "I hope we haven't disappointed you, sir."

Burt sighed and shook his head. "No, kid, you haven't." He took another look at his son and allowed a smile to cross his face. "Quite the opposite. You take care of him, okay?"

Blaine nodded. "Always, sir. For as long as he'll have me."

Kurt began to stir and Burt slipped out of the room. As he walked down the stairs, he heard the sound of Blaine murmuring comfortingly and the smile appeared again.

_Elizabeth, you'd be proud of us Hummel boys_, he thought to himself.

* * *

**I like writing understanding!Burt. Too often, he ends up as the Dad with a shotgun - and I can imagine he's fiercely protective of his son after everything Kurt's been through - but I also think he likes Blaine. I mean, look at Prom Queen. Blaine's sitting there, chatting away with Burt and Finn as if it's the most natural thing in the world, and I truly think it is. I think Blaine spends a lot of time with Kurt's family, and I think that's beautiful. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_*Puck walks up to table*_**

_**"Good, choice dude (meacingly)"**_

_**"What the- PUCK?"**_

_**"Just making sure he's treating my boy all right."**_

_**"Psst, Puck, you weren't supposed to tell them that!"**_

_***K & B turn***_

_**"You... and all of ND... and the Warblers... were SPYING ON US? WHAT THE-"**_

_***Filming camera knocked over***_

_***We have reached some technical difficuties of Glee, please stand by***_


	86. Stressbake

**There's something I'd like to discuss with you guys and all I ask is that you read. I know a lot of you skip authors notes, but this one is important. I got sent a review by _Mrs. Malfoy-Goode _asking if I could possibly do this. Now, I want you all to know that I only plug things that I actually believe in/like. That goes for my favourite stories, and for things like this. I don't get anything out of plugging this, and nobody is sponsoring me to make endorsements for companies or anything - I'm certainly not popular enough!**

**That out of the way, the review told me about a charity called Journey 4 A Cure which focuses on childhood cancer research which is something that is sorely overlooked. It wants to give children who are diagnosed with cancer the chance to fight back as well and the chance to grow up healthy and strong. A company called Vivint is giving away $1.25 million to different charities/organizations and this is one of the ones that is in the running for the money, which they have said will go 100% into funding for research and treatments. I think this is a brilliant idea and I'm supporting it wholeheartedly. All you need to do is go to www . vote 4 acure . com (take out the spaces) and it'll guide you through how to vote. All you need to vote is a Facebook page. You can vote once a day everyday through until August, and I highly recommend that as many of you guys do this as possible. It's such an important cause.**

**From **_**Kat3418: I've got a thing for stressbaking Kurt. Maybe before he auditioned for the Warblers he and Blaine were, well anywhere with a kitchen really, and Blaine walks into a kitchen full of cookies brownies cakes muffins etc. Perhaps they're at Dalton and David or Wesley alert Blaine to this cookie phenomenon by casually mentioning not knowing kurt was such a good cook/baker.**_

**I know I've already done a kitchen one but I love stress relief fics... especially when alternative stress relief methods can be found. And I've changed it so it wasn't before the Warbler audition, it was before exam time instead. Not that we see exam time or anything, but I know Kurt was busy studying around **_**BICO **_**so I've made it somewhere between there and Silly Love Songs because I really can't be bothered bringing Jeremiah into it.**

* * *

Stressbake

Blaine turned and paced to the other side of his room, mentally running through his facts for tomorrow's exam. _Methane is CH4, Ethylene is C2H4..._

The door burst open and Wes entered, carrying an armload of muffins. Blaine stared as he dumped them on the bed and sighed happily. "I looooooove food."

"Wes, shouldn't you be studying? And where did you get the food?"

Wes shrugged, already biting into a muffin. "B'n'stdyn'll -"

"Stop!" Blaine raised his hands, shuddering. "Swallow, _then _talk."

Wes swallowed. "You sound like my mother. Anyway, I've been studying all day and I got them from the kitchen." He picked up another muffin and tossed it to Blaine. "Here, chocolate. I know it's your favourite."

Blaine took a bite, swallowing before he spoke. "Wow, these are great!"

"Yeah, you never told me Kurt was such a good cook."

"Wait, Kurt made this?" Wes nodded, his cheeks full of muffin again. "Why was Kurt baking?"

It took Wes a few moments to reply. "Is, not was. And I'm not sure, he looked real tired though."

Blaine was already halfway out the door. "Make sure you study, Wes."

A muffled affirmation floated out the door as Blaine made his way down to the kitchen. He hadn't even been aware that anybody at Dalton could cook, let alone bake. _But why is he baking instead of studying? _Pushing open the door, Blaine froze as he took in the room. There were trays of food _everywhere. _Three different batches of muffins, tray upon tray of biscuits - Blaine spotted a few trays of triple chocolate chip and his mouth began to water - brownies, scones and ... _two cakes?_

And Kurt was in the middle of all of it, mixing bowl in hand as he read a recipe. Blaine gently cleared his throat and Kurt looked up. "Oh, Blaine! Hi."

Blaine frowned as he took in the state of his friend. Kurt had deep bags under his eyes and an almost frantic look to him. "Kurt, what's going on." He stepped across the room and took the bowl from his friend, eliciting a noise of protest. "How long have you been down here?"

"Only a few hours." Kurt shuffled and avoided his eyes.

"Yeah? So if I ask David if you were there when he woke up this morning, what would he say?" Blaine hadn't actually asked David, but judging by how tired Kurt looked, he knew the answer.

Kurt sighed. "Okay, so I might've been here half the night. It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters. You're cooking instead of sleeping or studying." Blaine frowned. "Is this your stress relief?"

Kurt nodded, looking embarrassed. "I know it's weird but it's what I've always done. And these are my first exams at Dalton and I know they're going to be a lot harder than they were at McKinley and I don't want to screw things up."

Blaine placed a hand on Kurt's arm. "Hey, take it easy. It's okay." He felt the heat flow through his hand at the contact with Kurt's arm and tried to ignore the sensation, focusing on the matter at hand. "Kurt, why didn't you tell me you were so worried?"

Kurt sighed and sat down, Blaine taking the other seat. "You were busy enough, I didn't want to bother you."

"Kurt, you know you can come to me about anything, I'm never too busy for you."

As Kurt looked at him, there was a flicker of hurt in his eyes and Blaine frowned. "Yeah, I guess that's what a good _mentor_ does, isn't it?"

"No, that's what a friend does," Blaine automatically corrected him, before catching the meaning behind the words. "Wait... Kurt?"

Kurt ducked his head again but his silence spoke for him. Blaine hesitated for a second before deciding _to hell with it _and reached over, taking Kurt's hand in his.

"How long?"

"Oh, probably since you sang _Teenage Dream_." Kurt laughed bitterly. "I knew for sure when we did _Baby It's Cold Outside _though. And I know you don't feel the same so spare me the 'gentle let down', please."

Blaine's head was spinning, trying to deal with the information he had just been given. This was Kurt, _his _Kurt, telling him, _Blaine_, that he liked him back? After Blaine had spent so many hours trying to convince himself that his feelings wouldn't be returned and making a move on Kurt would _not_ be okay?

"Okay, maybe saying _something _would help."

Blaine looked up, pulled out of his thoughts. "Sorry, I just ... you like _me_?"

Kurt sighed. "Can we just leave it? I've got enough things to worry about right now."

"You want to leave it without finding out how I feel?" Blaine raised an eyebrow, unable to stop the smile that began to spread across his face. "Are you sure?"

And when he looked back on it later, Blaine knew it was that exact second, when Kurt's face turned back to him with just a hint of hope, that was when it changed between them. That was the moment.

"On second thoughts, maybe we should talk about it."

A similar smile reached Kurt's face and Blaine decided he was on a roll with taking chances, so why not take another.

"No, I don't think so." He paused for a second, watching Kurt's face drop slightly into confusion. "I can think of much better things to be doing than talking."

And when Kurt's face lit up with understanding, Blaine leant in and kissed him.

Blaine couldn't work out why people always talked about 'fireworks' when they kissed. In fact, he couldn't work out how anybody could focus on _anything _else, because his thoughts escaped him the second his mouth made contact with Kurt's. And everything was Kurt and Blaine and ...

"Klaine," Kurt whispered as he pulled away. Blaine blinked and Kurt ducked his head a little. "Sorry, it's what the McKinley kids do when a couple gets together, they make their couple name. That one's kind of been in my head for awhile now..."

"Were you reading my mind or something?"

And the laugh that came from the boy was enough to cause Blaine to pull him in for another kiss.

When they broke apart, Blaine surveyed the younger boy who looked happier than Blaine had ever seen him. "You're certainly looking less stressed," he remarked. "So what say we deliver all this food to the starving boys we happen to board with, then we can go and work on some more... stress relief?"

Kurt eyes lit up and he jumped to his feet.

* * *

**I had to mention Klaine at least once in one of my fics. Mainly because when I _finally _get myself a boyfriend, I'll probably immediately be working out our couple name... I'm sad. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**...Unbeknowst to Kurt, Elizabeth leant him a little help in making Blaine realize his feelings.**_

_***FLASHBACK***_

_**"ZZZZ"**_

_**"Hello, Blaine's your name, right?"**_

_**"Um... yeah?"**_

_**"Oh, that makes thing easier. It took me so long to find you!"**_

_**"Do I... Do I know you?"**_

_**"Oh, no. I just want you to think about your feelings to Kurt. And if you hurt** __**him, I will send down something from heaven to DESTROY you. Sweet Dreams!"**_


	87. Danced

**I totally forgot to mention yesterday that I'm over 3,000 reviews! I wish I had some words but they've all escaped me. Except if your screen name is _Filmgirl87_, because you were my 3,000th reviewer and as such, you deserve a reward =D so PM me, okay?**

**I also realized I have a few of those people who never messaged me. If I could remember your screen names, I'd remind you. Just go back to the chapter where prompts closed (something like 79?) and there'll be two names there, one of which hasn't messaged me to get their reward yet. Okay? **

**I say okay a lot...**

**From **_**Sage of Asgard **_**and similarly prompted by **_**Lozzipalooza X **_**and **_**cupcakeeeee15: they srsly[sic] should have kissed just after they danced in that episode. (Prom Queen)**_

**With the eyes of the almost completely homophobic student body on them, oh absolutely. No, I believe it was perfect not having them kiss in the episode, but I'm always up for a challenge anyway.**

**TGTDOSBDK. And t****he definition of TGTDOSBDK (which I have shared with you guys earlier but it appears many of you have forgotten) = They Got Together During Original Song But Didn't Kiss. Remember that, okay? :)**

* * *

Danced

"I can't," Karofsky whispered brokenly before turning on his heel and all but bolting from the auditorium.

And for the third time that night, Kurt felt everybody's eyes trained on him alone, staring into him as if to ask _so, what are you going to now, huh?_

And he didn't know. He could ask one of the girls to dance, possibly, after all, Rachel was standing there biting her lip with endless sympathy in her eyes. He was just about ready to step towards her - and he would have asked Quinn too if she were here considering both girls were dateless now - when her gaze fell just behind him. A second later, the voice came.

"Excuse me,"

Kurt turned, scarcely daring to believe it was true. But there was Blaine, his _boyfriend _Blaine, the one who had been _beaten up _at his last dance for being there with a guy. Standing there, holding out his hand.

"May I have this dance?"

He knew that he was smiling like an idiot and everybody was staring at them. He knew there would be disgusted people turning away, wondering how two guys can _do _stuff like that? But he couldn't care less.

"_Yes_," he breathed, trying to convey every emotion possible into the word - how relieved he was that Blaine had stepped in, how much this dance really meant to him and how _proud _he was of his boyfriend for stepping up.

Blaine moved in and took his hands, positioning them into the right places - Kurt noticing idly that he had let Kurt take the male position - and they began to dance as Mercedes sang the first lines.

"_Friday night, and the lights are low,"_

Kurt knew this song was immediately going into his favourites. It may be cliche and overdone, but right now he and Blaine were _slow dancing _to it and that made it absolutely perfect in his mind. He stared into Blaine's eyes, trying to read what was going on in there. He could see hints of fear and squeezed his hand reassuringly - no matter what happened tonight, they were going to work through it together.

And then Blaine smiled and it was as if the sun had come out. He began to dance a little more erratically, Kurt laughing in delight as both boys relaxed. While dancing with his boyfriend romantically would have been wonderful, he knew they would have plenty of time for things like that. Right now, they were here to have fun.

The dance floor filled, Quinn even making a reappearance and smiling almost apologetically at Rachel before she joined Mercedes and Santana singing. Kurt wondered for a second why Santana had volunteered to sing this number when she was in the running for Prom Queen, before deciding it wasn't important right now.

What was important was that in all the fun and dancing, Blaine hadn't let go of his hands. Kurt turned his attention back to his boyfriend who was smiling at him, his eyes absolutely _glowing _with emotion. "Thank you," Kurt murmured, wishing there were better words to convey just how much he really felt. He knew how much it had taken his boyfriend to do what he did, and he did it for _Kurt_.

"You're welcome." Blaine tugged on his hands to draw him a little bit closer and Kurt stepped in until they were almost toe to toe. The crowd quickly spread into the gaps as any crowd does, leaving the boys nowhere to go as people danced around them. Not that Kurt was minding that _at all_.

Blaine's face was only inches from his now and Kurt acted on instinct. He couldn't find the words to express just how much he _loved _Blaine for what he had done that night.

So as the final notes of Dancing Queen echoed around them and the crowd went wild, Kurt leant in and kissed him.

He had never dreamt his first proper kiss with Blaine would ever be back at McKinley, but he couldn't bring himself to regret it. Not when Blaine's lips were softly dancing with his and his hands trembling ever so lightly in his grasp.

Kurt was the first to break away, reluctant but remembering where they were. He spent a few more moments memorizing the look in Blaine's eyes - dazed, overwhelmed and unbelievably _happy _- before turning to check if anybody was staring at them. A couple of students hastily turned away, looking slightly shocked. One of the jocks glared at him and mimed sticking his finger down his throat - Kurt just rolled his eyes and smiled sweetly at him.

And there was Rachel, beaming at them with her hands clasped together, holding Kurt's scepter between them. Kurt offered her a genuine smile, noticing Blaine was doing the same. He knew her prom hadn't turned out how she had wanted it to, but seeing her happy was enough for Kurt. And he saw the way Finn had been looking at her - it wasn't long until Rachel Berry was going to get her own beautiful moment. Kurt was sure of it.

"Hey," Blaine was whispering in his ear and Kurt shivered slightly. "How about we go get some photos?"

Kurt realized everybody else from Glee was heading over to the photo area, something they hadn't had the chance to do throughout the night with their performances. Prom was beginning to pack up with pre-recorded music playing out of the speakers, and the photo area had been deserted by the other students long ago.

He nodded. "That sounds fantastic." Releasing Blaine's hands, he stepped over to Rachel and took the scepter from her, before leaning in and whispering in her ear. "Your day is going to come, Rachel. Just be patient."

He kissed her lightly on the cheek before her arms wrapped around him in a quick hug. She released him, smiling softly, before turning towards Sam and Mercedes who were calling her in for a photo. Kurt turned back to Blaine and couldn't help but laugh.

"Your Majesty," Blaine said after returning from his bow. "May I escort you to the photo area?"

Kurt pretended to deliberate, waving his scepter around a little. "Well, I suppose I may grant you the honor."

He held his arm out and Blaine took it. Neither of them could quite contain their smile but neither of them really cared. Because, despite everything, it had been a perfect night.

* * *

**I really do feel there's more to the Kurt/Rachel friendship than gets let on (EDIT: Okay, after watching New York, there definitely is. But I miss Kurt/Mercedes friendship so much!). And the girl is growing on me a little (EDIT: Not so much after New York), especially with the story I'm writing that's all about her. I mean, I still hate a lot of her actions, but when her nice side shines through, it's really quite wonderful to see. Same with Quinn, I hate bitch Quinn but when she's being nice and thinking of others, I love her.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_Me: "Huh. I wonder where Kurt got the recipe. I-"_**

**_My mom(in the background): "EMILY. DID YOU TAKE. MY. RECIPE?"_**

**_Me: "...um... so... that's where he got it... I should go and-"_**

**_Rachel: Would you like some I'm Sorry cook-"_**

**_Me: "BYE RACHEL." *storms off to Dalton*_**


	88. Sail

**I posted a note a little while back to the anonymous Chinese person who wanted to translate my stories. I got a response back from the reviewer who wanted me to call her Miss Cabbage saying that she had started posting the stories and sent me the link. I went and had a look and seriously teared up. I mean, obviously I can't read it, but the titles are in English and I just _know _it's my work and now there's this whole other country who can read the stories and... it's unreal. Thank you so much, Miss Cabbage. For anybody who wants to check it out: http : / / tieba . baidu . com / f ? k z = 1138636169 (remove the spaces)**

**Oh, and just for a slice of bad news, one of my stories has been reported and is in danger of being pulled. I write a Facebook themed story - which, yes, is against the rules, but there's _hundreds _of them on here. Someone has reported mine out of all of those. So I'm just praying my story stays up because I worked really hard on it (as I have all of my stories) and had great plans for it. **

**From **_**KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek: Blaine has parents. They have a boat.**_

**So I'm currently posting a chapter story called **_**Sail**_** and this is actually Day Three of that story. When I got this prompt, I just loved it far too much to cram the idea into a oneshot so I had to expand it. If you read this and want to read the events before and after, the story can be found on my profile and is currently up to this chapter with more to come. **

**For anybody who didn't read that story, small backstory: Blaine's parents have let him take his friends out on a week-long cruise on their boat. Blaine and Kurt are dating and sharing a room. They haven't kissed yet, clearly, but they're moving forward in their relationship slowly. As of the previous night, they almost kissed and progressed to cuddling together in the same bed (completely innocent of course). **

* * *

Previous Chapter:

_... Then Blaine was gently tugging him across to the bed, not that Kurt was fighting him. Blaine let go for a moment, lying on his side and looking up at Kurt. He took a deep breath, sitting on the edge of the bed before lying next to Blaine, his back up against his boyfriend's chest. As Blaine's arms wrapped around him again, all the lingering fears slipped away to be replaced with an incredible comfort._

_"Good?" Blaine leant over, murmuring in his ear and Kurt couldn't help but shiver as the breath ghosted over his skin. He simply murmured his reply, suddenly realizing how tired he was._

_Blaine caught on too, chuckling lightly and sending vibrations through Kurt. "Go to sleep, babe. I'll see you in the morning."_

_"Mm, okay. G'night. Love you."_

_As Kurt slipped off to sleep, he wondered why Blaine had suddenly gone still behind him but couldn't stay awake long enough to find out._

* * *

Sail

Kurt woke slowly, blinking furiously against the harsh sunlight before deciding it was much easier to just shut his eyes and ignore it. After all, there was no reason to wake up, he could just stay snuggled into his warm bed and ignore the sun in his face.

Then he realized his bed didn't face the sun.

Then he realized there was a pair of arms around his waist and his head was resting on something that, while being as warm and comfortable as a pillow, was distinctly _not _a pillow.

Kurt decided opening his eyes again was probably a good idea at this point. When they finally focused, he lifted his head slightly, and immediately burnt the image in front of him into his mind forever.

Blaine was still fast asleep, his head turned slightly away from the invading sunlight. His face was completely relaxed, his breathing light and gentle and Kurt absolutely could _not _pull his eyes away from his boyfriend. After all, he knew Blaine wasn't perfect, not by a long shot. But seeing him lying there, his hair a messy halo around his head, Kurt could easily stare at him all day and not get bored.

But that was only one option. The other was to wake Blaine so they could spend some time together before the rest of the Warblers invaded their day. And suddenly that seemed much more appealing than simply staring.

Lifting one hand from Blaine's chest, he gently traced his fingers down his boyfriend's cheek. Blaine murmured something in his sleep, shifting away from Kurt's fingers. Biting back the urge to chuckle, Kurt leant down and pressed his lips against Blaine's temple, running his other hand across Blaine's jawline.

Pulling away, Kurt watched Blaine's eyes flicker open, blinking a couple of times before lifting his head slightly. "Hi," he murmured, his voice rough with sleep.

"Hi," Kurt replied, watching Blaine yawn. "Sleep well?"

"Mm." Blaine still looked a little out of it, but was waking up a lot quicker than Kurt usually did. "You?"

Kurt thought about it for a second and realized he had. "Yeah. Better than usual actually."

Blaine was awake enough to smirk - something Kurt found highly unfair. "Glad you were comfortable. And I certainly approved of the wake up."

Kurt felt the blush forming and buried his head into Blaine's chest again. He felt Blaine laugh, running his hands over Kurt's back. "I like this idea. We don't need to be up for a bit longer and I want to take full advantage of 'cuddly Kurt'."

He knew his blush was in full force but Blaine's arms were wrapping around him tighter and he couldn't quite bring himself to care. Kurt snuggled in closer, twisting his legs in with Blaine's and resting his hands on Blaine's chest. Blaine ducked his head down to kiss Kurt on top of his head, sighing happily.

There was silence for a few moments before Blaine spoke. "I need to talk to you about something," he murmured. His tone wasn't bad, but Kurt still stiffened, pulling away from Blaine's grasp and sitting up against the wall.

"What is it?" he asked, looking down into his boyfriend's face.

Blaine smiled reassuringly, propping himself up on his elbows. "It's not a bad thing, I promise. I just want to know whether you remember what you said when you were falling asleep last night."

Kurt only needed to think for a few seconds before it came back to him in full force.

_I told Blaine I love him. _

The look on his face must have reflected his inner panic as Blaine sat up, pulling him into his arms. "Hey, hey it's fine. Relax, okay? I said it wasn't bad."

"But it is!" Kurt burst out, unable to stop the torrent of words. "I mean, yes it's true but I didn't want it to be said that way, I wanted something meaningful and -"

Blaine lifted a hand, pressing it to Kurt's lips gently. "Stop. Trust me, it was meaningful. Considering we were cuddling together in the same bed for the first time, I'm definitely going to remember it. But if it makes you feel better, I'll wait to say the words until sometime we can deem as 'perfect', okay?"

Kurt shook his head, smiling. "You're so corny. But yes." Blaine leant in and kissed his forehead. Kurt immediately found himself thinking of a much better place those lips could be - namely against his own - and his face flushed. Blaine paused, a couple of inches from his face and scrutinized him.

"What's on your mind?" he asked, his voice slightly teasing, and it was obvious that Blaine _knew _and he might have even been thinking the same because his eyes just darted down to Kurt's _lips..._

A loud hammering on the door made Kurt almost jump out of Blaine's lap. Blaine held him tighter, rolling his eyes. "What?" he called out.

"Sorry, guys. I wouldn't interrupt if it wasn't important.. can I come in?"

Jeff's voice sounded slightly panicked and Kurt frowned. "Sure, come in."

The door opened and Jeff poked his head in, looking across at the two boys without batting an eyelid. Probably because he and Nick were used to getting themselves in the same position... and probably because he was biting his lip and looking worried.

"Jeff, what's wrong?" Kurt unwrapped his arms from Blaine and turned to face Jeff fully.

"Nick's sick."

Kurt was off the bed in an instant, Blaine following quickly behind. "What kind of sick?" Blaine asked, rummaging in his bag for something.

"I don't know. He woke up in the middle of the night saying his stomach hurt and he felt dizzy. I was going to get you then but he convinced me not to and then fell asleep again. But I woke up this morning to him throwing up in the bathroom." Jeff was wringing his hands together and Kurt pulled the boy into a hug. He had always been closer to Jeff than any other Warbler - excluding Blaine of course - and hated seeing the boy so worried.

Blaine stood, holding a box of tablets. "Okay, it sounds like it's either an allergy of some kind, sea sickness or food poisoning - and heaven forbid, because we've all been eating the same food. Does he have any allergies?"

Jeff shook his head as the three left the room, making their way along the corridor. "But I did notice the sea was kind of rough when we woke up."

"That could mean we potentially have others who aren't well." Blaine popped a couple of the tablets and gave them to Kurt. "Take these to Nick, I'll go check on everybody else."

The three boys parted ways, Jeff leading the way into his and Nick's room. Nick was slumped in the bathroom, his face pale and Jeff immediately knelt next to him, brushing his hair off his forehead. "How are you feeling, babe?"

Nick just shook his head. Kurt grabbed a glass and filled it with water. "Blaine gave us these, he said they should help," Jeff continued. But before he could hand them over, Nick's face grew paler and he ducked his head over the toilet again.

Kurt was instantly backing out of the room. "I'm really sorry, and I hope you feel better but Jeff, I can't _do _vomit."

Jeff nodded, rubbing Nick's back. "Go, I'll call if we need anything."

Kurt bolted, slamming the door. Yes, he felt bad for abandoning the boy when he wasn't well, but he had Jeff. And since Kurt was a sympathetic vomiter, he figured Jeff wouldn't want to end up with two sick people anyway. Heading back down to his and Blaine's room, he found his boyfriend was still out. Grabbing some clothes, Kurt headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day and do his moisturizing routine. As he was finishing up, he heard Blaine enter the room and quickly stepped out to meet him.

"So Nick isn't the only one," Blaine announced, tossing the box back into his bag. "Thad and Cameron are both throwing up and David's just feeling dizzy. Wes and Jessica are both fine, they've already gone down for breakfast and are more than happy to just spend the day onboard while everybody recovers."

Kurt shook his head. "I didn't even realize until I looked out the window, and I guess last night must've been worse. I can't believe it's knocked everybody out of commission like that."

Blaine bit his lip. "I hope it doesn't ruin the cruise for them."

His boyfriend looked guilty and Kurt shook his head, wrapping his arms around him. "You can't be blamed for the weather, you know that. You've given them medication, they just need to throw up a bit more and sleep it off, it'll all be good."

Blaine hummed in agreement, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder. His boyfriend was still shirtless and Kurt felt the heat where his hands were resting on Blaine's back. He pulled away quickly, swallowing roughly. "Um, well why don't you go and get dressed and we'll have breakfast."

Kurt thought Blaine would be confused about his sudden change of demeanor. Instead, his boyfriend just gave him a look, smiling slightly, before grabbing his clothes and heading into the bathroom. Kurt watched him go, shaking his head. _It's like he knows everything that's going on in my head... so why doesn't he do anything about it?_

Before Kurt's mind could go overboard and start obsessing over whether Blaine actually _wanted _to take things further - and even that sounded wrong in his mind, it's not like he wanted _sex_ or anything - Blaine left the bathroom, running his fingers through his messy hair. "Ready to go?"

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Wes and Jessica were on their way out as the two boys headed in. Blaine quickly filled them in on the status of everybody else before they headed up to the top deck. And now it was just him and Blaine. As they ate, there was occasional conversation, and it certainly wasn't awkward because Kurt couldn't remember the last time he had felt awkward around Blaine. But the tension in the room was so _thick_. Any time Blaine brushed up against his arm accidentally, or their legs touched together, Kurt would find himself drifting off into thoughts of what he and Blaine _could _be doing... and then jerking himself back whenever Blaine asked a question or said something.

Kurt knew he was obvious, and Blaine just continued to give that soft smile of his and repeat his question and Kurt could tell he was just _waiting_ for Kurt to either explain what was going on - not that he needed to, Blaine was a freaking _mind reader _or something - or for him to explode.

Exploding looked like the most likely action right now.

"So, what do you want to do with the day?" Blaine stretched his arms above his head before lowering them, one arm magically appearing around Kurt's waist.

Kurt snorted. "Smooth," he quipped, Blaine simply winking in reply. "Well, we don't really need to make plans, do we? Why don't we just go for a walk and see what ends up happening?"

_Oh wow, that could be taken really badly, _Kurt realized a moment later. But Blaine just smiled again and stood, offering him a hand. "That sounds fine to me. Shall we?"

Kurt took the hand offered to him, standing and linking their fingers together. And even after sleeping in the same bed and cuddling all the time, the simple touch of fingertips still made Kurt's heart flutter. He could feel Blaine's pulse, beating against his own wrist as they walked, and it just reminded him that the heart causing that pulse belonged to _him_.

Call it cliche, but Kurt never wanted these kinds of feelings to go away. Even when their relationship eventuated beyond the touch of fingers - and Kurt was planning on making that happen soon, he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep from kissing Blaine after all - he didn't want to lose the way his heart skipped a beat every time he saw his boyfriend, the smile that crossed both of their faces when they met up again after being apart. Kurt wanted their relationship to stay romantic forever.

"Hey."

Kurt snapped out of his musing, realizing that Blaine had led him to the far side of the deck that Kurt hadn't seen yet. Rather than being an open area with lots of lounge chairs like the other deck, this was more quiet and secluded, as if it were made for a couple. Kurt imagined that Blaine's parents probably spent their time here, and realizing that Blaine had brought him here was doing all sorts of things to Kurt's mind that it probably shouldn't be.

Blaine tugged on his hand lightly, turning Kurt to face him. "What's going on up there?" He tapped Kurt's forehead lightly with his free hand and Kurt chuckled.

"Just - just thinking." _Please, just ask what about! Then we can talk about it and I don't have to sit here trying to figure out what to do! _

But of course Blaine didn't. He simply smiled, lowering his hand to wrap around Kurt's waist, drawing him closer. "You think a lot," he teased, dropping Kurt's other hand to pull him in properly. "I just want to hold you for awhile, is that okay?"

Kurt would have raised an eyebrow if his head hadn't been resting against Blaine's shoulder, rendering the gesture ineffective. _Let me think, my wonderful and near-perfect _boyfriend _wants to 'just hold me' for awhile and I should have an objection?_

Blaine seemed to take his silence as an answer, tightening his hold around Kurt's waist. Kurt trailed his hands through Blaine's curls lightly, eliciting a satisfied hum from his boyfriend. "You're gorgeous," he murmured before he could stop himself.

"Mm. So are you," Blaine whispered back, nuzzling his head into Kurt's neck. Kurt sighed happily, wondering at how in the space of six months, his life had gone from being the victim of a confused homosexual bully to standing here with his boyfriend, feeling like the most important person in the world - or at least in the eyes of Blaine Anderson. Which was good, because Blaine was certainly the most important person to Kurt at this moment.

And Kurt wanted to show him that.

Untangling one of his hands from Blaine's hair, he moved it around until he was cupping his boyfriend's chin and lifted it up so their eyes were meeting again. "I love you," he whispered.

And Blaine just gave that smile again, but _finally_, Kurt understood. Blaine wanted this too, but he wanted it to be something that Kurt had given him. Every other kiss Kurt had experienced had been taken from him, this time it was his gift to give freely.

So Kurt leant in and kissed him.

They stood together as time whirled on around them, caught in a single perfect moment. And Kurt knew right there and then that he could never love another like he did Blaine. They were meant for each other.

As they broke away from the kiss, Blaine leant their foreheads together, staring into Kurt's eyes. "I love you too, Kurt."

Kurt stared at him for a few more seconds before tilting his head, moving back in to kiss Blaine again softly. This time, he allowed his lips to part slightly, taking in the taste of Blaine and committing it to memory. There was nothing about this moment that he could even begin to put into words, so he didn't try. He just kept kissing Blaine, knowing it spoke everything that he needed to say.

All those years that Blaine had heard people talking about 'walking on cloud nine;' now he could finally appreciate it for himself. Ever since Kurt had kissed him that afternoon, the smile hadn't left his face and had grown every time one of them had leant in for another kiss, knowing they could do this whenever they wanted now.

Even heading down to check on his invalid friends - alone; he had discovered that Kurt didn't handle vomit well and had had left him on the top deck - couldn't dampen Blaine's mood. Knocking quietly on the first door, he opened it to see Jeff flipping through a magazine. Nick was sprawled on the bed, his head in Jeff's lap with the other boy gently stroking his hair.

"He hasn't thrown up for a few hours," Jeff reported quietly. "I think the worst of it is over, he's still very pale but if he sleeps it off, I think he'll be better by morning."

Blaine knelt next to the bed, taking a closer look at Nick. The boy was pale but he was looking better and Blaine agreed with Jeff's assessment.

"So, how's the day been?"

Blaine couldn't hide his smile and Jeff noticed instantly. "Something happened. Spill!"

"Kurt might have kissed me." Blaine shrugged, attempting to look nonchalant despite the grin spreading across his face at being able to say the words out loud for the first time.

Jeff covered his mouth, obviously trying not to squeal and wake his boyfriend. "That's great, Blaine! I'm so happy for you guys."

Blaine didn't miss the way Jeff's eyes dropped to Nick a second later. "Have you guys -?"

Jeff shook his head. "Nick's still working through some stuff from his past. I'm leaving that ball in his court."

"But you want to."

"Of course." Jeff smiled, running his fingers through Nick's hair again. "He's gorgeous, and he's mine. Why wouldn't I want to?"

Blaine chatted with the other Warbler for a couple of minutes before heading off to check on the other Warblers. The verdict was the same in the other rooms - nobody was throwing up anymore and all thought they'd be better by morning.

As Blaine walked back down the hallway, he thought about his conversation with Jeff. He didn't know much about Nick's past, only that he never went home to see his family, but the same sentiments were there as with Kurt.

Blaine had been dying to kiss Kurt for not only the entire day, but ever since they had started dating. He knew Kurt's past history with kissing people and being kissed, and he knew that the moment he shared a kiss with someone special, it would be a hugely defining moment for his boyfriend. And it needed to be on Kurt's terms, when Kurt was 100% ready. And Blaine had been willing to wait.

It wasn't like Blaine had been thinking from experience either. His only kiss was a drunken one he didn't even remember, and when Kurt had finally made that moment happen it was life changing for Blaine as well. The smile returned to his face as he reminisced, and it was only widened when he reached the top deck and heard the sound of his boyfriend's voice being carried across to him.

"_Maybe I'm amazed at the way _

_You love me all the time,_

_Maybe I'm afraid of the way I love you,"_

Blaine shook his head, his smile only growing wider. He walked over to Kurt, wrapping his arms around his waist as Kurt continued to sing. _This is my boyfriend and he's amazing and I love him. _

"_Maybe I'm amazed at the way,_

_You pulled me out of time,_

_And hung me on a line,_

_Maybe I'm amazed at the way_

_I really need you."_

Kurt trailed off, letting the final notes linger before turning in Blaine's arms. "Hey there."

"Hi," Blaine murmured. As much as he wanted to continue kissing Kurt, he needed to know what was going on. "Any particular reason behind that song choice?"

Kurt ducked his head, but Blaine immediately grabbed his chin gently. "Hey, no hiding from me. I love you, no matter what you say."

The words had the desired effect. Kurt blushed, but spoke. "I'm just afraid that we've fallen too hard. I mean, we're in _high school. _How many high school relationships actually last outside of school? And then we have college and we may go to different colleges or even different states and long distance relationships work on TV and movies but could we really -"

This time Blaine did kiss him, but it was more to stop the rambling coming out of his boyfriend's mouth. "Don't you think I've already thought about all this, baby? It scares me too, more than I've ever let on."

Blaine led Kurt over to one of the seats, sitting down and pulling him into his lap. Kurt immediately curled his head into Blaine's chest as he continued talking. "I don't know what will happen. Ten years down the track, we both might have found other people and be very happy without being together -"

"I don't think I could."

Blaine paused, blinking a couple of times. Kurt's voice was muffled, but he knew what he had heard. "Neither," he admitted hesitantly. "So maybe we will still be together. But what matters is that we're together _now_, okay? We're going to take this thing one day and one step at a time and do everything we can to make this work because this is what we've _both _fought for, for so long."

Kurt hummed in agreement, still nestled into his chest. "Damn straight."

Blaine laughed. "There's my Kurt." He glanced down at his boyfriend who didn't respond. "Tired, babe?"

"Mm," Kurt mumbled quietly.

Now that he thought about it, Blaine realized he was pretty tired as well. "Okay, let's get to the room." He paused, still staring at the prone figure curled up in his lap. "Can you walk or do you want me to carry you."

There was no reply, and Blaine realized Kurt had fallen asleep. Moving carefully, Blaine scooped Kurt into his arms and stood, amazed at how light his boyfriend was. Kurt immediately buried his head back into Blaine's shoulder in his sleep as the boy took slow even steps to get back to the room.

It was only when he got to his door that he realized that it was shut. As he deliberated for a few seconds whether to put Kurt down, a quiet voice spoke up. "Here, let me."

Jessica stepped forward and opened the door. Blaine nodded his thanks, moving into the room and placing Kurt gently on the bed. He knew his boyfriend would flip in the morning when he realized he had forgotten his moisturizing routine, but Blaine didn't have the heart to wake him.

Turning around, Blaine saw Jessica was still standing in the doorway. "Can I talk to you," she murmured quietly. Blaine nodded, walking back out of the room and closing the door gently behind him.

"Look, I've been talking with Wes a lot about you and Kurt." Jessica looked down at her feet, playing with strands of her hair. "And I guess when I first met you guys, I didn't really know how to act. You're honestly the first openly gay people I've ever met, and seeing you so affectionate around each other - well, I didn't know what to think."

Blaine nodded. He had always know that Jessica had trouble being herself around him and Kurt - Kurt noticed it a lot more than he did though.

"But I just want you to know that it's nothing to do with homophobia. I didn't have an issue with _what _you two are doing. It was just... just different, is all."

"I understand."

Jessica looked up, surprised. "You do?"

Blaine smiled reassuringly. "Maybe not first hand, but I know what you're trying to say. That's how my Dad was when I first came out."

"I'm sorry. Have things - gotten better?"

Blaine shook his head. "No. Not really. But that's not what we're discussing. You said you've been talking to Wes?"

"Yeah." Jessica flicked her hair back, straightening up. "He showed me that you guys aren't that different from me and him. And something just sort of made sense and ... well, now I don't even know why there was an issue. I just thought you should know, and I wanted to apologize for the way I've been acting, especially to Kurt."

"I think he'll appreciate that. And I do too. Thank you, Jessica."

The girl surprised Blaine by pulling him into a quick hug. "Pass on the message for me?"

"Of course. Only if you pass on one for me though." Jessica cocked her head, listening. "Tell Wes that Blaine said; '_It's _happened'." He placed extra emphasis on the first word, knowing that Wes would understand what he was talking about straight away.

Jessica looked confused, but agreed to pass it on anyway. Bidding him goodnight, she headed off down the hallway, leaving Blaine wondering whether life could get any more perfect. Then he remembered the sleeping boyfriend in the room, and grinned. _Maybe it can. _

Opening the door quietly, Blaine saw Kurt had curled himself into a ball, facing the wall. Smiling fondly at his boyfriend, Blaine quickly got changed and turned off the lights. Climbing in by the foot of the bed, Blaine moved up so he was facing Kurt. He slipped an arm around Kurt's waist, who moved into the touch, resting his head against Blaine's chest again.

Blaine let his head fall back against the pillow, allowing the events of the day to run through his head. He wasn't sure whether the day itself could have gotten much better, but he knew that life had many other perfect days in store for him and Kurt - whether they were together or apart. And Blaine hoped with his whole heart that they would stay together, because he loved this boy more than he knew he was capable of.

* * *

**This story has some seriously long chapters! =D**

**If you liked this, I do recommend going to check out the story from the beginning. It's updated pretty regularly - excluding the wait on this chapter because I wanted to upload the two at the same time - so I hope you read and like :)**


	89. Grumpy

**I noticed that I have some new _Sail _readers after yesterday's chapter :) I'd totally make a boat related joke here about 'jumping ship' but I daresay I'd lose most of my readers, so I'll stay quiet**

**This wasn't beta'd by Angela because SHE'S at Deathly Hallows Pt. 2 :/ But hey, that's cool. I spent my night watching the REAL Harry Potter... Sequel. =D **

**Oh, and for those of you Americans who don't know, Red Vines aren't locally sold over here (being Australia/NZ). But I did a little sleuthing and I found a confectionary warehouse just down the road from me that does international imports... AND THEY HAVE RED VINES! So I bribed my Mum and she's buying me some tomorrow! =D **

**Right, I'm off to do some journalism because I've been doing too much FanFiction and not enough study. I'll leave you with some food for thought - ****Darren: "In the Muggle world... I'm something called a douchebag... I make covers of Disney songs, who does that?" (How many of us _want _a douchebag if that's what they do? *raises both hands*)**

**From **_**KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek: Coffee deprived Blaine and a very grumpy Kurt?**_

* * *

Grumpy

"For the _last time_, Blaine Anderson, stop making that noise!"

"Kurt, I'm _typing_! How do you expect me to type without making some kind of noise?"

Blaine glared across to his roommate who was lying on his bed, glaring at the ceiling. Kurt had been in a foul mood all day and Blaine had no idea what was wrong. He had tried to get Kurt to talk about it but had just been snapped at for his trouble so left it. And now he had to get this paper finished that afternoon because the due date was a week earlier than he had expected. And since Blaine hadn't gotten his coffee that morning, he couldn't be held responsible for how he responded.

"You're not just typing though, you're hitting the keys hard. Really hard." Kurt sat up and fixed Blaine with his best bitch glare. Blaine just rolled his eyes, well used to the look after being subjected to it all day. "Oh, you did _not_ just roll your eyes at me!"

Blaine deliberately rolled his eyes again, drawing out the action even though it made his head hurt more than it already did. "And if I did?"

Kurt huffed loudly. "Honestly, I can't believe I have to put up with you!"

Blaine turned back to his computer, continuing to type at his assignment and deliberately hitting the keys harder than necessary. It was immature, sure, but Kurt was really starting to get on Blaine's nerves; and the worst thing was that there seemed to be no reason for it or anything Blaine could do to fix the problem.

"Shut up, shut up, _shut up!_"

Something hard hit Blaine in the back of the head and he clenched his fists, waiting a few seconds before turning around. Honestly, he already had a pounding headache from caffeine withdrawal, he didn't need _books _thrown at him too.

"If I'm that _annoying_, maybe you should just leave." It was Blaine's turn to glare, completely giving up on trying to just block Kurt out. Because honestly, this was beyond a joke.

"Why should I have to leave my own room?" Kurt was on the edge of his bed looking furious, his eyes glinting with anger. Blaine felt a momentary surge of attraction - not that he'd ever admit to Kurt that he found him _sexy _when he was angry - before remembering the situation at hand.

"Because you won't shut up even though you think I should have to, you're being a pain and you won't tell me why so I can fix it so why should I have to listen to you? I'm tired, I haven't had any coffee today, I've got a 4000 word paper to finish by _tomorrow _and I just want some _quiet _so I can _concentrate_. So since it appears that I need to spell it out for you, just _shut up!_"

Blaine's voice had risen by the end of his speel but he didn't care. Giving Kurt one final glare he turned back to his computer, beginning to type again. There were a few seconds of blissful silence, then -

"_Excuse me?"_

The back of his chair was yanked around and Blaine saw Kurt standing in front of him looking livid. "You do _not _just get to talk to me like that!"

Blaine was on his feet, a couple of inches from Kurt's face as he spat out, "And what about how you've been talking to _me_ all day? At least you _know _why I'm mad, but you won't tell me what's wrong with you. So either tell me what's eating you, or go fix the problem!"

"You want me to fix the problem? Alright, here's the problem: I'm in love with you, idiot! And I have to see you every day _knowing _you're at least sort of interested - because you're not subtle, you know? - but instead of doing something about it you're being Mentor Blaine or Best-Friend Blaine when all I really want is Boyfriend Blaine! So maybe I am grumpy and acting like a bitch but I'm just so sick of -"

When Blaine's brain finally caught up and realized what Kurt had confessed - _he loves me? _- his body went into autopilot and he closed the gap, capturing Kurt's lips with his own. The younger boy stilled at the touch before responding, kissing him back and pressing their bodies closer together.

Blaine pulled his lips back so they were just resting against Kurt's as he whispered, "Believe me, if I had known you were interested, I would have done this a long time ago. I love you too, Kurt."

Kurt pressed their lips together again briefly before pulling away, looking slightly ashamed. "I'm sorry I got so grumpy."

Blaine chuckled. "Don't worry about it. It's all good now, right?" His smile quickly dropped as his head pounded again and he remembered he still had to get his stupid essay finished...

"How about I go get you some coffee to make up for it?"

Blaine's eyes lit up and he pulled Kurt in for another kiss. _Best boyfriend ever._

* * *

**Yes, their moods change very quickly. But that said, kissing always helps ;) **

**This reminds me a lot of my Fight chapter. Possibly because... it's the same concept. Anyway.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_Blaine: "Kurt, why aren't you sick?"_**

**_Kurt: "I... I honestly have no clue. I haven't been sick since I was 5 actually, and that time I had a hangover and was throwing up. Besides that..."_**

**_Blaine: "But- but what about that time you- you were sick and I was taking care of you?"_**

**_Kurt: "Oh. I hadn't seen you in about 4 days, and that was the only way I knew I could get you to stay with me."_**

**_*gaping Blaine*_**

**_Kurt: "Oh, stop that." *kisses*_**


	90. Disguise

**I have a very important question. Who is _betterwithredvines_ on Tumblr? Because I searched my username in Google (trust me, it sometimes yields interesting results) and someone tagged me posting about Chapter 82. And it was a good thing and it was awesome, so I want to know! :)**

**And my fellow douchebag!Darren lovers: _Call me Mad, KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek, Klaineforthewin, BriannaLiz, Wyny, KlainebowKlisses, Full-Empty-Spirit_**

**I'm posting a bit early because tonight, I'm going to my friend's place. We're going to watch Glee (from Original Song onwards), AVPM/S and eat various junk food items such as things I grew up with as a kid in NZ and... RED VINES! I got the last packet off the shelf! They... were not what I had expected at all, even though I was warned that it was an acquired taste and they weren't as sweet as they looked. But I think they're growing on me. I'll let you know. Anyway, that's where I'll be. Just... just in case someone needed me... *sniffs***

**;)**

**From **_**KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek: Blaine could watch AVMP[sic] and Kurt could say the actor who plays Potter is handsome and then that he looks a lot like Blaine.**_

**Okay, I've seen one of these done before and I had to do it. So this is pretty much crack. And totally AU. For now anyway - man, I'd LOVE for this kind of twist to actually make it onto Glee ;)**

* * *

Disguise

"We will now take suggestions on what movie to watch tonight."

Wes banged his gavel and Kurt sighed. While he enjoyed being a part of a group that wasn't chaotic all the time, he also saw the need to relax sometimes. And choosing a movie wasn't something that needed to be _voted_ on.

But, sure enough, Warblers were standing and giving their suggestions, and each time David would put it to a vote. So far, _Monty Python, Star Wars _and _Lord of the Rings _had all been shot down and Kurt wasn't sure they were ever going to make a decision. _We need something that's funny, that people can relate to but hasn't been shown..._

Kurt raised his hand, the perfect idea coming to mind. "Warbler Kurt?"

"I propose we watch something that's not technically a movie." Murmurs broke out across the room and Kurt waited them out until Wes rapped his gavel. "It's movie length, but it comes off YouTube, and it's a parody. It's called _A Very Potter Musical."_

Blaine began to choke next to him and Kurt looked down, alarmed. "Blaine, are you okay?"

"Yeah... yeah, I'm good." Blaine's eyes were watering but he waved a hand dismissively. "Just .. breathed the wrong way."

David snickered and Kurt frowned before continuing. "Anyway, it's done by a small community group called _Starkid_ and I managed to get a copy on DVD."

"All in favour?" David looked around the room as hands began to go up. Kurt and Blaine both had their hands raised and apparently it was enough. "Alright, _A Very Potter Musical _it is. We'll go set up the theatre room if you want to go grab it from your room?"

Kurt nodded, jumping off the couch and heading towards his room to grab the DVD.

* * *

As soon as Kurt left, David was out of his seat and falling on the couch next to Blaine. "So, how are you going to handle this exactly?"

Blaine shrugged. "Well he's seen it before, hasn't he? And if he hasn't drawn the resemblance yet, he probably won't tonight."

Wes sat on the armrest on the other side, smirking. "Who knew our little Kurt was an AVPM fan, hey Blaine?"

Blaine just shook his head. "Just don't say anything, alright? Let him enjoy the movie in peace, and the other Warblers for that matter."

The group headed off to the theatre room and Blaine began to hum under his breath before catching himself. Knowing all the words to every song probably _wasn't _a good idea to throw Kurt off his trail.

* * *

"Got it!"

Kurt walked into the theatre room to see all the Warblers assembled on couches with a spot left for him next to Blaine. Handing over the DVD, he sat down and smiled. "Have you seen this before?"

Blaine bit his lip for a second before answering. "Um, yeah. Bits and pieces of it." He stared at the screen quickly and Kurt frowned before dismissing it. Blaine had voted for the movie after all, so he must want to watch it.

As the opening scene began, the camera zoomed in on the actor who played Harry. He lifted his head to reveal his lighting scar and the audience laughed. Kurt had wished he could've gotten a version without the audience, but he took what he could get.

"Wait, no way!"

Kurt turned to see Thad staring at the screen open mouthed. Blaine took off one of his shoes and calmly threw it in Thad's direction, hitting him square in the head.

"Why'd you do that?"

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Many of the Warblers may have a tendency to interrupt movies with thoughts and ideas that nobody _wants to hear_." The last part was said deliberately loud and Kurt knew it was for the benefit of Thad. "By the way, I may need to borrow your shoes." Mystified, Kurt kicked them off and left them on the floor, Blaine nodding a thanks before they turned their attention back to the screen. Kurt decided it was another one of those Warbler things that he didn't really want to know about and left it at that.

As the movie went on, Blaine did indeed need to use Kurt's shoes, as well as one of David's. Occasionally, a Warbler would start saying something that Blaine seemed to disagree with and a second later, a shoe would be flying in their direction. Kurt couldn't work out what was going on but did his best to focus on the movie and hope a shoe fight didn't start.

Reaching the Yule Ball scene, Kurt couldn't help but clap his hands. "Oh, I love this bit!"

Blaine smiled. "Same actually."

"Do you know the song?" For as long as Kurt had been showing people the movie, he hadn't met anybody else who knew any of the songs. Of course he had the lyrics to all of them memorized and had all but given up on being able to sing any of the duets.

"Yeah." Blaine shrugged but Kurt nearly squealed with joy.

"Can you sing it with me?"

For some reason, Blaine looked slightly uncomfortable and Kurt frowned. "I mean, if you don't want to..."

"No, it's fine." The music started playing and Blaine began to sing.

"_Here I am, face to face with a situation,_

_I never thought I'd ever see..."_

As Blaine sang, Kurt felt a strange sense of deja vu but shrugged it off, knowing he'd heard Blaine sing enough times that it shouldn't be strange. Yet he knew that voice from somewhere else...

Almost missing his cue, Kurt began to sing Draco's part.

"_What? What the hell is this,_

_You expect me to sing about her, _

_I don't care about her!"_

Kurt smiled, feeling his voice rise to hit the notes that no other Warbler could reach. The others were watching them as they broke into the harmony before sharing the final verse. The look in Blaine's eye was playfully competitive and Kurt immediately rose to the challenge, belting out his section at the top of his lungs.

"_- with Hermione Granger..._

_Daaaaanger!"_

They drew the last line out before collapsing back into the sofa, laughing. The rest of the boys applauded before Nick started to say something. "You know, Blaine, your voice is -"

Another shoe flew across the room and everybody settled down to watch the rest of the movie.

* * *

As the credits began to roll across the screen, the boys stretched and began to chat to one another. Wes flicked on the lights and Kurt blinked a couple of times to try and adjust. Blaine chuckled next to him. "So, did you like it?"

"Loved it, as usual. I'm glad I had someone to sing with this time, it gets fairly awkward when it's just Draco singing most of the time." Blaine laughed again and Kurt decided to just go for it and say what had been on his mind for the second half of the musical.

"You know, you look a lot like the guy who plays Harry."

The room was suddenly silent and Kurt looked around to see everyone staring at them. Confused, he turned to Blaine who was biting his lip and looking around the room. And then it hit him.

"No _way!"_

Kurt stared at his friend for a few seconds before grabbing the remote and rewinding to the section in the credits where Harry's face was. "Darren Criss... Blaine?"

"I - I go by that name when I'm doing non-Dalton related performances." Blaine's voice was quiet and he was staring at the couch. "My friends needed a Harry, they wanted me to do it so I grew my hair out and filmed the part. We never expected it to go viral, and I didn't want everybody to just know me as 'the guy who played Harry' so I chopped the hair off and started the gelled look. So far only Wes and David knew, but it looks like everyone came to that conclusion."

The rest of the Warblers voiced their agreement, Blaine hesitantly looking up. "I know it's kind of weird and dorky but I -"

Kurt leant in and kissed him. He wasn't sure what possessed him to do it - _apart from having been in love with this guy for like, forever, of course _- but all he knew was that Blaine was Darren and Harry Potter and that was _hot_. After a moment of shock, Blaine began to kiss him back until the wolf-whistles echoed around the room and Kurt pulled away.

"I just need you to do one thing."

Blaine smiled, looking slightly dazed. "Yeah?"

Kurt reached up and flicked Blaine's hair lightly. "Ditch the gel, Potter."

* * *

_**Granger Danger **_**is my favourite song from AVPM at the moment. I just love the moment when Ron starts singing **_**"This could be daaaaaanger!" **_**and some random from the audience yells out, "YES!" like he knew it was coming.**

**I know this is less 'First kiss, aww how cute.' like and more 'AVPM CRACKFIC FTW ... oh, hey, they kissed. Look at that.' It's just kinda how it ended up and what happens when I get free reign and AVPM. Sorry y'all.**

**Hands up who loves Darren Criss with curly hair instead of the gel? *raises both hands* (Yes, again. I know... I'm just in love with Darren, okay! *sniffs*)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Kurt looked at the computer. What WAS Blaine typing, anyways?**_

_**"Hmm... WHAT THE- 27 bottles of hair gel? What the- there are so many chemicals- no. No way. Let's see- cancel order."**_

_**Later... "Kurt... where's all my hair gel?"**_

_**"Well... I needed to burn some of Rachel's clothes, and it's faster to start a fire with gel..."**_


	91. Climb

**Everybody else who loves curlyhaired!Darren: _StarkidGleek4evs, FreakingOutAndJoiningDalton, Jessica(Anon), keariel, CheshireTears, BriannaLiz, Call me Mad, little-writer61, GleeWicked(Anon), AprilShowers87, Chasing Aspirations, AphraelFT, KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek, maddiapples, KlainebowKlisses, Full-Empty-Spirit, madnad101, Klaineforthewin, HonoraryDAMember, BeccaJamieThomas93, Queen of Drama 13, klaine loving anon(Anon), klainebowsgalore, hermionemellark _and_ Caitylin. _We are united! I spent all of last night watching AVPM/S ****and he is _gorgeous _in that! **=D

**Oh, and Red Vines taste AMAZING! It was certainly an acquired taste, but me and my friend were eating them at 4 in the morning and quoting AVPM/S at each other and it was wonderful :) she's a new convert, not only to the AVPM/S world, but to the FanFiction world! I finally told someone I see in person that I'm a FanFiction writer and she thought it was pretty cool... maybe it was because it was 3 in the morning when I told her. So yeah :) **

**From **_**KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek: Tree-climbing!**_

**For the purpose of this story, there's two months between Regionals and Nationals. Glee timelines confuse me so I don't know how long would really be between them, and I don't care to sit there and try to find out either. **

**TGTDOSBDK.**

**Also, there's a huge deal of controversy over whether the boys actually board or not. For the rest of my stories, I've said that both Blaine and Kurt board, but for this one I'm saying that neither of them do/did. Because I'm an author and I reserve the right to do so. Nyahh. **

**I'm also five. Just in case you didn't know.**

* * *

Climb

It was a well known fact that Kurt Hummel detested any form of outdoor activity.

Sure, he had a brief stint as kicker, but that had been for a cause and he had taken a very long shower afterwards to make sure his skin hadn't been affected by any of the dirt that may have touched it. It certainly wasn't for _fun_, he knew that much.

So to find himself partway up a tree wasn't something Kurt had expected. But, sure enough, there he was.

"Blaine, I don't think I can get much higher."

His boyfriend peered down from the higher branches. "Sure you can, I did. Come on, just put your foot in that gap there."

Kurt hesitantly followed Blaine's instructions until he made his way up to the branch the other boy was sitting on. "I don't know why I did this," he grumbled.

But of course he knew. Because when Blaine gave him those puppy dog eyes and asked him oh so nicely whether he'd come and climb a _tree _with him, Kurt hadn't been able to resist. He had come to Blaine's house, thinking that they would have a nice quiet day together, probably watching movies of some kind. But Blaine had other ideas it appeared.

"Because you love me." Blaine held out a hand and Kurt took it, shuffling across the branch until he was sitting next to his boyfriend.

"It appears so, yes." Kurt couldn't hide the smile that crossed his face and saw a similar one on Blaine's. Turning from his boyfriend, he looked out over Blaine's house and into the town, marveling at how far he could see.

Blaine leant into him, resting his head against his shoulder with a small sigh. Everybody who looked at their relationship assumed that Kurt would play the girl role and therefore be the one who wanted to cuddle all the time, but Kurt knew better. Blaine was constantly seeking attention, whether it be through hand holding, hugging or other simple acts. Kurt knew it was how he showed love and accepted it, just as Blaine accepted that Kurt would show his love through gifts. It was just the way they worked.

"It's a gorgeous view, isn't it?" Blaine was staring into the town as well and Kurt hummed in agreement. "Worth the climb?"

"I suppose so." Kurt sighed theatrically and Blaine chuckled before sitting up again and looking at him.

"Do you know why I brought you up here?"

Kurt shook his head. "So there was a reason other than to torture me?" But his words had no sting and Blaine just smiled.

"Of course." Blaine began to run his thumb over Kurt's hand. "I just wanted to say happy one month anniversary."

Kurt froze. "Oh, crap! Blaine, I'm so sorry, I didn't even get you -"

"Shh, it's alright." Blaine reached up his other hand - Kurt freaking out momentarily that he was going to fall - and placed a finger to Kurt's lips. "I know how busy you've been preparing for Nationals and stuff, I didn't expect you to do anything or get me anything. And I was going to buy you a gift but I knew how you'd feel if you hadn't gotten me anything in return."

"What if I had gotten you something though?" Kurt couldn't help asking.

Blaine chuckled. "Well, I would've taken you to the mall instead of here. But I wanted to give you something anyway." He gestured to the view and Kurt turned to look at it for a second before turning back to Blaine.

"This is where I come whenever I just want to ... think. To admire things and to sort my head out. This is where I came after the whole Jeremiah thing when you admitted that you thought it was you. I came here after you sang _Blackbird _and racked my brain trying to figure out my feelings, and then find the perfect song number for our duet. I came here when you transferred and," Blaine blushed. "Well, I cried."

Kurt felt himself choking up as he squeezed Blaine's hand. "I cried too. I ended up skipping last period of that day and sitting in my car staring at that picture of us from Regionals."

There was a thought filled silence for a second before Blaine continued. "And of course, I come up here when I'm thinking of song ideas, when I've had a bad day, or whatever. Or a good day. I've had a lot of phone calls to you in this tree."

Blaine reached up and gently traced a line down Kurt's jawbone, sending a shiver down the back of his spine. "So I wanted to bring you here. I -" he hesitated for a second. "Kurt, I don't know how far you want this relationship to go. I don't know if I'm just a high school boyfriend to you or anything like that, but you're more to me. And you can call me naive, but I kind of want to spend the rest of my life with you."

Blaine stopped, swallowing heavily and Kurt bit his lip before replying. "So do I, Blaine. So much."

He smiled at Blaine who was staring at him with such a simple hope in his eyes that almost made Kurt want to cry. "So, I want you to be a part of my life. I want to show you the parts of me that nobody else sees, the places that are important to me, the things I do and love. And this is the first of many. I want to watch the sun set up here, together, because I've imagined doing this so many times and to have it come true ... well, it'd give me hope that perhaps the rest of what I've imagined might happen as well."

Kurt felt a tear slip down his cheek and saw Blaine's expression change. "Kurt, I didn't mean to upset you -"

"You didn't." Kurt shook his head, feeling the smile break across his face again. "I - Blaine, I never thought I'd have this. I never thought I'd be so _happy_. And now I've got a boyfriend who brings me up a _tree _to watch the sun set because he wants to spend the rest of his life with me."

Blaine grimaced. "When you put it that way, it sounds so cheesy."

"No, it sounds _perfect_."

And Kurt leant in and gently kissed him.

It was just as wonderful as he had imagined it was going to be; the feel of Blaine's lips against his, moving together as if they were _made _for each other; the taste of Blaine on his mouth, something he couldn't even begin to describe, but was just so _Blaine_; the feel of Blaine's hand lightly cupping his face. And when Kurt broke away and opened his eyes to see Blaine staring at him so full of _love_...

"I love you so much," he whispered and Kurt felt another tear fall at the absolute beauty of it all.

"I love you too."

And it may have been in a tree, but who really cared?

It was still perfect.

* * *

**This one for me is up there with Defy.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_Wes: "I just had about a dozen dirty Harry Potter jokes pop into my head..."_**

**_Kurt: "Wes, I swear, if you say even one of them, I will go all Voldemort on your ass."_**

**_Blaine: "Kurt, honey, I'd put you on my Quidditch team 'casue you're a Keeper." :D_**

**_Kurt: "Blaine, sweety, I love you and your dorkiness, but if you say another cheesy Harry Potter reference, EITHER OF YOU, I swear to Gucci I will take your Red Vines for MYSELF."_**

* * *

**And finally, just on a side note, t****his right here is why I love you guys, and especially why I _adore ChasingAspirations:_**

**_Dear foraworldundeserving,_**

**_I am writing to inquire about your next update of this fanfic. I have continually read and enjoyed every chapter (including this one) of this fanfic and I am anxiously awaiting the next with your hilariousness and pure Klaine genius in it. But- but don't rush foraworldundeserving, waiting for more chapters like this allows me more time to write reviews to you. I know that 'Kiss' isn't the only story you write, but you can feel free to upload a new chapter anytime._**

**_Hugs and butterfly kisses,_**

**_Your Chasing Aspirations_**

**_P.S. Tell the hair gel to bugger off! (it's not just you who loves curlyhaired!Darren!... And there's nothing wrong with being in love with Darren! You're not alone!)._**


	92. Losing

**So today I wrote Chapter 216. And I'm bummed right now because I can't post it until like... November. Because I'm in the process of writing a sequel for it too and it's killing me because it's heartbreaking and sad and I've _cried _writing this damn thing. And I wish I could share it, but I can't yet. ****Oh, and for anybody who wanted the aftermath of the Karofsky chapter (read: everybody), it's in progress. And it's painful to write. And I don't know how it's going to finish yet. But you will get it, promise!**

**Also, I applied for five jobs today. Those of you who have prayed for me in the past (which I hugely appreciate), please pray that I get something soon.**

**A special shout out to _25butterbeers _who left me a review that honestly made me cry. I love you too :) **

**Finally, I mentioned last chapter that I was five, and someone wanted to know how old I really am. I'm offended, do you not think a five year old possesses this much talent? *preens* ... right, anyway, I'm actually eighteen and a half :) **

_**Kat3418: after the WIGYA fiasco, Kurt feels low right? then with the BIOA I'd think he really feels hurt by Blaine and so they argue as they did in the episode, but what if Blaine after avoiding/ignoring Kurt for a week or some significant period of time, overhears Kurt singing after warbler practice (song Winner At A Losing Game by Rascal Flatts) and its THEN he gets his overdue epiphany about Kurt and resolves to get his Kurtie before Kurt really and truly throws the towel in on Blaine.**_

**This is the first time I've had someone actually request a song. Made my life easier! ;) and I've done tonight's chapter with the song in the same format as I do when writing _Edge of Glory _with Angela. Let me know which one you prefer! **

* * *

Losing

Blaine sighed, scuffing his shoes along the ground as he made his way back down to the choir room. His mind had been all over the place lately, so forgetting his sheet music wasn't a surprise, merely another inconvenience he had to deal with.

He hadn't spoken to Kurt since their argument a few days ago, and it was like a knife to the chest every time he saw his friend and knew his stupid pride wouldn't let him talk to him. He didn't _want _to be mad at Kurt, but it was a matter of principle and he didn't want to be the one to cave and let Kurt get his way. Especially with how confused Blaine was at the moment.

His date with Rachel had been the previous night and while he had definitely had fun with her, there was something missing. Maybe it was that _spark _that others had talked about, but he only seemed to see her as a friend. But he wasn't going to give in and say it was because she was a girl - even if he had a sneaking suspicion that it was a contributing factor. Instead, he decided it was just that she was the wrong person.

But now Blaine was feeling even more miserable. He had no boyfriend, no girlfriend, and no best friend to complain about it all to. _Maybe it's time to throw in the towel and apologize to Kurt_, he deliberated as he neared the choir room.

"_Baby, look at me here,_

_Have you ever seen me this way?"_

Blaine paused outside the door which was slightly ajar as Kurt's voice rang out loud and clear from inside the room. He thought Kurt had left before him, but clearly not.

"_I've been fumblin' for words,_

_Through the tears and the hurt and the pain,"_

Blaine felt his heart sink at the words. He had seen the look on Kurt's face when he thought nobody else was paying attention; the look of hurt and loneliness. And yet he had done nothing about it, too self-involved to care about his friend who was clearly upset.

"_I'm gonna lay it all out on the line tonight,_

_And I think that it's time to tell this uphill fight goodbye."_

_Is he giving up on our friendship? _Blaine wanted to run in and apologize right there and then and sort the whole mess out, but the next lines had him frozen in place.

"_Have you ever had to love someone that just don't feel the same?_

_Trying to make somebody care for you the way I do is like trying to catch the rain_

_And if love is really forever, I'm a winner at a losing game."_

Blaine felt his legs give way and he sank to the floor, trying to keep his emotions in check as he comprehended the words being sunk. _Kurt loves me?_

But of course it all made sense. The way Kurt was so upset by Blaine thinking he might not be gay and being interested in _Rachel_ of all people - Kurt had told him the story of essentially losing Finn to Rachel and to have the same thing happen with Blaine was probably more than the younger boy could take. And it was as Kurt's voice flowed out of the door and straight into Blaine's heart that it hit him. What had been missing with Rachel wasn't the 'spark', it was the person. The fact that his friendship wasn't right with Kurt was what ruined his date.

Come to think of it, Blaine realized, he had spent the whole night thinking about Kurt. Any time Rachel spoke about the latest song she had performed, Blaine had thought of Kurt singing it - though at the time he had justified it to himself as their ranges being similar. And when they went to get coffee, Blaine had to stop himself from ordering for Kurt after his own order had been placed.

"_Sometimes two hearts just can't dance to the same beat,_

_So I'll pack up my things and I'll take what remains of me,"_

All it took was Blaine's gut-wrenching response to those lines to cement it for him. _It's Kurt. It's always been Kurt._

"_I know that I'll never be the man that you need or love,_

_Yeah, baby it's killing me to stand here and see,_

_I'm not what you've been dreaming of,"_

Blaine stood and silently stepped into the doorway, pushing the door open slightly to see Kurt standing with his back to him, singing the last few lines with everything he had. And the way his voice wavered slightly told Blaine that he was crying.

"_If love is really forever, I'm a winner at a losing game,_

_I'm tired of losing."_

Kurt sniffed, reaching up to wipe his face and Blaine took another step into the room.

"Time to give up, Kurt," the boy whispered to himself. "He's never going to love you back."

"You're wrong."

Kurt spun and Blaine felt the guilt tear through him as he saw his tear-streaked face. He took advantage of Kurt's stunned silence to keep talking. "Kurt, I've been an idiot, and I was actually going to come and tell you the same thing before I heard the song. I owe you a huge apology."

Kurt bit his lip and Blaine saw his eyes dart to the door. He wanted to move closer but didn't want to push Kurt into feeling confronted. "I had my date with Rachel last night and I spent the whole time thinking about you, and I couldn't work out why for the life of me until I heard you sing."

He chanced another step closer to Kurt who was watching him warily, but with a cautious hope beginning to spread across his face. "You -" Blaine felt his words leave him as he just stared at the boy across from him. "Kurt, I - please don't give up."

"Why not?" Kurt's voice was soft and thoughtful, and Blaine could see in his eyes that he knew what was coming next, he just needed to hear it from Blaine.

"Because it's you. I - I love you. And I wish I'd realized sooner before I made a complete mess of things, and Kurt, I don't even deserve you after what I've put you through, but I do."

Blaine ducked his head in the silence of the room, feeling more vulnerable than ever before. He couldn't bear to look at Kurt because even though he _knew _he felt the same, Blaine still didn't deserve him.

"Really?"

Kurt's voice came to him, quietly but surely and Blaine lifted his head to see him stepping closer. As soon as he nodded, a pair of lips were pressed against his and his eyes flickered shut, losing himself in the sensation of _Kurt Hummel kissing him..._

And then Kurt Hummel wasn't kissing him. With a sigh, Blaine opened his eyes to see Kurt smiling like Christmas and his birthday had come all at once. "So, to say it properly, I love you Blaine Anderson."

Blaine knew his grin was impossibly wide, but he would _never _get sick of those words. "I love you too, Kurt Hummel."

The next second, their lips were attached again and Blaine hummed happily against Kurt's mouth. _I'll never get sick of this either._

* * *

**I have so many songs that I could use in stories... It's called my Klaine list, and I usually hear something on the radio and think it's perfect.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_If this had happened on a bridge:_**

**_"Kurt, I come here sometimes, just to watch the water and think. And.. I've thought that I've want to spend the rest of my life with you."_**

**_"Aww, Blaine... :)" *Kliss*_**

**_Blaine: *dips Kurt backwards, onto the railing*_**

**_"Blaine, I lov-"_**

**_*falls, splash*_**

**_"Um... I love you too?"_**

* * *

**I kind of can't get over you guys...**

**_Kindergarten Mentality - _KURT AND BLAINE**

**SITTING IN A TREE**

**K-I-S-S-I-N-G**

**FIRST COMES LOVE**

**THEN COMES LEGALIZED GAY MARRIAGE**

**THEN COMES TORONTO IN A BABY CARRIAGE**


	93. Embarrassed

**For any _Edge of Glory _readers, just to be annoying, I'm currently listening to one of the most meaningful songs of the whole story ;)**

**For any _Facebook, Or It Didn't Happen _readers, I will be posting a new chapter very soon since it hasn't actually been pulled, and I was informed that it received nine complaints before this one anyway and still wasn't pulled. So I'm going to go ahead and keep on posting and hope for the best :) so expect that in the next few days**

**For anybody who just came here to read _Kiss_, you're all lovely :) I don't know whether I tell you guys as my readers that I love you enough, but I really do. Whether I put your reviews in my authors notes, give you shout outs or ... never ever reply to a single review, I love you all the same. For those of you who have never gotten any kind of message from me, I do love you, I promise! And I'd respond to every single review if possible but I honestly don't have the time. So, in my usual long-winded and rambly way, I LOVE YOU. :) **

**On that topic but not really, on my birthday I got 70-something Facebook messages and I replied to all of them ;) **

_**vertigoSWAY: After the bedroom scene in Sexy and Blaine talking to Burt, Kurt goes to school the next day complaining and embarrassed about having the Talk with his dad. Blaine ends up confessing his role in the situation and somewhere along the line, kisses Kurt.**_

'**somewhere along the line...' I love the prompt but talk about brain-rackingly hard trying to find a way to fit embarrassed Kurt in with Klaine kisses!**

* * *

Embarrassed

".. and then Angela decided she _had _to go to the sale and I had to go along as well..."

Blaine rolled his eyes as David continued to complain about his girlfriend and her shopping fixation. He let his thoughts drift to the previous day and marveled again at his courage for actually talking to Kurt's dad about _sex_. He hadn't spoken to Kurt since he had left his house, but hoped that Kurt wasn't too upset by everything that had gone down.

Now that he had thought about it, Blaine knew he was insensitive in the way he had tackled the subject. All he had wanted to do was tell Kurt that he was plenty sexy without _trying_, but his stupid mouth wouldn't obey him and he somehow ended up trying to give Kurt _lessons_. And then Kurt admitted his feelings on sex and Blaine found himself even more attracted to the younger boy, but more determined than ever to just stay as friends. Kurt was still emotionally damaged after everything that had happened and most likely associated having a boyfriend with sexual based things, and Blaine didn't want to pressure Kurt into anything.

But he definitely liked the boy. Enough to go to his dad and talk to him about sex...

"What's up with Kurt?"

Blaine's head shot up to see Kurt entering the courtyard, his bag dangling loosely from his arm. The boys had different classes that morning so it was the first time he was seeing Kurt that day. As his heart did the little leap it always did when he saw his friend, he noticed that Wes was right - something was wrong with Kurt.

"Hi guys." Kurt sat down, putting his bag next to him and staring across the courtyard.

"Hey, Kurt. What's wrong?" Blaine leant over to look at his friend who sighed.

"I - it's embarrassing." Kurt began to blush and Blaine found himself even more endeared to the younger boy. He reached out and put a hand on Kurt's arm, _which is fine because we're just friends_, he told himself.

Wes was raising an eyebrow on the other side of Blaine. "You look like I did when my parents gave me The Talk."

Kurt's blush grew and David began to laugh. "You got it, didn't you?"

"Yeah," Kurt ducked his head. "And yes, it was freaking embarrassing. It was my _Dad _for crying out loud."

"Hey, we've all gotten it." Wes was clearly attempting to be reassuring and Blaine coughed lightly to get his attention, shaking his head.

Wes frowned. "What?"

Blaine sighed. "It's a bit different when a _straight _father is giving his _gay _son The Talk."

And as soon as he said it, he realized just how much awkwardness he had caused Kurt. The momentary guilt he felt was replaced by the fact that at least Kurt _knew _things now and perhaps one day could work towards getting a boyfriend. And Blaine certainly wasn't doing this for himself, but he would be the first in line on the day that Kurt started looking.

Kurt hummed in agreement, looking up again. His face was still bright red but he looked more irritated than anything. "I don't understand why he did it though. I mean, it's almost as if he -"

He trailed off, turning his head slowly to look at Blaine who gulped.

"Wes, David, will you excuse us?"

The other two rose quickly, clearly understanding what Kurt's tone meant. Wes shot Blaine a sympathetic look as they left; David was simply trying not to laugh.

Blaine bit his lip and turned back to Kurt. So far his friend didn't look _too _angry, more confused than anything. "Blaine?"

"Okay, yes, I talked to your dad. But you wouldn't listen to me and you needed to hear it, Kurt. I only made the suggestion to him and told him where he could find the information, I didn't know whether he was going to do it or not. I just - I'm sorry, Kurt." He sighed, ducking his head a little to avoid looking Kurt in the eyes. "I know it would've been embarrassing, but at least you have the kind of relationship with your dad where he _would _do that sort of thing. I learnt everything online and it was awkward as hell." Blaine felt the blush crossing his face as he remembered the webpages he'd had to look through before finding the right information. "I just want you to be able to know what you need to know when you need it."

There was silence that seemed to stretch on for ages as Blaine continued to avoid Kurt's eyes. _This is it, I've finally gone and ruined our friendship and now he won't want anything to do with me..._

"Blaine, look at me."

Reluctantly, Blaine lifted his eyes to see Kurt - _smiling?_

"As embarrassing as it was, I guess I should thank you." Kurt chuckled a little. "I know I needed to hear it. I'm just curious as to why _you're _so worried about me finding the information out."

But the look in Kurt's eyes was enough for Blaine to know that he'd already figured it out. "I - it wasn't like that, Kurt, I promise. Yes, I'm interested - hell, I'm _more _than interested - but I didn't do it to try and get with you or anything. I just know that someday you're going to want a boyfriend and while I'd love it to be me, I want you to be happy with whoever it is you decide to be with. And I'm going to shut up because I'm embarrassing myself."

Blaine shut his eyes, knowing that by now his face was bright red. But he had just admitted to the boy he loved that he ... well, _loved _him, so he was entitled to be a little embarrassed himself.

"And if I want a boyfriend now?"

Blaine's eyes shot open and took in the way Kurt was smiling at him.

"Well, I guess you'd just need to ask."

And now his own grin was splitting his face as Kurt nodded solemnly. "Well then, I'd better go find Jeff hadn't I?"

Blaine felt his heart drop for a split second before Kurt began to laugh. "Sorry, the look on your face! Consider that payback." He pulled himself together and reached out to take Blaine's hand. "Blaine Anderson, will you be my boyfriend?"

The grin was back full-force. "Absolutely."

Kurt's smile suddenly turned devilish. "Well, since you made sure I got that _education_, I think we'd better put it to good use."

Blaine's head struggled to comprehend the words coming out of Kurt's mouth. It took the feeling of Kurt's lips pressed gently against his before he came back to reality. _Oh, right, Kurt's kissing me._

_Oh._

Blaine finally responded, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and slowly became aware of other sensations. Kurt's hand lightly touching his face, the scent of Kurt right _there_, and, of course, Kurt's lips dancing gently with his.

"_Brrrrinng!"_

Blaine groaned as Kurt pulled away, chuckling a little. "I thought it was meant to be _saved _by the bell..."

"Well, there's plenty of time to do that later," Kurt winked before getting up and sauntering off to his next class. Blaine stared after his boyfriend - _boyfriend! _- and shook his head.

_Maybe those lessons were a bad idea, because that boy's going to drive me crazy._

But strangely enough, he didn't mind that at all.

* * *

**Because we kind of don't see the lessons put to use at all after Original Song... and it's quite interesting to see how many people actually want to see some sexual stuff go down with Kurt and Blaine in Season 3. To be honest, I don't. I love their relationship and I don't really need to see them going any further than making out. And even that doesn't need to be on camera... we just know they're in love and they have this gorgeous little relationship bubble. And they're so much fun to write. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_At the date:_**

**_"I've been getting trophies since I was 6 months old, blah blah blah blah(etc)"_**

**_Suddenly, something clicked in Blaine's mind._**

**_"I LOVE KURT!"_**

**_"What the- this is OUR date, you know."_**

**_"Gotta go tell him, bye Rachel!" *runs out*_**

**_Back at Dalton..._**

**_*dorm door slams open*_**

**_"KURT. YOU MOVE ME!"_**

**_"What the- Blaine!"_**

**_*kliss*_**

**_And they lived happily ever after in the magical kingdom of Kurtdom which is far far away in England. Or close, if you live in England._**


	94. Needle

**In answer to a review, yes, my beta is Angela, and yes I used the name Angela for one of my characters. I also used it for the middle name for Kurt's dead mother... she wasn't as impressed with that one. I write her in a lot though :)**

**I mentioned last story that I got a heap of birthday Facebook emails and was asked why I didn't tell you guys when my birthday was. Simple answer - I wasn't on FanFiction on my birthday. I only started writing here in April... I think. And my birthday was in February. So... that would explain it ;)**

**To _BackwardsMuffin_, I'm perfectly sane in the head, thank you. I just appreciate the beauty of a relationship where it's not excessive PDA all the time. Mike and Tina kind of do enough of that by themselves... then add in Finn and whoever he's dating at the time... and Puck and his 'conquests'... and really, Kurt and Blaine holding hands is better than all of that. It really really is.**

**From **_**hoza13: you should write a fic were[sic] kurts terrified of needles and the day before injections at dalton he becomes very quiet and doesnt talk a lot. He goes to warblers practice and somehow everyone ends up talking about injections and kurt runs out because he cant handle it and blaine runs after him and comforts him ect.**_

**I'm fine with needles personally but I know a lot of girls at my old school were absolutely terrified. When our entire grade had to get the compulsory ones, I wandered in, got mine done, and walked out to the recovery area to find a couple of girls sitting there crying. So yeah.**

* * *

Needle

Kurt didn't like admitting that he had flaws.

Oh, of course he wasn't perfect. Nobody was. But he took great pride in his personal appearance so people wouldn't have an excuse to look beyond the exterior and see the other things about him that the general public wasn't allowed to see - his weaknesses, vulnerabilities and fears.

But sometimes he couldn't keep things bottled inside, as much as he tried. Especially not now.

**TETANUS INJECTIONS TOMORROW - COMPULSORY**

The sign sat in the middle of the notice board, mocking Kurt. Around him, the other boys were groaning and complaining but Kurt was in another world, completely fixated on the board.

Because Kurt Hummel was deathly afraid of injections.

The first injection he could remember, the doctor had taken four tries to hit the vein. As a six year old, Kurt couldn't understand why someone was jabbing him repeatedly with a needle and completely lost it, despite both his parents trying to comfort him. Ever since then, all he could remember was the bruises, the feeling of the needle jabbing at him over and over again...

"Kurt, come back to us."

Kurt blinked and saw a hand waving in front of his face. Wes smirked at him. "You were a million miles away, what's up?"

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking." Kurt tore his eyes from the sign and turned to make his way to class, trying to keep his mind off his impending doom. Sitting next to Blaine, he attempted to smile before turning to his books, missing the frown on his boyfriend's face.

Kurt found himself drifting away from French conjunctions back to the last time he had gotten an injection. His dad had finally dragged him along to the doctor - luckily a different one - and sat him down in the chair. The first needle had come his way... and next thing he knew, he was on the floor, looking up into his dad's worried face and almost hyperventilating. Not fun.

A hand nudged into his elbow and Kurt snapped out of his daze, turning to see a piece of paper under his arm. Flicking a glance at the teacher, he unfolded the note.

**I know that look. What's wrong? xx**

Kurt smiled a little before grabbing his pen and writing a reply

_We'll talk about it later, nothing too serious. Still on for the weekend?_

**Of course :) **

The bell rang and Kurt quickly picked up his books, muttering a hurried goodbye to his boyfriend before heading to his next class. He knew he couldn't avoid Blaine forever, but he wasn't quite ready to be completely vulnerable yet, no matter how much he knew that Blaine wouldn't judge him

* * *

The rest of his classes seemed to pass in a blur, on the one day he didn't want them to. Before Kurt knew it, he was sitting in Warbler rehearsal waiting for Wes to arrive.

"What's keeping him?" he asked Blaine who had his legs across Kurt's lap.

Blaine shrugged. "Probably talking to someone about assignments or whatever." He shifted a little so he was looking Kurt in the eye. "So, are we going to talk about what's -"

"Hey, what do you guys think about the injections tomorrow?" Thad called out from the council table. "I'm not fussed, personally."

Kurt bit his lip as the other Warblers chimed in. "I hate injections!" Nick shook his head. "I mean, I'll do it but, you know, not happily."

Jeff seemed to agree. "There was this one time I went to get a needle and someone in the little cubicle thing next to me started throwing up - bad reaction or whatever. I mean, gross."

"I think the worst thing is that weird numb feeling through your arm. It's not like it just hurts, it spreads right through," Cameron added before taking another bite of his chocolate bar.

Kurt felt his breathing start to become shallower as the other boys began to share horror stories - bleeding, bad reactions, incompetent doctors. Blaine was leaning forward, joining the conversation and Kurt overheard David chipping in his experiences. "... and my fingers were turning blue, and that's not easy for me..."

Before he knew what he was doing, Kurt was on his feet, pushing Blaine's legs aside and bolting out of the room. As he ran down the hallway, he could only hear the sound of his frantic breathing and his heartbeat. He knew Blaine would be close behind and trying to outrun him would be pointless, but he just didn't want to be seen like this. Pushing open his bedroom door, Kurt slid to the floor beside his bed and curled his knees up to his chest, his breathing shaky and ragged. A few seconds later there were footsteps and a figure knelt next to him.

"Kurt, baby, talk to me."

Forgetting his earlier resolve to never be seen in this state, Kurt turned blindly, feeling until he found Blaine's chest and moving into it. He buried his head as the tears began to fall, and Blaine's arms wrapped around him, rubbing circles into his back soothingly. It wasn't so much that he was upset, just overwhelmed and freaked out. And as he got himself under control, Kurt realized just how drastically he had broken down, something Blaine had never seen before. Biting back his embarrassment, Kurt lifted his head to meet Blaine's eyes. His boyfriend was staring down at him, concern written across his features.

"I'm sorry," he choked out, cringing at how _broken _his voice sounded.

Blaine was shaking his head immediately. "Baby, no. It's okay, just - tell me what's wrong, please?"

Kurt bit his lip again before blurting it out quickly. "I'm terrified of needles."

"Oh, Kurt." Blaine pulled him in tighter. "And you sat there and listened to all that? Why didn't you just tell me, I would've made them stop."

"Because I don't want anybody's pity." Kurt grimaced at how the words sounded, but continued nonetheless. "I don't want everyone to show up tomorrow and give me those sympathetic looks and ask how I'm going and just ... just _know _that I'm not alright."

Blaine sighed, but it was affectionate. "Kurt, you're allowed to be upset by things. You're allowed to be afraid of things. And you're allowed to _ask _for comfort, you know?"

"I know - just." Kurt shook his head. "Please don't pity me."

Blaine seemed to understand immediately. "Baby, of course not. You're not going to break, I know that." He snapped his fingers, a strange sensation since he was still holding Kurt. "I know, how about I tell you something I'm afraid of?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think you were afraid of anything to be honest."

He watched with slight amusement as a blush crossed his boyfriend's face. "Well, it's kind of silly." He took a deep breath, avoiding Kurt's eyes as he spoke. "Friday the Thirteenth."

Kurt was biting his lip again, this time trying not to laugh. "I know, it's so stupid, right? There's even a name for it: Paraskavedekatriaphobia. I just always bought into that stupid superstitious stuff, you know? No, you wouldn't, it's just me and it's stupid..."

"Blaine, it's okay." Kurt couldn't help smiling, but it was more affectionate than teasing. "It's a bit irrational, but you're allowed to be afraid of things."

But of course that reminded him of what brought him to this state and his smile faltered. Blaine picked up on it immediately. "Hey, it's alright. It's not until tomorrow and - well, I can come in with you if you want. They'll let me if - you know, if that's what you want."

Blaine looked so adorably hesitant that Kurt couldn't resist reaching up to touch his cheek gently. "Baby, of course I do. That would be wonderful." There was no reply and Kurt noticed Blaine's eyes had flickered shut at his touch. And after everything that had passed between them in the last few minutes, Kurt found himself falling even more in love with his wonderful boyfriend.

So much so that he couldn't resist leaning in and touching their lips together.

He felt Blaine's breathing stutter as he kissed him, Kurt's eyes closing gently as Blaine began to respond, pressing his lips closer to Kurt's. After a few seconds he broke away and opened his eyes to see a slightly dazed looking Blaine.

"Well... wow."

Kurt laughed nervously and Blaine smiled. "I love you, you know?"

"I love you too." And now seemed like a perfect time to kiss Blaine again. So he did.

* * *

"Breathe. It's okay."

Kurt took a deep breath before letting it out slowly, nearly crushing Blaine's hand in a death grip. "I can't do this, Blaine."

"Yes, you can."

Thad's name was called and now there was just a matter of seconds before they called Kurt. He looked around frantically, trying to find some way to disappear before they -

"Kurt Hummel?"

_Damn._

"Come on, it'll be alright."

Blaine gently tugged his arm, pulling him in to one of the makeshift cubicles where the school nurse was waiting. She took one look at the two boys and nodded. "Okay, Blaine we can get yours done at the same time. Kurt, how about you sit on the bed, just to be safe."

Kurt nodded, sitting down on the bed. Blaine sat in the chair next to him, keeping their hands linked. "Do you want me to get mine first, just to show you that it's okay?"

"Yeah," Kurt murmured.

The nurse prepared the needle and Kurt immediately turned away from it, a small whimper escaping his throat. Blaine's thumb was running over his hand soothingly and he focused on that instead, trying to ignore the fact that in a few minutes he was going to be the one getting the injection.

"Okay, Blaine, ready?"

Blaine nodded, turning to look at Kurt. He winced ever so slightly as the needle went in before smiling at Kurt again. "It's okay, see? All done."

Kurt examined him for a few seconds, then nodded. "Alright."

He couldn't watch as the nurse got out the second needle. He felt her wiping his arm with something and getting ready ...

"It's okay. Just look at me, baby. Right at me."

Kurt bit his lip again, almost drawing blood with the force of it as he stared into Blaine's eyes. _Don't think about it, _he chanted, _just think about Blaine, Blaine kissing you, that was nice -_

He hissed as the needle entered his skin, shutting his eyes as the numbing sensation drifted through his arm before it pulled away. "All done, Kurt."

Kurt cracked open an eye to see Blaine smiling at him. "See, you can do it."

He leant in and kissed him quickly, noticing the nurse tactfully turning away to dispose of the needle at that moment. "Thank you."

"Anytime." Blaine took his hand and they left the room, Kurt feeling like he had managed to achieve another milestone in his life, once again thanks to Blaine.

* * *

**It's so... cliche!**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_What happened during Blaine's The Talk:_**

**_"Blaine, I have no *beep*ing clue what gay people do when they have sex, so read these pamplets and talk to Jeff or something. I'm off to play COD."_**

**_"Thanks... Wes..."_**

**_Yes. WES gave Blaine The Talk. After reading the pamphlets, he was sick for 3 days._**

**_Wes claims it was for his own good._**


	95. Introduction

**I'm sorry for those of you who got freaked by the last chapter! I know it's not a popular topic... anyway, I was asked what I do to get through getting injections, and the answer is that I just kind of walk in and get it done. They've never bothered me all that much. I've given blood twice, so if I can get that tube in my arm, I can get a jab... and on that topic, a friend of mine was giving blood for the first time and he's this real tough guy. Anyway, I'm getting mine done and he's getting the initial finger prick to test your iron levels (which I _swear _hurts more) and next thing I hear, the lady is yelling for someone to get in there and help her... and this friend of mine had fainted. I may have given him hell for it for a little while...**

**For next Authors Note (and to give me something to do with my dull life), tell me one random and interesting fact about you. Top three will get posted in tomorrow's Authors Note :) and, of course, you'll get mine too :) **

**From **_**Jg Rox: I'd love to read about him being formerly introduced to **__**Blaine[I think this should be Burt] as Kurt's boyfriend. And perhaps that could happen when he walks in on them in a... compromising position ;)**_

* * *

Introduction

"Kurt, I'm nervous."

Blaine was wringing his hands in the passenger seat and Kurt looked over, smiling at his panicked boyfriend.

"Blaine, relax. It's alright, you've got nothing to worry about." Kurt paused for a second, before amending. "Well, he's going to have to hate you on principle because you're his son's first boyfriend, but apart from that..." Blaine groaned and attempted to curl into a ball as Kurt laughed. "No, I'm kidding. He won't hate you, Blaine, he knows you anyway. You two got along fine when it came to the McKinley football game, didn't you?"

"I wasn't your boyfriend then, was I?" Blaine's voice was muffled as his head was currently pressed against his knees. "And I hadn't told him to give you The Talk like a _week _before asking you out."

Kurt rolled his eyes affectionately. "I still can't believe you did that. Sit up, I don't want you to die if I crash." Blaine untucked himself and sat up, still looking terrified. "But he knows you were just looking out for me, he may ask some questions but all parents do."

"Questions?" Kurt tried to ignore the fact that Blaine's voice had just risen in pitch, deciding that he could tease him about it later when he wasn't looking like he was about to pass out.

"Yeah, just things like 'What are your intentions towards my son?' 'How far have you gone?' 'Will you pressure him?' and so on."

Blaine's mouth opened and shut without any sound coming out and Kurt sighed. "The answers to which are 'I just want to make him happy, I care about him a lot,' 'Nowhere, and we'll be taking our time about it,' and 'Absolutely not, I respect Kurt far too much to ever push him into things that neither of us are ready for.' A 'sir' here and there would probably help your case as well."

Blaine chuckled, looking slightly less nervous. "I'm sorry, Kurt, I just don't want to screw this up. I really want your dad and the rest of your family to like me."

"Blaine, he let me invite you to Friday night dinner, I think he likes you. Just be your charming, dapper self, talk football with him and Finn, and it'll all be fine."

Kurt flipped the indicator to turn into his street as Blaine nodded. "Okay. Okay. I can do this."

"Yes you can." He pulled to a stop outside his house, turning to his boyfriend. "I've met your family already, and trust me that was a lot more nerve wracking than you meeting mine." Kurt shuddered a little as he remembered that afternoon. He had been lying on his bed, innocently doing some homework when a knock came on the door, revealing Blaine and his parents.

* * *

"_Kurt, sorry I didn't let you know, but my parents were in town and thought they'd stop by. And so I thought I'd introduce them to everybody."_

_Kurt jumped off his bed, straightening his blazer nervously and moving across to shake their hands. "It's nice to meet you."_

_Blaine waited until the greetings had been made before stepping a bit closer to Kurt. "Mom, Dad, this is my boyfriend."_

_Their faces had said it all. Blaine's mother's smile didn't falter. "That's lovely, Blaine!" She reached out and took Kurt's hand again. "In that case, I'm even happier to meet you, Kurt."_

_He smiled at her before turning his attention to Blaine's dad as she released his hand. His smile had become wooden and fixed. "I - well, yes. Okay. That's - that's good son. Well done."_

_Blaine grimaced a little, shooting an apologetic glance at Kurt. "Well, you'd better come say hi to Wes and David then." He ushered them out of the room, turning back to look at Kurt once more, mouthing 'we'll talk later'_

_The door shut and Kurt fell back onto his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Well... wow."_

* * *

"I really am sorry about that."

Kurt shook his head a little and smiled. "Hey, it's fine. Your Mom's lovely, by the way. And like I said, this is going to be a lot easier." He unclipped his seatbelt and turned to face Blaine, taking his boyfriend's hands in his and trying to ignore the tingle that shot up his spine at the contact. "And I'm here with you, it's all going to be okay."

"I know." Blaine smiled a little hesitantly. "We're doing this for us, anyway."

Kurt nodded, and silence fell. But it wasn't an awkward silence, he decided as he looked into his boyfriend's eyes, more contemplative.

"I kind of want to just stay here," Blaine confessed. "Just with you."

"Same," Kurt murmured. He lifted a hand and brushed it gently across Blaine's cheek without realizing what he was doing. Blaine's eyes closed for a second before opening again, staring into his. "We don't get enough alone time these days."

"Mm," Blaine murmured, his lips barely moving. Speaking of his lips - Kurt suddenly couldn't drag his eyes away from them, looking so soft and ... and - moving. Oh. "You know you can if you want."

Kurt lifted his eyes with great difficulty. "Sorry?"

"You can kiss me."

Kurt gulped, feeling the familiar panic rise up inside of him and Blaine squeezed his hands. "I said if you want, babe. You know we're taking this at your pace."

And they certainly had been. Kurt had admitted right at the very start that he wasn't ready for anything physical, which Blaine had been totally fine with. But he also saw the way Blaine looked at him sometimes when Kurt didn't think he was watching. The lust in his eyes that had scared Kurt the first time he had seen it, but simply made him curious after that. But Blaine had always pushed it back and been fine to stick with hand holding and the occasional touch. He really was a wonderful boyfriend. After all, Kurt had dragged Blaine shopping, made him sit awkwardly with his New Directions friends while he gossiped with the girls, watched movies he knew Blaine _hated_... well, Blaine had certainly made some sacrifices for Kurt.

Kurt licked his lips a little before lowering his gaze to Blaine's. And really, how difficult could it be? All he would be doing was taking his mouth and pressing it against Blaine's... in fact, it probably wouldn't be a big deal at all.

"Okay," he whispered. Then, before he could lose his nerve, Kurt leant in. Angling his head slightly so their noses didn't bump - because he had heard enough from the girls to know _that _was a turn-off - he allowed his lips to brush gently against Blaine's.

And what felt like an electric shock bolted up his spine, and before Kurt even knew what he was doing, his mouth was against Blaine's, moving in a way Kurt never thought he'd _consider _doing, but it must be good because Blaine was responding. His hands had somehow wrapped themselves around Kurt's waist - _oh, when did that happen? _- and Kurt hesitantly raised his to touch Blaine's face again before growing in confidence and running them up and down his jaw.

"Why have we not been doing this _sooner_," he whined against Blaine's lips, feeling a chuckle in response before Blaine's mouth was opening a little and _oh, that's how boys taste._

Kurt wasn't even aware that time had passed, or that he was meant to be going inside, or that he was even outside his house. But everything came back the second he opened his eyes a little and saw his Dad standing on the front step.

"Blaine, stop!" Kurt pushed Blaine back and his eyes grew wide.

"Kurt, I'm so sorry, I didn't want to pressure you into anything -"

Kurt shook his head frantically. "No, not that. My Dad's standing behind you."

Blaine froze. "He - he saw us kissing?" Kurt nodded. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

As much as Kurt wanted to reassure Blaine that everything was going to be fine, he didn't know himself. So, pulling up as much courage as he could, he reached over and opened his door, gesturing to Blaine to do the same. Walking around to Blaine's side, he deliberated for a second before taking Blaine's hand because there was no point in trying to be subtle about the fact they were dating now.

The front walk seemed to stretch on forever, yet be so short at the same time. And now they were standing in front of Burt who had an unreadable expression on his face. Kurt cursed Finn for teaching his dad poker before taking a deep breath.

"Dad, I'd like you to meet Blaine, my boyfriend."

* * *

**Go on, ask for it. I know you want to ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_On a piece of paper taped to Kurt's door:_**

**_Kurt, if it makes you feel better, here's a lst of things the Warblers are scared of:_**

**_Jeff- Mice_**

**_Nick- Thunder_**

**_(etc, all the way up to...)_**

**_Harry- Teddy Bears_**


	96. Defeated

**First, I got a review saying that _MusicalEscape_'s last chapter interpretation made someone want to read a Nick/Jeff story about their fears of mice and thunder respectively. Well... I might kind of already be writing that... so for all the Nick/Jeff fans out there, it will be posted... eventually. (I need to stop taking on stories...)**

**I got a _lot _of responses about your interesting facts - somewhere around 50 - and learnt a lot about you guys! I have heaps of double jointed readers, some interesting phobias, people who collect strange stuff, a LOT of people with inanimate objects named Darren, Chris, Kurt or Blaine... and some just plain interesting facts! It was hard to pick a top three because you're all fascinating people, but here you are:**

**1. _mardie 186_: I am a professional clown "Rainbow" in my spare time and worked as a construction worker for 2 years when I was 20 as the only female on an all male construction crew.**

**2. _Cheshire Tears_: I'm descended from the last of the Hawaiian royalty. (great-great-great-something-grandparents)**

**3. _ricebubble: _my feet are 2 1/2 sizes different :)**

**Thanks to everybody who let me get to know a little bit more about you! And my interesting fact is that I can dislocate both my shoulders on will. Makes for an interesting party trick... or a 'let's gross everybody out' trick... I have never had the opportunity to make someone think they've actually hurt me though, I'd probably start laughing so it wouldn't be successful.**

**From **_**Jg Rox: a Hudson/Hummel family dinner that is interupted by Blaine **__**knocking on the door because he wants to talk to Kurt. He's invited in to join **__**them for dinner and - well, the rest I'll leave to your expertise!**_

**Another one that I wanted to change into angst. So I checked with **_**Jg Rox **_**who said it was fine, and here we go. It seems everybody's done this type of story who does Klaine and I've been dying to for ages now.**

* * *

Defeated

Kurt hummed as he made his way around the kitchen, preparing dinner. He was in an exceptionally good mood because it was a Friday, he'd had a great week at school, and in a few hours Mercedes was coming over to have a girls night. Ever since he had been back at McKinley, he had been able to catch up with her more often and they both loved it.

Even the rain pouring down wasn't enough to kill his mood. He popped the lasagna into the oven and set the timer before beginning to clean up.

The doorbell chimed and Kurt heard his father getting up to answer it. There was a moment of silence, then -

"Kurt!"

Kurt frowned. _Is Mercedes here early or something? _He quickly dried his hands on the dishtowel before making his way to the entrance hall, wondering why his Dad had sounded ... _worried?_

As he turned the corner, Kurt's blood ran cold. Blaine was standing in the doorway, soaked to the bone. Burt had a hand on his shoulder and was talking to him quietly as Kurt quickly crossed the hall and stopped in front of his friend.

"Blaine?" he asked quietly.

Blaine looked up at him and Kurt couldn't help the gasp that escaped his throat. There was a huge purple bruise on Blaine's jawbone and he looked terrified, his eyes darting around until they settled on Kurt.

"Kurt," he whispered, staring at him for a second before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped into Burt who caught him before he could hit the ground. Picking him up, Burt quickly carried him into the living room where Carol and Finn jumped up in shock.

"What happened?"

Burt shook his head, placing Blaine on the couch as Kurt knelt next to him. "Don't know. The kid showed up at the door looking like that, he didn't say anything to me at all."

Without turning around, Kurt began to fire orders. "Finn, go get a blanket and pillows and some of my spare clothes. Carol, I need you to call Mercedes and tell her not to come over tonight. Be discreet if you can, she's prone to gossip. Dad, I need ice." He heard his family moving away to do what he asked and Kurt reached out to brush the hair off Blaine's face, staring down at his unconscious friend. Millions of images were playing in his mind; Blaine being attacked by his old bullies, Blaine getting into a fight with Karofsky, Blaine being mugged ... but there were no other bruises on his friend.

His dad knelt next to him, handing him a bag of ice which he carefully put on Blaine's jaw to try and ease the swelling. "Any idea who might've done this to him, Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head. "We won't know for sure until he wakes up." Then he frowned. "Dad, do you have his car keys or something?"

"No, I don't think he had them." Burt stood up and pulled the curtain back, squinting through the rain. "His car isn't here."

Kurt bit his lip. That meant Blaine had walked to Kurt's place, and he knew Blaine had gone home for the weekend so that was quite easily a three hour walk. _What happened to you? _he thought, trying to keep his emotions in check.

Finn reappeared and handed Kurt the blanket which he draped over Blaine before lifting his head slightly so Finn could slide the pillow underneath. Carol returned with painkillers, something Kurt hadn't thought of, before hustling Finn into the dining room. Burt hovered for a second, looking unsure. "You can stay if you want," Kurt said, sparing him a quick glance before looking back down at Blaine. "But I don't know what's happened or how much he'll be willing to talk about it. And I want him to be comfortable talking to me."

Burt nodded. "I'll be in the other room then. Let me know if we need to involve the cops."

Kurt winced, glad his dad had already left. He hadn't even thought about all the logistics of what would have to come next - police, ambulances, statements... but all of that flew out of his head as Blaine shifted slightly, his forehead furrowing.

"Blaine?" Kurt murmured. Blaine's eyes opened slowly, blinking a couple of times before he pushed himself up with his elbows. Sitting up, his eyes focused on Kurt.

"Kurt? Where am I -?"

Blaine froze and Kurt knew that he had just remembered whatever had happened to him. There was a moment of complete silence where Kurt watched emotions flicker through Blaine's eyes, then his face crumbled.

Kurt was up in an instant, sitting on the couch next to him as Blaine began to cry. He pulled his friend in towards him and Blaine buried his head into Kurt chest, his whole body racked with sobs. Kurt wrapped both arms around him, pulling him in as tight as he could. "Shh, it's okay. It's alright, you're safe now. Nobody's going to hurt you." He repeated the words, rubbing Blaine's back and feeling completely helpless.

The conversation in the other room had stopped and all that could be heard was the sound of Blaine crying. He knew his family would be in the same state as him, feeling like they needed to do something but not knowing what. Kurt knew all he could do was comfort Blaine until he calmed down and told him who had hurt him, then go and _murder_ the person. Because _nobody_ was allowed to make Blaine this upset. Nobody.

After awhile, Blaine's sobbing began to ease until he was quiet, save the occasional sniff. Kurt kept his arms wrapped around him, knowing instinctively that Blaine still needed the comfort. He didn't speak, waiting until Blaine was ready to talk.

"Kurt." Blaine's voice was muffled by his chest and thick with tears. Kurt could hear the vulnerability in his words and knew Blaine was about to start second-guessing himself for coming here, for asking for comfort.

"It's alright. I've got you," he murmured, reaching a hand to stroke Blaine's hair. Blaine twisted his head slightly to look up at Kurt and his heart broke. The older boy still had tears streaming down his face and he looked lost. The bruise on his jaw was prominent and Kurt realized the ice bag had fallen onto the floor and was probably melting by now.

"I - I just didn't know what to do." Blaine shut his eyes for a second, tears still falling from under the lids, before the words began to rush out of his mouth. "I though it was going to be okay this time, I - she promised me he wouldn't. But he wouldn't stop yelling and then I lost it and I yelled back and then he - he..."

Blaine began to tremble and buried his head back in Kurt's chest. Kurt continued to stroke his hair, but his heart had turned to ice as he pieced together the fragments of Blaine's explanation.

_His dad did this._

"Blaine, sweetie, I need you to look at me." Kurt felt horrible for saying it, but he needed to check the bruise on his jaw. Blaine looked back up, biting his lip and Kurt reached out a hand slowly, making it clear that he was moving towards his jaw. Blaine stiffened but allowed him to cup his face, his fingers staying well away from the bruise.

By now, it had spread across his jaw and into the lower part of his cheek. Kurt winced slightly at the sight of it. "How much does it hurt?" he asked, doing his best to stay strong for Blaine.

"Not - not too bad." Blaine's mouth opened for a second, then he whispered, "Kurt, he kicked me out."

Kurt felt the sentence hit him like a kick to the gut. "Can you tell me what happened?"

So Blaine told him. Haltingly and with tears still flowing down his cheeks, Blaine told him about how he had come home, expecting it to be a simple weekend, but his dad had other plans. "He invited over his friend and his daughter for lunch and I knew straight away what he was trying to do." Blaine's head was on his shoulder and he couldn't keep eye contact with Kurt for very long. "So they all sat together and sent us away to 'get to know each other.' I told her I was gay straight away because I didn't want her to get hurt too -"

His voice broke and Kurt pulled him a little closer. "It's okay," he whispered, because what else could he say?

"So they went home and - and I guess he must've called D - Dad and told him." Blaine's voice trembled again and he shivered. Kurt pulled the blanket around him tighter, knowing he had to get him out of his wet clothes soon.

"I was in my room and he came up and - Kurt, he _screamed _at me. He said all he wanted was a n-normal son. He said I was nothing but a - a waste of s-space and that was why I stayed at Dalton because they d-didn't want to see me. I - I couldn't handle it anymore."

Kurt could hear the guilt in Blaine's voice and rushed to reassure him. "_Nobody_ should have to hear that sort of thing, Blaine. You're allowed to be upset."

Blaine nodded slightly before continuing. "I yelled back. I told him I am who I am and I wouldn't b-be changing for anybody, especially not him. And then he -" Blaine gestured to his jaw. "Then he told me to pack my bag and l-leave. And I didn't know where else to go..."

"You're always welcome here, Blaine. Always."

Kurt put everything he had into those words, trying to make Blaine see that he wasn't a burden at all, but he knew it hadn't sunk in properly. "So where's your bag?"

"Outside, I think." Blaine sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"Okay, how about I head out and grab it, I'll give you a minute to get changed out of those clothes." Kurt grabbed the pile of clothes that Finn had left at the end of the sofa and put them next to Blaine. "I'll be right outside and I'll come back in a couple of minutes, okay?"

Blaine nodded, sitting up as Kurt unwrapped his arms. Standing up, Kurt made his way into the dining room, shutting the door behind him and facing his anxious family.

"He's as okay as he can be. Dad, he needs a place to stay. Can he -?"

Burt's eyes had hardened and Kurt knew he had figured out what was going on. "Of course he can. Do I need to make a call?"

Kurt shook his head. "That'll only make things worse right now. Give him some time to cool off, give Blaine some time to - to cope. And then we'll handle it."

Burt nodded and Carol reached out to draw Kurt into a hug. "You're just what he needs right now, Kurt. But if we can do anything, let me know."

Kurt felt the lump forming in his throat and pulled away. "He's probably going to need to eat soon," he murmured.

"I'll get it ready and leave it by the door."

Kurt nodded before heading to the front door. He stepped out, noticing that the rain had eased, and grabbed the duffel bag sitting by the front doorstep. Making his way back to the living room, he knocked on the door and heard a muffled affirmation before entering.

Blaine was sitting on the couch in a pair of Kurt's sweatpants and an old t-shirt, holding onto his wet clothes. Kurt immediately took them from him and dumped them in the laundry before returning to find Blaine staring at the bag, looking horrified.

"Blaine?"

"I didn't get my guitar... or my phone.. or my wallet, or any of my school stuff... Kurt, what if they're not going to pay for me to go to Dalton anymore?" Blaine was starting to get worked up and Kurt wrapped an arm around him again.

"Blaine, it's okay. Anything else you need to pick up, we can go and get tomorrow or whenever you like, during the day if you don't want to see them. My dad will come with us so there won't be any issues. And if they do stop paying, then you can come to McKinley with me.'

Blaine calmed slightly but was still breathing heavily. "Where am I going to live?"

"Here, of course."

"But -"

"Blaine." Kurt didn't want to be stern but Blaine needed to understand. "You're staying here, at the very least on weekends if you're still at Dalton."

There was silence, then the sentence that shattered Kurt's heart -

"Why do you care?"

And Blaine truly meant it. He was actually at the point where he thought nobody cared about him. Kurt knew if he ever met Blaine's father, he wouldn't be able to hold back.

"Because I care about you, Blaine. We all do. You're my best friend, you helped me through my own difficult times, I want to help you." _And I'm in love with you_, he added in his mind. "Don't let his words poison you, Blaine."

As Blaine looked away, Kurt could see the look in his eyes that Kurt had seen in his own during his darkest days at McKinley, and he knew Blaine had given up on being cared about. Kurt didn't know how long his dad had been saying these things about him, but it seemed Blaine had been living with the thought that he was a disappointment for a long time. But when Kurt was at his lowest, Blaine was the one to pull him out. And now it was Kurt's turn to return the favour.

"Blaine, look at me." Obediently, Blaine lifted his eyes to Kurt's, attempting a smile that didn't quite cross his face.

"Kurt, I'm sorry. I can't believe I've just come here and thrown all of this at you. I promise, once I find somewhere else to go, I'll be out of your hair -"

"Blaine." Kurt couldn't keep the emotion out of his voice and knew it was about to break. "Blaine, _shut up. _You are _not_ a burden. You are my friend and I care about you and - damn it, Blaine, I _love you_."

Taking Blaine's chin in his hand, careful to avoid the bruise, Kurt ducked his head and kissed him. And even though he wanted _so much _for it to mean more, Kurt knew that right now it was simply the comfort and reassurance that Blaine needed to know he was loved.

Pulling away, Kurt smiled gently, trying to keep his tears at bay. "I'm here for you, okay?"

"Okay," Blaine whispered, and Kurt saw the light returning to his eyes. He knew things were a long way from fixed - even tonight there was still so much to be dealt with - but at least Blaine knew he was loved.

"And Kurt?"

"Yeah?"

Blaine swallowed. "I love you too."

Kurt smiled, letting the words store themselves in the back of his mind for later. Right now, Blaine was his focus, getting the boy some food and then a proper night's sleep. Tomorrow would bring its own challenges and there was much more to work through.

But later that night, after everyone else was asleep - Blaine in the guest room where Kurt could hear if he had a nightmare - Kurt allowed himself a few moments of happiness. Maybe it wouldn't be until much later down the track, but he knew that something had started between himself and Blaine that was going to change their lives forever.

* * *

**As out of character as it may seem, this is a method one of my friends has used on another friend - it was completely platonic too - to snap them out of their feelings of worthlessness. I copied it from her.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_So Burt's reaction was more than a little scary. Blaine's parents were somewhat fine. But what about New Directions?_**

**_Mercedes: I'm so happy! *hugs*_**

**_Puck: My boy's getting some!_**

**_Brad the pianist: Good job, kid._**

**_Later that day..._**

**_"Hey, I got a text! Who's Brad?"_**

**_Text reads: "Don't hurt Kurt. I happen to know piano's are very painful when dropped on one's head."_**


	97. Proposal

**Been looking for a good Nick/Jeff and haven't been able to find it? Well boy do I have a rec for you! And I know it sounds biased because she's my beta, but Angela (_SquirrelzAttack_) sent me a story to be edited and I honestly teared up reading it and told her she _had _to post it as a oneshot. It's called _Every Rose Has Its Thorn_, and you can find it here: ****http: / www . fanfiction . net / s / 7208399 / 1 / take out all of the spaces and go and give it all of the immense amounts of love it deserves. I promise it will be worth your while. **

**Okay, I've had a _lot _of feedback about the last two chapters, people wanting to see them continued. Introductions is one I definitely wanted to continue, I just don't know when I'll get the free time because I've got a lot of stories in the works right now, so don't expect it any time soon. And Defeated, I had honestly not even thought about continuing, but heaps of you want to see it. So I'll keep it in mind, but again, no promises for it being any time soon. I do have plenty of new oneshots on their way so keep an eye out for them :) **

**From **_**lollzie: Blaine and Kurt aren't going out yet, but are in breadsticks on one of their non-dates. Kurt is talking about prom and how he's taking Mercede's[sic] in a group along with Sam and Rachel, but he wishes that he had a boyfriend to take instead. Blaine gathers up the courage and asks Kurt to prom and then they kiss**_

**You know, Dalton would have a prom too. Just putting it out there. Totally not hinting at a oneshot coming up in the near future. Of course not. ;)**

** And thanks for letting me get rid of Jesse. Much appreciated. ****Does anyone actually **_**like **_**him, by the way? I mean, his voice is exquisite, I'll give him that, but I really really detest his character. There's not a single good thing about him in my opinion, except the strange expressions on his face sometimes that are good comedic humour.**

* * *

Proposal

"So, what's the latest news?"

Blaine swallowed the last of his pasta and put down his fork. "Well, we're practicing for our next performance. Apparently The Gap down the road heard about our performance," he screwed up his nose and Kurt chuckled, "and they want us to do something there."

Kurt raised his eyebrow in a way that Blaine desperately wished he could mirror. "Impressive. What are you singing?"

"We're tossing up between _Just The Way You Are _and a heavily edited version of _The Lazy Song_." Blaine laughed at Kurt's incredulous expression. "Yes, we're all a little obsessed with Bruno Mars right now."

"And you're singing lead, of course?" Kurt took another drink of his Diet Coke before grabbing a bread stick.

Blaine nodded. "I'm putting my vote in for _Just The Way You Are. _Cliche but quite fun to sing." He ignored the fact that Kurt wasn't going to be there for him to at least inadvertently sing the song to. "Oh, and we're getting ready for junior prom. Not that it's that exciting, all the Crawford girls are coming over and I'll probably spend the whole night sitting with Cameron and watching the guys have fun."

"Why Cameron?" Blaine tried to pretend to himself that there was a hint of jealousy in Kurt's voice as he asked the question.

"His girlfriend's in Europe for the next two months." Blaine shrugged. "Alright, enough about me. What's happening at McKinley? You're still staying safe, right?"

Kurt rolled his eyes but there was no anger. "Of course. And I know my position is still there at Dalton if I need it," he added, just as Blaine opened his mouth. "Don't worry." Blaine smiled sheepishly as Kurt continued. "Anyway, not much happening. We're all doing our best to help Sam out, of course. I spent some time there yesterday looking after his siblings so Sam could work on his assignments."

"You're good to him." Blaine continued pushing his feelings down. _There's no reason to be jealous. Kurt made it clear after the whole rumors debacle that Sam was most definitely straight. You know that. _

There was a faint blush on Kurt's face. "Yes, well, he needs it. And of course we have our own prom to prepare for. At least I don't have to worry about corsages and stuff, and I've told the girls that I won't be matching my outfit to theirs, they can worry about matching to me if they're fussed about -"

"Wait, wait." Blaine raised a hand. "_Girls?_"

"Oh, I thought I told you. Mercedes and Rachel both wanted dates so they're doing 'Prom on a Budget' with Sam, and then Mercedes realized I wouldn't have a date so she asked if I wanted to join them." Kurt smiled, but he looked sad and Blaine frowned.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

Kurt sighed. "Well, yes. Mercedes is going to be happy, and maybe something will happen with her and Sam, who knows? I guess -" He hesitated a little.

"What's wrong, Kurt?" Blaine was starting to get worried now. He had figured that Prom would be the highlight of Kurt's year; getting to dress up and have fun with his McKinley friends was his favourite thing to do after all.

Kurt shook his head. "It's silly, really. I guess I'd like to have an actual _date_, you know? I never expected I'd have anybody at McKinley to go with, but I've just spent a few months at an all-guys school, I kinda hoped..." he trailed off before chuckling a little. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. We'll make it a good night anyway."

A waitress appeared at their table and Kurt began to instruct her on how to split the bill, leaving Blaine with some time to think.

_He wants a date for prom. You're not doing anything, you could volunteer. McKinley's safe, it's not going to be like your last experience. But you know it's not just about a date, you know he wants a boyfriend, or at least someone he likes and as much as you want to read into things, you know he doesn't like you the same way... _

"Blaine?"

Shaking his head, Blaine dug out his wallet and quickly settled his half of the bill. The waitress left and Kurt turned back to him. "Where'd you go to?"

"You could have a date, you know?" Blaine blurted out without even realizing it, then winced. _Smooth, Anderson. Real smooth._

"I'm sorry?"

He took a deep breath. "I guess, you know, I'm not doing anything that night and I'd be more than happy to - oh screw it." Kurt raised an eyebrow at his language but Blaine didn't care. "Kurt, I know you're meant to ask since it's your prom, but would you go to prom with me?"

The grin that spread across Kurt's face was more than worth his internal worrying. "I'd love to, Blaine. But, um, in which way?"

_So, are you going to wimp out now? _The voice in his head asked.

_No_, he said back. _Not this time._

"As an actual date. And maybe... maybe even as a boyfriend?" Blaine knew his voice had gone all quiet and hesitant, but considering he had just pretty much asked if he could be Kurt's _boyfriend_, he figured it was understandable.

Kurt stared at him for a couple of seconds. "Blaine, did you just ask me to be your boyfriend?"

_Oh crap. _Blaine suddenly remembered one of the main things about the boy he sort of loved, that he really should've remembered earlier._ He loves romance. _"I'm sorry, I know it was really badly done and I should've serenaded you or something, do you want me to? Because I could sing something, or I could get the Warblers to come out some time and, I mean you haven't even given me an answer, I -"

"Blaine, chill." Kurt was laughing and Blaine realized he had never seen Kurt looking quite so _happy_. "It's okay, I honestly don't need to be serenaded. And again, I'd love to."

Blaine blinked. "Wait, did you just say yes?"

"Yeah."

And now the smile was splitting across Blaine's face too because _he said yes! _And then Kurt was taking his hand and they were out of their booth, heading towards the door both knowing _exactly _what was coming next.

The second they made it outside, Kurt tugged him around the corner and Blaine leant in, pressing their lips together. Kurt's hands had found their way around his neck and Blaine's to Kurt's waist and all he could think was _this isn't happening, there's no way I'm kissing __**Kurt **__outside Breadstix..._

But as Kurt pulled away with the most incredible look on his face as if everything he ever wanted had just been given to him, Blaine realized he certainly _was _kissing Kurt outside Breadstix. Scratch that, he was kissing his prom date and _boyfriend_. He briefly wondered how long he'd be putting emphasis on the word _boyfriend _in his mind, then decided he didn't really care if it made him smile this much.

"So, come over tomorrow night and see what I'm going to be wearing?" Blaine frowned. "To prom," Kurt added hastily. "So you can match your outfit to mine."

Blaine laughed, suddenly feeling as free as air. "In your words, I'd love to."

* * *

**Oh, rambling!Blaine's just a little too cute sometimes (read: all the time).**

* * *

**MusicalEscape chose not to turn the previous chapter into a joke, and I completely understand and agree. It's a bit too serious to do so.**


	98. Languages

**A little while back (like, Chapter 30) I was asking if anybody knew what was up with Tina's Valentines Day performance where she randomly burst into tears mid-song. Well, I got a reply from someone who I think is working their way through from the start, who informed me of this: _earlier in the episode Tina says she's so in love she could cry and then when she sings we find out she wasnt joking. _So thank you to _KindOfANinja_ for filling me in on that! **

**From **_**Siel: Kurt and Blaine haven't really seen each other in a while due Kurt spending more time with ND members now that he's back in McKinley. Finally thay make a coffee date and Blaine acts upon his feelings without thinking. They can be dating already or not.**_

**So I'm a little sick of them kissing in coffee shops. Coffee date's still a go though! And I'll admit there is a bit of thinking... and Kurt might be the one to act... sorry if I completely botched this one! **

**As a prelude to this chapter, what's your love language? If you've never heard of them before... you'll find out in here. Just a thought to keep with you while you're reading and then put in your review :) I'll ask again in the bottom authors note. **

**TGTDOSBDK. I don't care when in between Born This Way and New York this happens. It just does.**

* * *

Languages

_Hi Mom, could Kurt come over this afternoon? - Blaine_

"... so performing for a rest home will be a considerable change. The noise level must be kept lower as many of the residents will probably want to sleep during our performance. And our song choices must be acceptable to them. Now, we've been looking over our song list and we've narrowed it down to _What A Wonderful World, Always Something There To Remind Me, Never Gonna Give You Up _and _Seasons In The Sun. _So we're going to be practicing over ..."

_Of course, honey. I won't be home until late, so if you and Kurt could start dinner for us, that'd be great too - Mom_

"Dismissed!"

Blaine quickly tapped out a reply of agreement before grabbing his stuff and leaving the choir room. He scrolled through his contacts and found his boyfriend's number, hitting _call _and waiting for Kurt to pick up.

"Hello?"

Blaine frowned. "Mercedes?"

"Oh, hey Blaine! Sorry, Kurt's got his arms full at the moment so I'm holding his bag." There was the sound of chattering growing increasingly louder. "Hold on, here we go."

A shuffling noise later and Kurt was on the line. "Hi, Blaine. Sorry, busy trying to design outfits for Nationals. How are you?"

Blaine smiled as he always did when he heard Kurt's voice. "I'm great. So if I drove fast, do you think I'd get there in time to bring you back to my place for dinner?"

"That's presuming I _want _to come for dinner." There was a pause where Blaine rolled his eyes and waited. "Okay, yes. We'll be finished up here in about half an hour, so you can come in whenever you get here." There was a voice in the background then Kurt sighed. "Rachel says as long as you don't look at our National ideas. She's convinced you're in cahoots with Vocal Adrenaline."

Blaine laughed. "Tell her she's got nothing to worry about. See you soon, babe."

He hung up, knowing Kurt would now have to explain to his New Directions friends why he was grinning like an idiot. The first time he had accidentally called Kurt 'babe,' he had been instantly apologetic until he saw the look on Kurt's face. Now he used it whenever possible, just to see Kurt smile.

Jumping in the car, Blaine put on what he unashamedly called his 'Kurt Playlist.' Not that Kurt was aware of the existence of it yet, Blaine had been working on it over the past few weeks. Simply, any time a song would come on that seemed to have some kind of significance to Kurt, Blaine would add it. Someday he hoped to hear the stories behind all of Kurt's favourite songs, and make a few themselves of course. The trip to Lima was spent singing along to _Le Jazz Hot, Blackbird, Animal _and _Baby It's Cold Outside_, just to name a few.

Pulling into the McKinley carpark, Blaine made his way into the building and down the slightly familiar route to the choir room. Remembering Rachel's concerns, he briefly toyed with messing with the girl before deciding on the safe route and knocking.

There was an immediate shuffling from inside the room before Rachel's voice called out. "I _suppose _you can come in."

Blaine grinned and entered the room to see the New Directions kids pulling together folders and various sheets of paper. He said a general greeting to everyone, fist-bumping Puck as he and Lauren made their way out. Rachel gave him a suspicious look as she made to leave. "If _anything _of our ideas turns up in Vocal Adrenaline's performance, I know where I'll be looking. Watch what you say, Kurt."

"Yes, ma'am." Kurt rolled his eyes as Rachel left. "Sorry, she's being a total diva today."

Blaine walked over to his boyfriend who was picking up a large stack of folders. Taking them out of his hands, Blaine wrapped his arms around Kurt. "Hey," he whispered into his ear.

"Hi there," Kurt murmured back, and Blaine could hear the smile in his voice. "How was school?"

"Boring." Blaine broke away and grabbed the stack of folders before Kurt could object. "Wes has decided to go crazy about our rest home visits, he's scheduled at least three for the next few weeks. Which means a whole lot of old fashioned songs that I get to 'rock out' to."

Kurt chuckled before yawning. "Mm, sounds like fun."

"Someone looks tired," Blaine teased lightly as they headed to Blaine's car. Rachel was heading to their place that afternoon to spend some time with Finn, so she had agreed to drive Kurt's car home - "Very carefully, Rachel. Any dents or scratches and the bill's on you." - while Finn drove himself there.

"Just a little. Nothing that coffee won't fix." Kurt turned hopeful eyes on Blaine who smiled, unlocking his car and dumping the folders in the backseat.

"Well, you never know your luck."

As Blaine started the car, _Defying Gravity _began to play and Kurt's eyes lit up. He began to sing along and Blaine allowed himself to be lost in the sound of his boyfriend's voice hitting all the notes perfectly in a way Blaine couldn't even dream of doing. But when the next song came on - _4 Minutes_ - Kurt turned his way and raised an eyebrow. "Interesting theme you've got going here, Blaine. What else might I find?"

To his credit, Blaine only blushed a little. "Well, it'd be better if it was you singing, but I take what I can get," he deflected, smirking as Kurt took his turn to blush. "Basically, everything I've heard you sing along to at one time or another."

Kurt shrugged and busied himself singing along to his playlist. After a few renditions of _Bad Romance, Candles _(where Blaine happily joined in, of course) and _Jump_, Blaine pulled into his driveway and switched off the music. Kurt looked up, realizing where they were and pouted.

"Blaine? Coffee?"

And his boyfriend looked so adorably disgruntled - because seriously, who else in the _world_ could mange that? - that Blaine just wanted to lean over and ruffle his hair. "I know babe. Just wait."

Opening his car door, Blaine jumped out and headed up to unlock his front door, Kurt reluctantly following behind. "If you think you can put some of that instant stuff in a cup and placate me, you've got another thing com - oh _my_..."

Blaine smirked as Kurt stopped dead in the entrance to his kitchen, eyes firmly fixed on the brand new, state of the art coffee machine. "Mom bought it last week. I thought you might like to try coffee _a la Anderson_?"

Normally Kurt would have mocked Blaine's attempts at putting on an accent, but his attention was entirely diverted. He stared at the machine for a few more seconds before Blaine sighed and walked over to turn it on. "It generally helps if you start it, you know," he teased. "It doesn't make the coffee if you just stare at it."

Kurt hit him. "You're my boyfriend, you're meant to be _nice_ to me."

"Like how nice you are hitting me all the time?" Blaine ducked away, grinning, as Kurt aimed for him again. He grabbed a couple of mugs out and set to work. Over the past week, he had worked hard at trying to replicate Kurt's favourite coffee and was quite optimistic that he had succeeded.

"You know I hit you to keep you in line." Kurt was leaning on the counter, watching him. "So do I get to grade your coffee making skills?"

Blaine capped the milk and turned to him. "I'm suddenly getting this sense of doom. I'm going to make a bad coffee and I'll be out the door." The machine beeped and Blaine pulled out the first mug, setting it aside as he changed the specifications to make Kurt's coffee.

"Something like that, yeah." Kurt watched on enviously as Blaine picked up his coffee, taking the first sip and sighing. "So much for service, you made yours first!"

"Only so I could show you how good it tastes." Blaine took another sip, humming in pleasure. "Yep, it's goooooood."

Just as Kurt looked ready to hit him again, the machine let off another ding and Blaine turned, grabbing Kurt's coffee. "Come on, let's go to the living room."

He strode on ahead, ignoring Kurt trying to grab at his coffee and led him into the living room. Settling himself on a couch, Blaine waited until Kurt had sat grumpily next to him before handing over the coffee.

"I suppose this is the part where I should thank you," Kurt muttered, accepting his drink. Blaine just smiled and waited until Kurt had taken the first sip, his eyes growing wide over the cup. "Blaine, this is better than the Lima Bean! How did you do that?"

"Lots of practice." Blaine picked up his own cup and continued to drink, waiting for the realization.

A few seconds later, it came. "Wait a minute, you don't drink mocha, do you?" Blaine shook his head, hiding his smile behind his mug. "So, you've been practicing making mocha's ... for me?"

"Yup." Blaine watched Kurt, waiting for his reaction. There was a moment of disbelief, then something cut across Kurt's face like a shutter being pulled down and Blaine frowned.

"You shouldn't have gone to the trouble." Kurt averted his eyes, staring across the room as he continued to drink his coffee, just as Blaine knew he would. Every time Blaine tried to do something nice for Kurt, to make him feel special and unique, Kurt would shut off like this. He knew it wasn't because Kurt didn't _like _the gestures, but there was something there that was keeping him from accepting them for what they were.

And it was time to find out what.

"Why not?"

Kurt shifted in his seat, looking uncomfortable. "I - I don't know. It wasn't a big deal, I mean you know I'd have drunk it anyway if it was the first one you'd made..." Kurt clammed up again, looking down into his mug. Blaine reached over and took the mug from his boyfriend, putting it on the table next to his and taking his now free hands.

"Kurt, baby, talk to me. Why don't you want me doing things like this for you?" Blaine felt Kurt's hands tense beneath his and squeezed them, waiting. If Kurt got too upset, Blaine would happily change the subject, but right now he wanted to try and get Kurt to talk.

Kurt laughed shakily. "Because I'm not used to someone thinking I'm more than trash."

And there it was, right out in the open. Not for the first time, Blaine mentally wished he was taller and more heavily built so he could go take on the idiots who _dared _to make his boyfriend feel this way.

"I guess I keep wondering 'well, what's the catch?' And then I don't know how to respond and I can handle the nice words because I get those from other people, but I've never had someone do _things _for me before and for some reason it really gets to me. Not in a bad way, just ... I don't know. I know I sound so stupid -"

"What did I tell you about calling yourself that?" Blaine interrupted him. "And it's not stupid at all, Kurt. Has anybody ever told you about love languages?"

Kurt shook his head, still looking scared. "They're the fundamental building blocks in a relationship. There's five main ways that people give and receive love: Words of Affirmation, Physical Touch, Gifts, Acts of Service and Quality Time." Blaine squeezed his hands again. "I speak to you through acts of service and giving gifts, because that's what you need. Even though it seems like you're not responding well, it actually looks like the language you receive the best, and the language you've been lacking in most of your life."

Kurt was nodding thoughtfully as he continued. "So instead of feeling guilty or not sure about how to respond, just give something back. It's part of learning about each other, and I want to know _everything _about Kurt Hummel that I can."

"So, what's your love language?"

Blaine smiled. "Guess."

Kurt frowned, studying him. "Well you're not materialistic so I think gifts are out. You like quality time but it doesn't stand out to me as something big..."

"You'd be right. Keep going." Blaine knew he was taking a risk here but it needed to be done at some point.

"You don't get as fussed as I do when someone does something for you... and words are never something we've really needed to communicate properly. So that leaves..."

Kurt trailed off, looking down at their linked hands then back up. Blaine nodded gently. "I respond best to physical touch. I try to keep 'speaking' through touch at a minimum though, I know what it's been like with you. And there's no pressure, okay? We take things at your pace, you know that, and physical touch isn't all about sexual stuff, it's things like this too."

As Blaine lifted their hands slightly, he noticed the slight blush on Kurt's face from the word 'sexual' and smiled. _I love this boy_, he thought to himself.

"So the best way for me to show I love you would be something physical?"

Blaine nodded. "Of course I'm going to hear it if you do it one of the other ways, but it really makes an impact if -"

He froze. After all, who wouldn't if their boyfriend's hand had slipped out of theirs and moved to hover gently above their cheek?

Kurt swallowed before applying a little pressure, Blaine's eyes shutting momentarily before flickering open to stare at Kurt again. The hand trailed down lightly before being joined by another. "Like that?"

Blaine blinked a couple of times before realizing he needed to answer. "Yeah," he murmured, his voice cracking a little. "Yeah, like that."

And then Kurt took him completely by surprise. "And then if I wanted to show you I really love you and I'm really grateful for everything you've done for me, I could do this?"

Then Kurt's face was moving in closer to his and a pair of lips were hesitantly brushing against his. Blaine inhaled lightly before gently kissing Kurt back, increasing the pressure a small amount but ever conscious that Kurt was leading this, Kurt was kissing _him_.

Kurt pulled away, smiling almost incredulously, and Blaine knew it was at himself, at having the courage to kiss someone after everything he'd experienced. Blaine felt a grin threatening to break his face as he responded, "Yes, I daresay you could do that. _Any _time you want."

Blaine checked the clock and his face fell a little. "Oh, except now. We're meant to be putting something on for dinner."

Kurt chuckled, his face alight with happiness. "Well, how about we go get that started, then you and I can come back and do some more... 'talking'."

Blaine took his hand, leading him back into the kitchen. "I love the sound of that."

* * *

**So, love languages? I'll share mine next chapter :)**

**I absolutely was not expecting to end up here. It was originally going to go up to the point where Blaine admits he practiced with the mocha and we'd get grateful!Kurt and that'd lead to a kiss somehow. But I much prefer this (of course. If I didn't, I'd tear it down and write the other one.)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_McKinley prom went fine. But what about Dalton prom? Well, it sorta went like this..._**

**_"Hey, you're cute. Want to dance?"_**

**_"Sorry, but I play for the other team."_**

**_"Darn, all the good ones are gay." *walks away*_**

**_*turns to Blaine* "53rd girl who asked me to dance."_**

**_"Dang. I only have 48."_**


	99. Double Date

**Thanks for the love languages feedback. Here's the breakdown - ****Physical Touch: 25, ****Words of Affirmation: 8, ****Quality Time: 5****, Acts of Service: 2, Gifts: 0. It's how I predicted - by nature most humans are most responsive to touch, followed by words. I was surprised that there are no gift receivers; I mean, it has negative connotations because people get dubbed as materialistic, but it's actually perfectly valid.**

**As for mine, I normally speak in Acts of Service, but I receive Words of Affirmation best. Which, on the flipside, means I respond badly to negative words... so of course I've picked the wrong career ;) but whatever. It is really interesting to see how it all factors out :)**

**Oh, and where I learned all this from - it's a big study in Christian Youth Groups and I helped run one for a year. We did talks and studies on this quite often and me and my ex talked about this a lot to work out how to 'talk' to each other best. Which also helped him when he dumped me to make it the most effectively painful breakup possible by completely ignoring me.**

**From ****_iklainetevenmad and similarly prompted by Call me Mad and KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek: Double date, double date! (Wes/Mercedes + Klaine)_**

* * *

Double Date

There was absolute silence, and it was unnerving Kurt to no end.

Usually silence in his dorm room either meant Wes was out or asleep. But to have the boy here, sitting _quietly_ was quite the shock to the system. Especially when he was staring straight at Kurt - or, to be exact, at the phone in his hands.

_Ding!_

"What'd she say?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Wes, have I _looked _at the message yet? No. So _relax_." He opened the message and scanned it quickly.

_Kurt, you know my luck with guys. What's going to make this one any different? - M_

"Well?"

Kurt shook his head. "This one's between her and me. She hasn't said no, though."

_I can vouch for him. Right now, he's freaking out that you might reject him and any second now he's about to start rambling about how you're too good for him anyway. And that's after you've met ONCE. Just try it 'Cedes, if it doesn't work you can stay friends. I just want to see you happy - Kurt_

Wes was on the edge of his bed, his hands wringing together. "She's not going to say yes, is she? I should've known, she's too good for me after -"

"Shut up." Kurt didn't even bother looking up. "We've had this conversation so many times, Wes, she's not out of your league or anything like that." He shook his head, looking up at his panicked friend. "For someone so confident in Warbler meetings, you're quite insecure you know?"

Wes didn't respond, staring at his feet and muttering something under his breath.

_Ding!_

_Only if you take me shopping tomorrow to find something to wear - M_

Kurt couldn't hide the smile and Wes noticed immediately. "Is that a yes? Did she say yes? Kurt!"

"She said yes, Wes. I told you -" He was interrupted by a grinning Wes taking off out of the room, presumably to find David. He laughed as he typed back a confirmation before heading out to find Blaine and deal with the most nerve-wracking part of the whole thing - inviting Blaine on the double date.

Yes, Blaine might be his boyfriend, but at the moment it was just like having an extra-close friend who wanted to hold hands and cuddle all the time. And with Blaine, that was almost normal anyway. So for Kurt to ask him on a _date_... well, that was something he didn't know if he was ready for. But he had promised Wes he'd double date with them so he and Mercedes could get to know each other, and he intended to go through with that, simply because Kurt wanted to see his friends happy.

Kurt was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Blaine walking down the hallway towards him until he ran into him, quite literally. "Oh, sorry!"

Blaine laughed, wrapping his arms around him. "No problem at all. I was looking for you actually."

Kurt pulled away and looked at Blaine who was looking inexplicably nervous. "I've got something I need to ask, and I know it's sort of forward and out of the blue, but I was actually wondering if you wanted to go on a date tomorrow night?"

He tried, but to no avail. Kurt cracked up laughing, a touch hysterical as Blaine stared at him. "Kurt? I mean, if you don't want to..."

Kurt stopped laughing abruptly as he realized Blaine was looking slightly hurt. "Oh, no that's not it at all! It's just, that's what I was coming to find you to ask."

Blaine looked stunned for a second before breaking out in a huge smile. "Wow, that's ... weird. But awesome. So, where do you want to go?"

"Oh, before we do that, there's a catch. It wouldn't just be us." Blaine looked totally confused so Kurt hastened to explain. "Wes has been trying to get me to set him up with Mercedes ever since they met last week and wants us to double date with them to make it less awkward. If that's okay with you, of course. I mean, if you had plans for it to just be us I'm sure things could be rearranged -"

"No, no that's fine. Great, actually. I didn't realize... Wes is interested in Mercedes?"

Blaine linked hands with him and they began to wander the halls aimlessly, something that appeared to be a pastime for both of them nowadays. "He hasn't been able to stop talking about her for the past week. It's gotten grating in the end; as much as I adore Mercedes, I can only hear how amazing she is so many times."

As Blaine went to respond, Kurt's phone started buzzing. Checking the caller ID, he sighed. "She'll be freaking out, I'd better..."

"Yeah, that's fine. Leave the plans for tomorrow up to me." Blaine squeezed his hand again before breaking away and heading out the main door to where a group of Warblers were sitting under a tree. Kurt watched him go, smiling slightly before his phone buzzed in his hand again and he sighed.

"Yes, 'Cedes?"

* * *

"... Here, just tuck it like this..." Kurt bit his lip, tucking the end of the belt in and smiling. "Perfect! You can look now."

Mercedes opened her eyes and blinked at her reflection a couple of times in the mirror before echoing Kurt's smile. "It's great! Thanks, Kurt."

"You're going to take his breath away, 'Cedes." Kurt wasn't joking, he'd never seen his friend look quite this stunning, but he knew part of it was the smile that kept crossing her face and the glow of excitement about her.

"I sure hope so." There was a comfortable silence where Mercedes smoothed down her dress before turning back to him. "Right, time for you to get ready."

Grabbing his outfit, Kurt stripped off - he and Mercedes were ridiculously comfortable around each other and didn't even bother turning their backs anymore - and pulled on his outfit of choice. As he slipped on his shoes and stood up, Mercedes whistled. "Damn! It's always the gay ones, isn't it?"

"Wes isn't gay, honey." As expected, Mercedes drifted off into 'Wes land' with a smile on her face, allowing Kurt to steal the mirror and start working on his hair. He had already washed the gel out, removing his Dalton look with plenty of time to get into Kurt style. Grabbing his styling products, he began the procedure he had perfected to bring his hair into the style that Blaine so far hadn't had the pleasure of seeing.

Mercedes snapped back to reality when he was halfway through. "Is that _Empire State of Mind _I see?"

Kurt chuckled. "It certainly is," he said, spraying the hairspray in lightly. The hip hop number had been the first place Kurt had rocked this particular look and apparently Mercedes had never forgotten it. Hopefully it would have the same impression on Blaine.

Just as Kurt had perfected his hair with one last touch of spray, there was a knock on the door. Mercedes turned to him, looking slightly panicked and he gestured for her to put her shoes on, which she did quickly. Handing her purse to her, he pushed her in the direction of the door.

There was absolute silence as she opened it. Kurt couldn't see from his angle but he could only imagine that Wes was staring. _I really hope he's got his mouth shut_.

"You look amazing," came the slightly hoarse voice and Mercedes beamed.

"Thank you. So do you, it's certainly different seeing you out of uniform."

Kurt suddenly remembered that this was his and Blaine's date too and Blaine was going to be out of uniform, and _he_ was out of uniform and what if Blaine didn't like the way he was dressed or thought -

"Kurt?"

Mercedes had stepped out into the hallway and Blaine had just poked his head in before stepping in fully. Kurt couldn't hold his staring back, as he took in his boyfriend, dressed casually but immaculately. And his _hair..._

"No gel," he murmured. A second later he realized what he had said and covered his mouth, knowing he was blushing.

Blaine chuckled and stepped forward, removing the hand gently and linking it in his. "No gel. Good?"

"Amazing."

Blaine ducked his head a little and Kurt could see the pleased look on his face. "I'm glad. You look incredible tonight, Kurt."

And at least here was ground that Kurt knew how to walk on. "I know, right?" He smirked at Blaine who rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

Mercedes poked her head back into the room. "Come on lover boys, I can feel my food getting cold already."

Kurt shot Blaine a curious glance as they left the room. "Where are we going, by the way?"

"You'll see." Blaine elbowed him lightly and Kurt glanced at him, frowning. Blaine gestured to the two walking in front of them and Kurt had to fight back a squeal of delight when he realized Wes had just taken Mercedes' hand, their fingers hanging together loosely before Mercedes stepped slightly closer, tightening the grasp.

Kurt could tell it was going to be a wonderful night.

* * *

"I've never been out this way before." Kurt frowned, trying to get his bearings. Usually when they left Dalton they headed in the Lima direction, Kurt having an intimate acquaintance with all of the restaurants and coffee shops there and Blaine being happy to go wherever. This time they headed in the complete opposite direction and had been driving for about fifteen minutes towards somewhere only Blaine knew.

A laugh from the backseat relaxed him and he smiled again. The car ride had done wonders for Wes and Mercedes. Neither of them were shy people, but there was always the first few moments of awkwardness when on a date, and to have this time to get to know each other meant that dinner would be much easier. Kurt remembered that this was his and Blaine's first date too and inwardly wondered at how he was so calm. Then he realized Blaine was talking to him and tuned back in. " - take you somewhere different. This place is kind of special to me."

Kurt wanted to ask why they hadn't come here sooner if that was the case, but Blaine already had his indicator on and was pulling into a parking lot. He craned his neck to read the sign then turned back to Blaine, an eyebrow raised. "Italian?"

"Italian!" Apparently Mercedes had heard him. "I _love _Italian food, but you can never get anything good in Lima."

"Well trust me, this place is good." Blaine parked the car and unbuckled his seat belt. The four got out of the car, Kurt noticing Wes's hand slipping into Mercedes's straight away before he felt Blaine taking his. "It's alright, they won't mind here," he murmured in answer to Kurt's unspoken question.

Kurt wanted to ask how he knew, but they were already in the door and Blaine was turning to him with a smile. "Just a second."

He pulled out of Kurt's grasp and stepped forward to the counter, saying something to the man there. But of course, Kurt couldn't tell what it was because Blaine spoke in Italian.

Blaine Anderson spoke freaking Italian. _Of course._

"Okay, our table is this way," Blaine gestured with his hand and they followed the server, settling in comfortably around the booth with each of the couples sharing a seat.

Kurt wasn't quite capable of summoning words but Mercedes must have seen the look on his face and realized. "Since when did you speak Italian, Blaine?"

"I dunno, awhile now?" Blaine shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal, picking up his menu. "Dalton doesn't teach it so I haven't used it in awhile, so I may be a little rusty."

Kurt shook his head, picking up his menu. A second later, he lowered it and looked across at Mercedes and Wes who had come to the same realization. As a whole, they turned to Blaine who was trying and failing not to look amused.

"Just tell me what you like and I'll order it."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I swear you brought us here to gloat." He elbowed Blaine lightly who chuckled, catching his arm and linking their hands again under the table.

"And if I did?" Mercedes and Wes were engrossed with trying to find phrases they could understand in the menu, allowing Blaine to lean over and whisper lightly in his ear, "Maybe I think you're worth trying to impress."

Kurt shivered and Blaine moved back, smiling almost smugly at him, which would usually cause Kurt to retort but right now he was trying to work out why Blaine's _breath _had caused such a reaction in him.

A server was at their table and Blaine smoothly took over, translating their requests into Italian. The girl who looked about their age nodded, then asked a question that made Blaine blush and nod. She giggled and all but skipped away as Blaine turned back to the group, his face still red. "What was that about?" Wes enquired innocently. Well, as innocent as Wes could be when he was smirking, clearly enjoying Blaine's discomfort even if he couldn't understand it.

"Oh, she just asked if we were all here on dates, then asked if the _Molto carino _boy next to me was my date."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, loving the way the words fell off Blaine's lips but definitely wanting to know what he had just been called. "So what does that mean?"

Blaine leant in again and whispered in his ear. "Very cute. Oh, and it's true by the way."

He wasn't sure whether it was the words, the proximity or the look in Blaine's eyes that had Kurt blushing, but either way he knew he was just as red as the other boy had been less than a minute ago.

Mercedes and Wes were deep in conversation again so Kurt took the opportunity to lean over and whisper to Blaine in return. "Well, that's alright because I think you're _tres beau_."

He could see Blaine shiver and smiled, loving the fact that he was the one who caused that. "What does that mean?"

"You'll find out when you actually pass French." Kurt winked and moved away, Blaine shaking his head with a small smile.

Mercedes and Wes seemed to remember they had company and turned back to the two boys. "So, boys, what's happening with the Warblers these days?"

"Plenty of performances. Now that Wes has relaxed his 'no off campus performances' rule, we're all over the place. It's been great." Blaine smirked at the Head Warbler who was trying to frown and not quite succeeding.

"Especially since Blaine requested that he not get all the solos," Kurt chimed in, feeling yet another surge of appreciation for his boyfriend. Kurt had finally levelled with Blaine and told him how it felt not getting any solos, and Blaine had immediately made the request of the council, which had been granted.

"So does that mean you're getting solos, Kurt?" Mercedes looked excited and Kurt couldn't help but smile.

"Not just that, 'Cedes." Kurt paused for a second before quietly singing, "_I think I'll try defying gravity..."_

Mercedes jaw dropped and she turned to Wes. "You're letting him sing _Defying Gravity?"_

Wes nodded, looking a little confused. "Of course. It was the highlight of our last performance."

"So you can hit the high note now, Kurt?"

Kurt winced, suddenly remembering that he had never told Mercedes about throwing the competition. He filled her in quickly, ignoring Wes's stunned disbelief beside her. Blaine, of course, already knew the story and sat impassively, watching everybody's reactions.

"Oh, Kurt, I'm so sorry! I wish you'd told me!" Mercedes started looking upset and Kurt waved his hand hastily.

"No, it's fine, Mercedes, I promise. Besides, did Rachel ever get that solo?" Mercedes thought for a second before shaking her head. Kurt smirked. "Then it's fine."

Mercedes nodded, then turned her attention to Wes. "Thank you for giving my boy the opportunity again." And before any of the boys knew what was happening, Mercedes had leant in and kissed Wes on the cheek.

Kurt resisted the urge to whoop or something equally as embarrassing and knew Blaine was restraining himself equally beside him. They shared a quick glance as Mercedes blushed and Wes looked slightly dazed. Luckily their food arrived at that point and in the confusion of sorting out meals and trying to bridge the language barrier, the awkwardness disappeared. Dinner was eaten quickly with sporadic conversation, mainly Mercedes bringing Kurt up to speed on McKinley gossip.

Before long, the plates had been cleared, the bill settled, and a slightly strained silence fell across the table. It was clear that nobody wanted to be the one to suggest they leave, but the date was almost over and someone still had to drive Mercedes back to Lima after all.

Surprisingly, it was Wes who finally broke the silence. "Well, it is getting late. Miss Jones," he turned to Mercedes, holding out his hand slightly theatrically and eliciting a laugh from the girl, "would you allow me to escort you home?" At the puzzled looks from Kurt and Mercedes, he smirked. "Blaine told me where we were going beforehand, my car's in the car park."

"I'd be delighted." The four stood, Mercedes quickly hugging the other two boys - _"We'll talk later," _she whispered in Kurt's ear - before making her way out of the restaurant with Wes.

Kurt watched them go, feeling as if his smile might never fade. "Aren't they gorgeous together?"

"They are." Blaine's hand was in his again and Kurt turned to look at him. As soon as their eyes met, Kurt felt his breath knocked out of his lungs because _how did I manage to get someone this amazing?_

Blaine was staring at him like he was the only person that mattered, smiling softly at him with a look that Kurt knew was mirrored on his own face. A few seconds passed in that way before Kurt tugged his arm a little. "Let's go for a walk."

They left the restaurant and began to walk aimlessly, a comfortable silence dropping between them. Kurt found himself lost in his thoughts, most of which were revolving around how lucky he was. Right down to their meeting on the stairs, the second he had met Blaine he had felt his world shift. Kurt wasn't sure whether he believed in fate, but to end up having the one boy he'd had the nerve to stop as his now boyfriend, well it was certainly something to think about.

"What's on your mind?" Blaine's voice softly broke through his revire and Kurt realized they'd stopped walking. He turned to face Blaine, letting their other hands link.

In the moonlight, Blaine was even more beautiful than normal. The glow illuminated his eyes which were shining brightly with warmth and so much love that Kurt felt a lump grow in his throat. "You," he whispered.

He saw Blaine swallow roughly and his gaze dropped to Blaine's lips for a second. "What about you?"

"You." The reply was instant and completely heart-felt, and Kurt knew it was time.

Without any other words, Kurt leant in and kissed him.

There was a second of stillness, then Blaine was drawing him closer, arms wrapping around his waist as he kissed him back. Kurt knew he was inexperienced - they both were, for that matter - but kissing must be one of those things you could just _do_. And all the magazines and New Directions girls were right, it truly was wonderful. Kurt's hands were resting against Blaine's arms and he could feel goosebumps rising along them. It was a warm night, which could only mean that this was a result of what they were doing right now, and he smiled into Blaine's mouth as their lips continued to dance together.

He knew they easily could have stayed there all night, just kissing, but Kurt also knew that breaking curfew wasn't taken lightly at Dalton. With a sigh, he broke the kiss, moving back slightly to look into Blaine's eyes which were glazed over a little.

"_Ti amo_," Blaine whispered and Kurt shivered again, knowing full well what the words meant. He and Blaine had said love before, but it never got any less wonderful, _especially _not when it was in Italian.

"_Je t'aime," _he replied, loving the way Blaine's eyes lit up further at the words before pulling him in for another kiss.

After all, it wouldn't matter if they broke curfew just this once.

* * *

**And now that this is finally up to being published... I'm over this pairing. Sure, they're cute, but Samcedes is so much cuter... and canon! No matter, I'm happy with the story anyway :) and again, if my translations are wrong, I apologize but they're from online.**

**Oh, and for anybody who has been living under a rock, Darren lived in Italy and speaks fluent Italian. It's swoon worthy, so go look him up**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***Klissing***_

_***squeal***_

_***breaks apart* "What was that?"**_

_**"I don't know. I think it came from the window..."**_

_***Both slowly turn towards window***_

_**"RACHEL? WHAT THE (censor) ARE YOU DOING HERE?"**_

_**"Um, hi Kurt! Just making sure you weren't leaking our set li-"**_

_***window slam, shades closed***_

_***muffled* "Hey!"**_


	100. Tissues

**Yes, you read it right. This is CHAPTER 100!**

***throws confetti and starts slicing cake (yes, there's enough for everybody!)***

**I should have some totally awesome way to celebrate this... but I kind of don't. Apart from a new poll which of course you're all fascinated to hear about ;) First the results of the poll on how Blaine should transfer; the clear winner was that he wants to stand up to his bullies, with following Kurt because he misses him (one of my least favourites to be honest) coming in second. The new poll is 'the best pairings/ideas to come out of fandom.' So, go vote, and if you can think of something I've missed, please let me know via review and I'll add it.**

**Anyway. ****100! WOO! Most fabulous review gets a special mention next chapter =D and I'm not telling you how I judge these fabulous reviews either ;) just be your fabulous selves, mention something about this being the 100th chapter, and ... and! =D**

**Speaking of fabulous reviews, an extra special amazingly _awesome _shout out to _Chasing Aspirations _who wrote the last review in French and Italian, alternating between paragraphs. My jaw freaking _dropped_. **

**From **_**akatrixie: Blaine opens Kurt's room's door, and is hit with a wad of wet, balled up **__**tissues.**_

**My mind went in about seven different directions with this. Literally. I went "I'll just write about... no wait, that's even... oh, hold on, I could do... what about.." and so on. I mean, everybody probably read the prompt and went 'oh, Kurt's crying, Blaine's going to comfort him. Comfort!Kiss!'. And I thought 'you know what? No.'**

**So then I wrote this. It's totally out of the blue and random, but that's just the kind of writer I am. **

* * *

Tissues

Blaine took a steadying breath as he leant against the wall next to Kurt's door. Any second now, he was going to knock on the door, open it, go in and ask Kurt to be his boyfriend.

... any second now.

_What are you so nervous about? He's going to say yes!_

But Blaine couldn't be so positive. Sure, Kurt had told him he thought he was the one Blaine was going to sing to on Valentine's Day, but that didn't necessarily mean he _liked _him, did it? Okay, yes, he had blushed and looked ridiculously endearing and almost hopeful, and a little crushed when Blaine had said he didn't want to screw things up, so that was a pretty clear sign, but still.

And Blaine really didn't want to screw it up. Kurt was one of the best things that had happened to him, and to possibly lose his friendship over this would crush him. _But you have to try, otherwise you'll go insane._

With a suddenness he didn't know he possessed, Blaine knocked on the door. There was silence, then a muffled affirmative. Taking one more deep breath, Blaine twisted the knob and opened the door to be met with a wad of wet, balled up tissues.

He blinked, wiping his cheek as the wad fell to the floor with a wet _splat_. Looking down at it, he realized that the floor was littered with tissues and panicked for a second. _Kurt's been crying, what's happened, is he okay?_

Then Blaine looked up and saw what was going on and had to bite his fist to keep from laughing. Kurt was sitting on his bed with his blazer in his hand, scrubbing furiously at it. A box of tissues and a bowl of water were beside him and he was dipping tissues in the water, wiping away at a large blue stain on the front of his blazer.

"What _happened_?" Blaine asked, trying to keep the laughter from his voice. Kurt looked up with surprise - apparently he had forgotten about the knock on the door already.

"Wes happened." Kurt's tone was vicious. "I've told him a million times that drinking blueberry smoothies in uniform is going to end up being a disaster. I just never expected it would be a disaster on _me_."

Blaine sat down, examining the large stain down the side of Kurt's blazer. "He spilt it on you?"

"I wish." Kurt grimaced and Blaine looked at him curiously, anticipating a great story. "We were walking back from the cafeteria, and Wes was still drinking his smoothie. David was telling some kind of ridiculous story about his girlfriend and an elephant -" Blaine filed that note away, reminding himself to ask David what that was about as soon as possible. "Wes found it particularly funny and cracked up laughing while he still had smoothie in his mouth. It came out his _nose_, Blaine."

Kurt shuddered as Blaine tried not to laugh. "And now there's probably _snot _and other disgusting things mixed in here and I'm never going to get it all out and it's the only blazer I have because these things are freaking expensive even if they aren't made of the best quality materials -"

Blaine took Kurt's hand and Kurt froze mid sentence, staring down at it. "It's okay, Kurt." He squeezed it lightly and Kurt's eyes shot back up to his. "I've got a spare blazer that should fit you. My brother was in his last year when I started here so I inherited his. You can have it."

"I - Blaine, I couldn't do that."

Blaine frowned. "Of course you could. It's not charity, Kurt, it's me with a spare blazer that's been hanging in my closet for the past year and a half and never been worn. It would be a crime to leave clothing unworn for that long, wouldn't it?"

He knew appealling to Kurt's materialistic side would work, and sure enough Kurt relaxed. "You're right. Okay." He tossed the blazer aside and Blaine suddenly realized he was just wearing his dress shirt, the top button undone and no tie. His mouth ran dry for a second as he unashamedly stared until a hand was waved in front of his face.

"Blaine? I know it's against uniform policy and all but I think I have a good enough excuse."

Blaine lifted his eyes to meet Kurt's, knowing he couldn't hide the expression on his face. Kurt read it instantly, his look changing from affronted to confused. "What -?"

"Kurt." The word came out slightly rough so Blaine licked his lips and tried again. "Kurt, there was a reason I came in here."

Kurt didn't answer and Blaine realized his gaze had dropped to his lips the second he had licked them. He repeated the action, more slowly, and watched Kurt's eyes grow wider. The boy swallowed roughly before seeming to realize Blaine was still there and shooting his eyes up to meet him, looking worried. Blaine simply raised an eyebrow before closing the gap between them, kissing Kurt as if his life depended on it. Kurt gasped underneath his lips before responding as Blaine's arms wrapped around his waist, running patterns across his back. His hands were curling in Blaine's hair and hey, when did those get there and does it _really matter?_

Then Blaine remembered his initial plan and pulled away, sighing a little. It was suddenly all worth it though because Kurt _moaned _at the loss of contact, his eyes opening slowly. A second later, a blush started to colour his face as he removed his hands from Blaine's hair and covered it.

"Hey, no, none of that." Blaine unwrapped his arms from Kurt's waist and lifted Kurt's hands away from his face, holding them gently in the slight gap between them. "Trust me, I'd love to do more of that, but I figured I should do this properly."

And there were those _damn _nerves again even though he had just _kissed _Kurt and he was completely positive that Kurt wanted this too. Shaking his head at himself slightly, Blaine began to speak.

"Kurt. It's taken me awhile, far too long in fact, to realize just how important to me you are. I've been searching, trying to find someone I could give myself to because I thought that was what I should do. But I realized that I can't go looking for a relationship with somebody because I want one, I have to want to be in a relationship with someone because of _them_. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the only person I want to commit to like that would be you."

Kurt's eyes were round with shock, which Blaine couldn't quite understand considering they'd just _kissed _and all, but he figured Kurt wasn't used to hearing things like that. Well, Blaine was planning on changing that. "You're incredible, Kurt Hummel, and I've been blind for not seeing it sooner. So, if you'll have me, I'd like to ask you to be my boyfriend."

He waited a second but no reply came. Worried, he asked again. "Kurt? Would you -?"

And then Kurt's lips were covering his again and Blaine could only assume he agreed. That was determined a few seconds later when Kurt pulled away slightly, whispering against his lips. "That's a yes, just in case you weren't sure."

Blaine smiled before murmuring back, "Maybe you should just verify it."

* * *

**I kind of feel like there's been way better chapters that could have been THE 100th chapter... but oh well.**

**Oh, and to everybody who told me about Chord leaving... yes, I know it's confirmed, but I'm done listening to the Glee rumour mill because they keep on changing their minds. I'll just wait for Season 3, I think. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_On a completely unrelated note, what happened after the 'I love you's':_**

**_"I love you."_**

**_*swallows coffee* "I... love you too."_**

**_*cheering*_**

**_"Good job, guys! We've been waiting for this! *barista takes out cake*_**

**_*confetti falls from ceiling, music starts playing*_**

**_...and this is why I shouldn't have ice cream and pie. I write crack._**


	101. Slip

**Thank you so much everybody for all the ridiculous amounts of love I got for my hundredth anniversary (wow, that makes me feel old!), it was all much appreciated :) and yes, here's to another 100 chapters.. and then another 28 after that! *raises glass***

**I called in Angela to help me judge the 'fabulous review' competition - I narrowed it down to six which I sent to her. We then worked out a top three from there and then placed them. So, drumroll please! *imaginary drumroll* Honorable mentions to _Elvirawr, Queen of Drama 13 _and _Chasing Aspirations_. Third place goes to ****_freakyfee91 _who sent me love in multiple different languages****, second place to _sinsiriuslyamy _who wrote a flipping _oneshot_ as a review (go find that people!), and first place... to the lovely _KoalaInPinkSunglasses_! This was the winning review:**

* * *

**_Oh Wes. *shakes head* You DO realize that Kurt is going to kill you, right? He may act like it's all right, and you'll sigh in relief and go on with your life, but when you least expect it, you'll wake up with worms in your bed (courtesy of Puck) or you'll walk into your room ready to crash on your bed, and find that every square inch has been covered with hundreds of full glasses of water- forcing you to spend another couple hours clearing them all out very carefully. Or maybe, if he's feeling particularly evil, he'll tell Rachel that you asked him to spy on New Directions to give the Warblers a heads up at Regionals, leaving you with a very angry Rachel and all the troops she can muster. Although, if you're lucky, he may go easy on you because he's happy with his new boyfriend, but that's rather unlikely because Blaine got hit with a soggy blueberry snot tissue because of you. With the two of them plotting together, you may just have it even worse. Maybe he'll contact some old theme park friends, and get the Warblers a gig as dancing pink bunny rabbits at the nearest six flags. Then, he'll tell the Warblers that it was your idea, and how could they not believe him? He's the uber charming lead singer, everybody loves him. Or he could leak those photos of you and your gavel in *ahem* compromising positions. I'm amazed, Wes, I didn't know some of those things were physically possible. But to each their own. Heed my advice, Wes, if you wish to survive. Next time Kurt tells you not to do something, cease and desist whatever it is immediately. Then, proceed to apologize for your indiscretion and ask how you might punish yourself-for he is your master and you his humble servant. I also recommend that you go to him now, beg on your knees for forgiveness, and lavish him with extravagant offer to cover his dry cleaning bill for the next six months. It won't get you off the hook entirely, but it may convince him to go for a lesser form of payback. You are welcome. I expect cookies by morning in gratitude._**

* * *

**Absolutely fabulous, right? I thought so! :)**

**From **_**Tinaklaine99: In silly love songs right beofre [sic] BLaine [sic] sings to jeremiah and his [sic] freaking out and Kurts telling him to calm down he acidentaly [sic] lets it slip that hes in love with him.**_

**I didn't do the exact scene, because I felt like doing this instead...**

**... That's totally reason enough. I'm the author, after all. *notices nobody's arguing* Oh, right. Anyway, I just had this idea in my head. Blaine's smarter than he's sometimes portrayed in the show and I think he'd start thinking stuff like this after awhile. I mean, we were **_**all **_**thinking it.**

* * *

Slip

"Okay, is everybody ready to head in?"

There were murmurs of assent and Wes gestured them in. Kurt was about to follow when he realized Blaine hadn't joined them, standing with his back against the wall.

"Blaine?"

Blaine shook his head, staring across the parking lot with unfocused eyes. "I can't do it, Kurt."

Kurt tried to ignore the leap of hope he felt. _He's just nervous is all_, he told himself firmly. _Nothing more._ "Hey, it's fine. It's all going to be fine, everyone's practiced, nobody will stuff this up for you."

Blaine sighed. "He's not going to be interested in me, Kurt. He's going to think I'm a stupid little kid and - Kurt, why did I choose _When I Get You Alone? _That's like _the _most inappropriate song choice, why did the Council even go for that?"

Kurt stepped in front of him and grabbed his shoulders. "Blaine, _relax_. Breathe." He waited until it looked like Blaine wasn't going to either run away or pass out before continuing. "Stop selling yourself short, it's going to be fine, honestly. You said this guy was showing signs that he was interested, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we go out for coffee a lot and talk heaps. Does that mean he's interested?"

_Well, that's what we do and I'm certainly interested. _"I'd think so, but the only way to know for sure is to get in there and wow him. Come on, you're going to be great and he's going to love you just as much as I do."

Blaine's head snapped up and he stared at Kurt who frowned. _Why is he looking at me that way? I only said I love ... oh._

Kurt released Blaine's shoulders instantly, backing away. "I - I mean, just ..." He gave up. "It's not important. Go inside and get your guy."

"Kurt, you love me?"

He shook his head, but there was no point because Blaine _knew _now. "Okay, yes. But I don't want that to affect you going after Jeremiah, Blaine. If you're interested in him, you need to try it. We'll still be friends after all and that's all I really need."

He didn't know how he managed to keep his voice so steady when all he wanted to do was run away and cry. When he had imagined Blaine finding out he liked him, it wasn't meant to be like this at all. It certainly wasn't meant to involve Kurt telling him to forget about it and go chase _another guy_. But as much as Kurt wanted Blaine, he wanted Blaine to be happy first and foremost. And if Blaine was going to be happy with Jeremiah then Kurt was going to support him, no matter what.

"What if I'm not interested in Jeremiah?"

Blaine's voice was low and Kurt shook his head. "Don't say that, Blaine."

But a pair of hands were gently gripping his arms. "Kurt, look at me."

Kurt lifted his eyes to see Blaine staring at him in a way he had never seen before. Blaine usually wore a mask around his emotions - a habit, he had told Kurt, from his bullying experiences that he hadn't quite been able to drop yet. But here was Blaine with emotions flickering across his face that Kurt couldn't quite catch and didn't dare to try.

"Kurt, it's Valentines Day and I'm a fool who thought getting a date with some guy who I hang out with once a week or so would make me happy, instead of trying my chances with my best friend who I had decided already I was 'friend zone'-d with and had no chance."

Kurt snorted. "You've clearly never hung out with New Directions, they're in and out of the 'friend zone' on a weekly basis. It's like a great big incestuous family."

As Blaine chuckled, Kurt suddenly realized what he had said. "Wait, you -"

Blaine nodded. "I put myself in the role of mentor, then quickly found myself wanting something very different to that. But I always told myself you weren't ready for that, and after awhile I managed to push those feelings away. But now you.."

"Yeah."

And then Blaine's head was moving closer, so slowly, as if to give Kurt time to back out. But Kurt wasn't going anywhere.

Their lips met and the rest of the world ceased to exist. In fact, nothing really existed until Blaine broke away and it all rushed back - him, Blaine, just _kissed..._

There was a moment where the two just stared at each other, then Blaine's face broke into a gorgeous smile. "I kind of can't believe this is real."

Kurt knew his face was mirroring Blaine's. "You can't believe it - I was about ten seconds from watching you go and tell some other guy that you wanted to _get him alone_."

Blaine rolled his eyes, smiling at his own stupidity. "Kurt, the only person I want right now is you."

And this time Kurt initiated the kiss and his mind stayed clear enough to actually enjoy the sensation of Blaine's lips against his, Blaine's breath rushing across his cheek and speeding up slightly...

"Oh!"

Kurt and Blaine groaned simultaneously as they pulled away, turning to see Wes. "What, Wes?" Blaine asked sharply.

"Well, we were just, you know, waiting in here for you to serenade Jeremiah. Like you'd all but ordered us to do."

Blaine at least had the grace to look sheepish. Kurt just laughed. "I'm going to say that plan's off now, would you agree Wes?"

Wes smirked. "I hope so for your sake, Kurt. I'll just go tell the guys we're not performing, but they'll probably want to go shopping anyway so feel free to continue." And in a move that Kurt had never thought possible of the Head Warbler, Wes winked before turning and sauntering back into The Gap.

Blaine shook his head. "I can't believe we forgot about them... actually, I can. I seem to forget everything when you're around."

"You're so cheesy." But Kurt couldn't hide his smile. "So, since we have the Council's permission to ... ah, _continue_, I think we should probably obey orders, don't you?"

Blaine's smile was positively devilish as he pulled him in for another kiss.

* * *

**Yes, let's all forget Jeremiah :)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape: **


	102. Furt

**I caved. Not only did I get Tumblr, but Angela somehow convinced me into getting Twitter too - the one I swore I would _never _get because I'd spend too much time reading Darren's tweets. But I have, and the reason I'm telling you guys this is because I'll probably use both of these devices to talk about upcoming stories, accept ideas for new stories... and just get to know you guys in general. So, the links are on my profile, go check them out. I go by _SarahFAWU_ on Twitter (SarahForAWorldUndeserving, my penname was too long) and Angela goes by _SquirrelzAttack,_ so go and find her too. And we have fascinating conversations. I promise. **

**Funny story about the Tumblr link, by the way. I was going to have foraworldundeserving as my Tumblr URL, but someone's already taken that and it's password protected so I can't see who. So instead I'm sarahforaworldundeserving. Bit of a bummer, but oh well. Oh, and if you add/follow/whatever me on either or both of those, let me know your FanFiction penname? **

_**green-eyed-demoness2010: I really like the idea of brotherly Furt, especially when they're really comfortable around each other. I have this constant idea of Kurt and Finn being brother cuddle buddies, since I suspect Finn is a huge cuddle-whore/teddy bear. So, here's my idea. What if Finn had drove all the way to Dalton for some much-needed Kurt cuddles because of his near constant relationship issues and because he really missed his little brother? Seeing Kurt being cuddly and cute with another guy might make Blaine jealous...perhaps jealous enough to kiss Kurt and spill his feelings? Add some crazy Wevid and we've got ourselves a confession!**_

**I first looked at this and went "whaaaat? No, that wouldn't work..." And then I couldn't get the idea out of my head. I'm gonna go with OOC Finn on this one because while Finn may be a lot more accepting, he's still Finn who had big issues with his homophobia that we never really saw get resolved. We saw his relationship with Kurt resolved and saw that he would stand up for Kurt, but we didn't see what happened to stop him from being homophobic. And then suddenly he's hugging Kurt when he comes back to McKinley. So I don't know. Still OOC Finn.**

**Oh, and no to the crazy Wevid. It's not exactly a crazy-appropriate moment. **

**I kind of don't know where this is set.**

* * *

Furt

Kurt flicked through his magazine, stretching his legs out on his bed. With no Warbler rehearsal, homework finished and Trent out with his girlfriend, Kurt had the room to himself to do whatever he wanted. For Kurt, that meant playing his Lady GaGa album - Trent had a particular aversion to her music - and reading the latest _Vogue. _Opportunities like these were rare, and Kurt was going to make the most of every uninterrupted second.

And then, of course, the interruption came. His music cut off abruptly as Finn's picture flashed up on the screen and he sighed, accepting the call and lifting the phone to his ear. "What's up, Finn?"

There was silence, then a sniff. "Finn, what's wrong?"

"Kurt... can I come over?"

Kurt frowned, sitting up. "Finn, I'm at Dalton. You want to drive the whole way out here -"

"Yeah. I - I need to." There was a sigh. "There's too much happening, I just need to talk about it."

"Of course you can." Kurt stood, grabbing his jacket and leaving the room. "How long do you think you'll be?"

There was a choked up laugh. "Well, I'm actually outside, so I'm kind of glad you said yes."

Kurt shook his head, heading for the stairs. "Okay, I'm coming down now."

The phone went dead and Kurt pocketed it, crossing the foyer and opening the doors. A couple of boys were still milling around the foyer, curfew already in place, but Finn was family so he was allowed in the building if there was an emergency. And judging by how upset Finn had sounded, there was definitely something going on. Finn's car was parked outside and as Kurt stepped out, Finn opened the door and got out. His eyes were bloodshot and Kurt could tell he had been crying for awhile, but he attempted to smile anyway. "Hey, dude."

Kurt just shook his head. "Come on, let's get you inside."

Leading Finn into the building, he ignored the curious looks from the other boys. Finn kept his head lowered, avoiding making eye contact with anybody. They moved into the choir room, the fire flickering away showing someone had only just left the room. Finn sank into a couch gratefully and Kurt sat next to him, keeping a small amount of distance between them. He and Finn were certainly alright now, but he knew it would take Finn a long time to get rid of his in build homophobia. He didn't hold it against his step-brother as long as Finn made an effort to be accepting.

"So, what's going on?"

Finn stared at his hands for a couple of sentences, then looked into the fire. "It's Quinn and Rachel. I don't know what I'm supposed to do, whether I'm meant to choose between them or not have anybody at all, and I can't sort my feelings out either. I mean Rachel's annoying as hell but she cares about me. And Quinn's scary, but she's..." he trailed off, gesturing with his hands.

"Comfortable?" Kurt supplied.

Finn nodded. "Yeah. I know how I'm meant to act around her, and Rachel changes every day. And Rachel's still pissed that I slept with Santana, and I'm still hurt that she made out with Puck to make me jealous."

Kurt blinked a couple of times. He hadn't known about either of those. "So who are you dating at the moment?"

"Neither." Finn tugged at his hair nervously and Kurt knew that was his sign he was getting emotional. "Rachel hurt me a lot but I still care about her, and Quinn's dropping hints about us being prom royalty and wanting me back. And I just don't _know_, Kurt."

Kurt watched in dismay as Finn's face crumpled. He had never seen Finn actually _crying _before, he was usually too proud to succumb to his emotions in a public setting.

"Hey, it's alright. You'll work through it, Finn. You always do." Kurt wasn't quite sure what to say, but something seemed to have penetrated through Finn's emotions. Because the next thing he knew, Finn - the boy who used to throw him in _dumpsters _because he was gay - was burying his head in Kurt's shoulder, arms clutching at him desperately. Kurt stared down at the boy, trying to work out what exactly to do, before hesitantly wrapping his arms around his step-brother. Finn's entire body was shaking and Kurt realized he probably hadn't had a chance to talk about what was going on for a long time, much less actually work through the emotions. Not for the first time, he wondered what the hell was going on in that Glee club that they could ignore someone who was clearly so upset. Finn wasn't great at concealing his emotions and Rachel was probably making it very clear to everybody that she was single and most likely blaming Finn for it.

Kurt was murmuring nonsensical comforting phrases, carefully running his hands over Finn's back. He didn't want to do anything to make Finn realize that he was essentially cuddling with a gay guy and close up again - Finn needed this release.

After awhile, Finn's crying eased to be replaced with deep breathing, and Kurt realized he had fallen asleep. Shuffling himself into a more comfortable position, he settled in for the time being. He'd wake Finn after awhile, but right now this was probably what his step-brother needed more than anything.

His phone buzzed and Finn shifted slightly before resuming his sleep. Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket gingerly and opened the text.

_Hi Kurt, just wondering if you know where Finn is? He said he was thinking about catching up with you this afternoon, but it is getting a bit late - Carole_

Kurt shook his head. _Of course he wouldn't think about telling anybody where he was._

_Hi Carole, he's here with me. He was a bit upset about all the girl drama so he might be sticking around for a little bit longer, I'll send him home when he's feeling better - Kurt_

A minute later, his phone began to ring, thankfully on silent.

"Hi, Carole," he answered, pitching his voice low as to not wake up Finn.

"Hi sweetie, what's wrong with Finn?"

Kurt looked down at the boy again, taking in his tear streaked face. "All the drama with Rachel and Quinn was getting to him, he said he needed to talk about it. He's actually sleeping right now, I think he needs it."

"Okay, as long as you're taking care of him, that's fine." He could almost hear Carole smiling fondly down the phone - he knew her biggest worry had always been that the two boys wouldn't get along well. "Tell him I love him if you get the chance."

"I will." Kurt said his goodbye to Carole and hung up, noticing he had gotten a text while he was on the phone.

_Hey, Kurt. Just wondering where you are :) - Blaine_

Kurt smiled as he did any time he got a text from Blaine, quickly tapping out a reply.

_Down in the choir room, Finn came over. If you're coming in, be quiet, okay? - Kurt_

He wasn't sure what Blaine would make of the text, only that his friend probably wouldn't be able to keep himself from coming down to see what was going on.

Sure enough, the sound of quiet footsteps was heard in the hallway, but there were a few sets too many and Kurt knew Wes and David were in tow. He sighed, shifting Finn slightly as his arm was starting to go numb. Finn wrapped his arms around him tighter, burying his head into his shoulder in his sleep just as the three boys walked in.

* * *

Blaine paused in the doorway, taking in the sight in front of him. He knew Kurt's step-brother was over but had expected the two to be talking about something, probably with a good amount of couch space between the two. He _certainly _hadn't expected to see Finn asleep, practically in Kurt's lap. But he had been asked to be quiet so it did make a bit more sense.

"Hey guys," Kurt murmured, glancing at them with a smile before looking back down at Finn.

Wes and David entered, sitting across from the two as Blaine followed more slowly. He couldn't help the jealousy slowly building up inside of him - Kurt had told him about the crush he used to have on Finn, and even though he knew Finn was not only straight but struggling with homophobia, he couldn't keep the feelings at bay.

_How much is Kurt enjoying having Finn there? Is this his way of trying to seduce him?_

But Blaine knew that was completely unfair. He sat down on the other side of Wes and the four boys looked at each other for a few seconds before Wes's gaze dropped and he gasped.

"Woah, what happened to him?"

Blaine followed Wes's line of sight and suddenly realized what was going on. Finn's face was tear-streaked and it was clear he had been crying for quite some time. He immediately felt guilty for his previous thoughts, thankful that he hadn't said anything in a fit of jealousy.

Kurt smiled ruefully. "He's got a lot going on right now, he needed to talk to someone and unfortunately the McKinley guys aren't great at talking about feelings... or being overly sympathetic for that matter." Blaine winced, knowing Kurt was referring to his experiences in his last few weeks at the school. "So he came to me and ... well, everything just sort of exploded."

As Kurt looked back down at Finn, Blaine frowned. He knew Kurt wasn't a great physical touch person, yet here he was letting Finn practically _cuddle _him without blinking? In fact, he almost looked comfortable with the way they were positioned, and Blaine felt the jealousy flare up again.

"So he's alright?" David leant forward slightly, looking concerned.

Kurt shrugged. "I think he will be. He's a strong guy, he just doesn't know how to work through his emotions. I'm just glad I could give him the time out he needed." As Kurt spoke, Blaine noticed Wes watching him thoughtfully before leaning over and muttering something to David who nodded.

"Well, we'd better go. We need to discuss the setlists with Thad. See you guys later, hope everything goes alright, Kurt."

The two were out the door before Blaine could comprehend what was going on. He quickly realized that Wes must have seen the look on his face that he had desperately been trying to conceal.

"What was that about?" Apparently Kurt had noticed their suspicious exit too and glanced at Blaine who wasn't quite sure what to say.

Thankfully he was saved from trying to find an explanation by Finn muttering something into Kurt's shoulder before lifting his head, blinking blearily at him. "What are you doing in my bedroom?"

Kurt chuckled. "Look around, Finn."

Finn glanced around the room, taking in the couches and then focusing on Blaine. "Oh. Right." He attempted to covertly move away from Kurt by stretching and leaning back. Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine who smirked slightly.

"Blaine, um, hi. Sorry, I should leave you and Kurt alone."

Finn moved to stand but Kurt spoke up. "Finn, we're not dating." The casual way Kurt put the sentence clenched at Blaine's heart - _he really doesn't want to date me._

Finn frowned. "Why not? I mean, you were telling me last time about how much you like him and -"

"FINN!"

Kurt buried his head in his hands but Blaine was staring at Finn, his mouth slightly agape. _Kurt likes me? Really? _He wanted to interrogate Finn, knowing the older guy would probably tell him but knew it was a conversation for him and Kurt to have.

At least Finn had the decency to look embarrassed. "Sorry, dude. You said you were going to tell him."

"Well I haven't yet!" Kurt still refused to look up, sighing before he continued. "Finn, I think it's late. You'd better head home."

Finn stood without complaint, muttering another apology and shooting a quick look at Blaine as he left the room. Blaine stayed where he was, sitting across from Kurt and waiting. The silence stretched on until finally Kurt spoke. "Go ahead. Shoot me down. Just make it quick, please, so we can get on with our lives."

Blaine continued to wait, watching his friend with a soft smile on his face. Finally, Kurt lifted his hands from his face and looked up, blinking in confusion. "You didn't shoot me down."

"No," Blaine agreed, his smile growing wider. Then, because there simply weren't words, he leant in and captured Kurt's lips.

Kurt made a muffled exclamation of surprise before melting into the kiss, pressing back against Blaine's lips as his hands rose to his face. Blaine shivered at the touch before mirroring the action, running his fingers lightly across Kurt's face and moving his head slightly to continue the kiss. Blaine broke away after a few moments, unable to stop himself from smiling. Kurt simply smiled in response, pressing their foreheads together with their hands still cupping each other's faces. "Mm, I should've thank Finn."

"For spilling the beans?"

Kurt shook his head slightly, his hair tickling against Blaine's forehead. "For making you jealous."

Blaine reared back in surprise, breaking the contact. "I - I wasn't jealous..." He sighed. "Okay, fine. I guess it's strange seeing that, considering you're not normally a touchy feely person and Finn's .. well, Finn."

Kurt laughed. "He'll be calling me tomorrow trying to ask me not to tell anybody about that without sounding homophobic. I think I'll make him sweat a bit for his outburst first."

"Speaking of his outburst.." Blaine raised his eyebrows, moving across to sit next to Kurt who shook his head.

"I can see how this relationship is going to go already."

But he wasn't complaining when Blaine pressed their lips together again.

* * *

**I've mimicked (in the nicest way possible of course!) most of their other gorgeous moments, I had to do the 'please don't judge me... okay, you didn't judge me' somewhere. I figured this worked well :)**

**So that means I've done: 'you move me,' 'oh, there you are, I've been looking for you,' 'please don't laugh.. okay, you didn't laugh.' I still need to do 'I think it's adorable, I think **_**you're **_**adorable,' I just need to find the perfect place for it because that's my absolute favourite cute line.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_Hummel Revnge: A Step Plan as written by Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson_**

**_1. Steal the Gavel. Yes, Mr. Bang-Bang, becasue that's Wes's favorite. Hide it well. Or put in the back of Mercedes car as she leaves from visiting you._**

**_2. Replace his homework with sonnets of his love directed towards one of the teachers. Preferably a male teacher._**

**_3. Steal the sheet music for the next number, and replace it with music for Brittany Spears. Or something like that._**

**_4. Text his girlfriend (who happens to adore you as a shopping buddy, and your boyfriend because he helps with the bags) explaining exactly what happened. Trust us. Annie won't talk to him for weeks._**

**_5. Call in Puck with that favor. YES, that one. Make him steal all of Wes's clothes except for underwwear while Wes sleeps._**

**_6. Laugh at Wes when he asks to borrow a uniform from you the next day._**


	103. Serenading

**Thank you to everybody who has added me on Twitter and Tumblr. Just to let you know, if you add me on Tumblr you _might _(read: definitely will) get a few stories there before you get them here... or hints of stories... or spoilers... just saying. Links are on my profile for anybody who hasn't checked them out yet. It doesn't take long to make an account for either, and you get to spy on your favourite celebrities on Twitter and look at millions of Glee related photos, drawings, quotes and posts on Tumblr. The benefits are certainly up there =D oh, and my Ask box on Tumblr is open! Hit me up!**

**Speaking of accounts, I'm considering shutting down anonymous reviews. There's a few reasons for my logic behind this. First, I haven't gotten any flames yet, but any 'trouble' I have gotten has come from anonymous reviewers with only one exception. If someone has an issue with me or my stories and feels the need to tell me about it, I want to be able to reply. Second, sometimes people send me really lovely reviews, or reviews with questions, and I can't respond to these if I don't have an account to reply to. Third, it's not hard to make an account at all, and there's a lot of benefits to that too. You can favourite stories so you can come back to them, build up a community, it might even inspire you to start writing yourself! I haven't made a complete decision yet, so review and let me know what you think, alright?**

**On that note, _Azrael Blood_, who posted anonymously, I would love it if you made an account and PM'd me. There's something I really want to ask you.**

_**Me(Anon): Shut up, Blaine, I'm seranading you.**_

* * *

Serenading

Kurt sat on his seat, nervously twisting his hands together. Beside him, Nick's hand was on his shoulder. "It'll be great, Kurt. You've practiced this heaps, after all."

"I know." Kurt took a deep breath, just as Nick's phone buzzed. He checked it and gave Kurt a quick nod.

"Okay." The two jumped to their feet, moving to the middle of the room and waiting. Kurt stood dead centre with Nick behind him to the left. A few seconds passed in nervous anticipation, then the sound of footsteps.

"I don't see why you can't just tell me -"

Jeff appeared at the door, quickly moving across to stand on the other side of Kurt in line with Nick. Blaine followed him, still talking " - what's going on instead of just ... oh. Hey Kurt!"

Kurt smiled at his overexcitable boyfriend but held up a hand as Blaine moved in for a hug. "Nope." He pointed to the couch facing them. "Sit."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, looking unperturbed. "Why?"

"Just sit, would you?" Kurt felt his temper rising and moved to quash it quickly. Luckily Blaine just shrugged and complied, still smiling. Kurt turned to Jeff who nodded. He and Nick began the abridged harmony and Kurt saw Blaine's eyes light up.

"Oh, I love this song!"

Kurt smiled before opening his mouth and beginning to sing.

"_No New Year's Day to celebrate_

_No chocolate covered candy hearts to give away_

_No first of spring_

_No song to sing_

_In fact here's just another ordinary day,"_

Just as he was getting into the song, Blaine opened his mouth again. "Kurt, you didn't have to do this."

Kurt frowned. "I know that," he said simply in the few seconds he had before singing the second verse.

"_No April rain_

_No flowers bloom_

_No wedding Saturday within the month of June_

_But what it is, is something true_

_Made up of these three words that I must say to you"_

"Kurt, your voice is amazing, you know that?"

_Seriously, why won't he shut up? _"Thank you, Blaine. Maybe you can just listen to the song now?"

Blaine nodded, settling back a little as Kurt rolled his eyes. Jeff and Nick continued their harmony but Kurt knew they were trying not to laugh as well.

"_I just called to say I love you_

_I just called to say how much I care_

_I just called to say I love you_

_And I mean it from the bottom of my heart"_

Kurt was staring at Blaine who was smiling back happily. There was silence as Kurt finished the chorus and he allowed himself to relax a little, since Blaine was finally keeping quiet and just letting -

"You know, I always imagined being the one to sing this to you. Not that I don't like you singing it to me, it's really nice. I just saw it the other way. Anyway, continue." Blaine waved a hand. "Don't mind me."

There was a slight interruption behind him as Jeff tried to keep his laughter silent. Kurt shook his head, not sure quite what had gotten into Blaine.

But it continued. Kurt would sing a verse and Blaine would feel obliged to make some kind of strange comment. Whether it actually applied to the song or not didn't seem to matter to him.

"_I just called to say I love you_

_I just called to say how much I care_

_I just called to say I love you_

_And I mean it from the bottom of my heart"_

"Oh, Kurt, did you finish your history essay by the way? I know it's a weird time to mention it -"

Kurt snapped. Gesturing to the boys to stop, Kurt stormed across the small gap and leant down, his face a few inches from Blaine's. "Seriously, Blaine? I don't know what's going on but shut up, I'm serenading you!" Blaine opened his mouth again as if to reply and Kurt shook his head. There was only one way he knew he could shut Blaine up and he did it without thinking.

Their lips met.

_Well, at least he's silent now, _Kurt thought to himself, before realizing what was going on. He was kissing Blaine.

_Oh_.

But Kurt couldn't bring himself to pull away any time soon, because the feeling of Blaine's lips on his - slightly rough and chapped and so very _Blaine_ - was too damn good to stop feeling. The sound of footsteps indicated Jeff and Nick's departure but Kurt really couldn't care less. In fact, that was probably best because it allowed Kurt to sit in Blaine's lap without feeling awkward about it. And Blaine certainly wasn't arguing, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and kissing him like he was the only person he'd ever wanted to kiss.

Which, Kurt suddenly realized, he was. Blaine's only other kiss had been with Rachel Berry - once drunk, and once when he decided he was completely gay. Kurt belatedly realized that he probably should've asked if Blaine was ready for this, but the way Blaine was responding was certainly an indication that it was fine with him.

And then Kurt realized just why he had started kissing Blaine and pulled away, pushing Blaine back into the couch as he tried to lean in for another kiss. "Now," he said, not quite able to hide his smile, "you are going to _shut up_ while I finish my song - lack of backup be damned - and if you're good, we can do more of that later."

And as Kurt restarted and finished the song, Blaine didn't say another word.

* * *

**Oh dear...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_This is an adorable story to tell all the Klaine children years from now... I can just imagine it... "Daddy, how'd you and Dad get together?"_**

**_"Well, remember Uncle Finn?"_**

**_"Duh. He tried sending me ice cream for my birthday. It ruined the new Marc Jacobs shirt you bought me!"_**

**_"...remind me later to chew him out. Okay, well, Uncle Finn decided to come over and vent about Rachel and Quinn."_**

**_"Like, Rachel Finn's wife? And Quinn, Artie's wife?" (don't judge me! I think they're a cute, unusual couple.)_**

**_"Yeah. Well, Blaine decided to be jealous of Finn, because at one point I had a crush on Finn."_**

**_"That must be awkward."_**

**_"Yeah... so Finn accidentally told Blaine tht I liked him, and Blaine kissed me."_**

**_"I expected something more romantic, considering your so big on romance."_**

**_"Yeah... the next day he felt so guilty about my first real kiss being like that, he showered me with gifts."_**

**_"So... to get that Versace shirt I want, I should make him feel guilty?"_**

**_"Yup."_**


	104. Freaked

**I haven't made a decision about blocking anonymous reviews yet. I've gotten a couple of people saying they can't make accounts, my question is why? And if you are an anonymous reviewer and want to stay that way, tell me why you want to, okay? I just like to know who is responding to me.**

_**classicrocker0601: I would love it if Blaine freaked out because he thought something happened to Kurt, and when he realizes Kurt's fine, he kisses him out of pure relief or to make sure he's actually there. Vague-ish, I know, but it's just an idea. I just love it when Blaine gets protective :)**_

**Me too, sister, me too ;)**

* * *

Freaked

"_Made a wrong turn, once or twice,"_

Blaine fumbled in his pocket, pulling out his phone. He frowned when he saw the name on his caller ID but answered. "Hey, Mercedes, what's up?"

"Hi, Blaine. Is Kurt back at Dalton yet?"

Blaine's frown deepened. "Last time I saw him was yesterday when he headed out to spend the night at your place. When did he leave?"

Mercedes voice sounded panicked. "Two hours ago now. He said he'd call me when he got back so we could discuss some things that we couldn't say in mixed company. I called and sent him texts but he hasn't replied and he said he was going straight back to Dalton."

"I haven't seen him but he could be back. I'll run up and check his room."

Blaine headed off at a run, darting up the stairs and along the student wing to Kurt's room. Mercedes's house was only half an hour at the most from Dalton, Kurt should have been back over an hour ago. Knocking on the door, he heard a voice inside and felt relief for a second before he realized it wasn't Kurt.

David opened the door and frowned. "Blaine, what's up?"

"Is Kurt back yet?" Blaine peered over David's shoulder, trying to catch a glimpse of his friend.

"No, not yet. Why, what's happened?"

Blaine lifted the phone to his ear again. "Mercedes? He's not back. Have you called Finn, he might have stopped in at home or something -"

"I checked. Finn hasn't seen him either."

"Okay." Blaine took a deep breath, trying not to panic. "Okay, I'm going to hop in my car and take the route he normally takes. I want you to sit tight and keep calling his phone - if you get through, call me straight away and tell me what's happening."

Mercedes sighed, her voice sounding shaky. "Alright."

"Stay calm," Blaine told her before hanging up and turning back to David. "I couldn't ask Mercedes to do it, but I need you to call the police and check if there's been any accidents on the road between Lima and Westerville. Call me the second you find out."

David nodded and Blaine left, breaking into a run the second he was out of sight. He was out of breath by the time he jumped in his car, but couldn't waste any time. He floored it out of the parking lot, slowing down a little as he realized it would only make things worse if he managed to crash while trying to find Kurt.

His phone rang and Blaine snapped it into his Bluetooth before answering. "What's happening?"

"No crashes reported," David replied, and Blaine relaxed a little.

"Okay, thanks David. I'll let you know what's happening."

Blaine hung up and began to scan the roads, keeping an eye out for Kurt's car. Kurt always chose to take the back road because he didn't have to worry about traffic, which only made things worse. Blaine's mind was plagued with images of Kurt crashing, Kurt's body lying on the side of the road, Kurt -

_No, stop it! _he yelled at himself furiously. But tears were beginning to run down his cheeks and his heart was beating way too fast. He just couldn't comprehend the idea of something having happened to Kurt, and it could have been _hours _ago and nobody knew where he was and -

And there was the car.

At first he thought he was imagining things, but there he was. Blaine pulled over, fumbling with his seatbelt furiously before jumping out of his car and running across the road.

"Kurt!"

Kurt stood up from where he was sitting on the ground. "Blaine, thank goodness! I was starting to wonder whether anybody - Blaine? What's wrong?"

The tears were still streaming down his face as he grabbed Kurt, pulling him into a hug. "Don't _ever _scare me like that again," he murmured roughly, his voice shaky.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it, my phone died and then the car died and I didn't know what to do but I didn't think you'd be this upset, Blaine, I'm so sorry -"

Kurt's ramblings were broken off as Blaine pulled away, cupping his face in both of his hands. "You're safe," he murmured, tracing his thumbs across Kurt's cheekbones.

"I'm safe," Kurt agreed, and Blaine saw him swallow, shivering slightly under his touch.

Blaine just stared at him for a few seconds longer, before leaning in and kissing him. Because now that he knew what life could be like without Kurt, he didn't want to waste another day without Kurt, without _all_ of Kurt. Kurt seemed to realize the same thing as he was kissing back just as fiercely, just as _needy_ as Blaine was. Their arms wrapped around one another, holding each other tightly and Blaine knew he never wanted to let Kurt go.

He pulled away after a few seconds, resting his forehead against Kurt's. Kurt lifted a hand and wiped the tears off his cheeks. "I'd apologize for scaring you like that, but if it made that happen then I'm kind of glad I broke down."

Blaine chuckled before reluctantly unwrapping his arms from Kurt. "I think we're going to have a talk about this when we get to Dalton - a good talk of course, but for now there's a lot of worried people waiting on me to call them back."

Kurt winced. "Mercedes is going to be furious. And she's probably called Dad and he'll be worried out of his _mind_."

"It's okay. I'll call everybody off my phone and get your Dad to come and pick up your car." Kurt shot him a grateful look and Blaine pulled out his phone and pulled up Mercedes's number, hitting _Call._

Mercedes answered immediately. "Blaine? Is he alright?"

Blaine sighed and settled himself in for the first of many long phone calls. As he attempted to reassure a frantic Mercedes, Kurt's hand slipped into his and he smiled, squeezing it back. _At least one good thing has come of today... one very good thing indeed._

* * *

**Oh, Blaine...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_What if Blaine was serendaing Kurt?_**

**_"Kurt."_**

**_*looks up from car* "Oh, hi Blaine. When did you get-"_**

**_*Warblers walk in, some holding violins*_**

**_"I've never been in love before_**

**_Now all at once it's you_**

**_It's you forever more."_**

**_*walks in* "WHAT THE (censor) ARE YOU DOING SINGING TO MY SON?"_**

**_"Um... hi Mr. Hummel..."_**


	105. Neglect

**I didn't realize there was an age limit on accounts. So, anonymous reviewers, I'm talking to you again. How many of you are under thirteen and that's why you can't get an account? And also how many of you are in countries where you can't make accounts to review? I need responses to these two because if I get enough people who still want to review but can't for one of these two valid reasons, I'll keep anons open, okay?**

**In other news, apparently I am the 'crazy authors note lady.' I can't bring myself to be offended because I know I write some of the strangest, rambly-ist and personal authors notes around and I'm a bit too proud of that. I also find I can tell when someone doesn't read an authors note by their review ;) **

**On that note, I reiterate that prompts are closed.**

_**Anonymous: during Night of Neglect (minus the hecklers, because they were bothersome) when Blaine and Kurt are sitting next to each other in the audience. It's dark, romantic, they're sitting so close and keep stealing glances at each other and finally *BAM* a perfect first kliss!**_

**TGTDOSBDK. **

**Tell you what, if we're getting rid of the hecklers, then we're including the people in the audience that SHOULD have been there: the kids parents. I mean, seriously? Why would you not come to support your kids? I don't know about all of their families, but at the very least Burt, Carole and Rachel's Dad's would be there. **

**Oh, and with the hecklers gone, everybody else actually gets to perform, yes?**

* * *

Neglect

As Kurt and Blaine slipped into the auditorium, Blaine was still breathing heavily from their encounter with Karofsky. He focused on Kurt's hand in his as he took in the almost empty auditorium. "Looks like Sunshine bailed on them," Kurt murmured, frowning sympathetically. "They're going to need a new plan to get to Nationals now."

The parents of the New Directions teenagers were up the front, and Blaine moved to head in that direction but Kurt tugged on his hand. "No, let's sit up here." Kurt led him up to the back, sitting in the front row of the back section. Blaine looked at him curiously, but shrugged. They settled into their seats as the performance started, with Tina opening the show. Blaine tried to focus on her performance, but found himself drifting off into thought. It wasn't that Tina wasn't a good singer, more that he had a lot on his mind nowadays.

Blaine wasn't stupid - in fact, he prided himself on being rather intelligent. He had seen the look on Kurt's face when he saw his New Directions friends, and knew that the second it was safe, his boyfriend would be heading back. And judging by how many phone calls Kurt got from the New Directions guys, they would be doing anything in their power to make the school a safe place for Kurt to return to. Blaine wanted Kurt to be happy, but now that he was his boyfriend, he would really miss Kurt if he left.

The fact that Kurt had even agreed to be his boyfriend was still something that Blaine woke up every morning having to verify. After all the stupid moves Blaine had made - Rachel and Jeremiah being two particularly sore points - having Kurt still waiting there for him was something Blaine was incredibly grateful for. And he didn't tell Kurt enough.

As the applause rang through the auditorium, Blaine leant over and whispered in Kurt's ear, "You know, I'm incredibly lucky to have you and I should tell you that more often."

He didn't look to see how Kurt reacted, knowing full well that his boyfriend was blushing. What he didn't expect was a voice in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine. "I think you should."

Kurt's thumb began tracing circles on the back of his hand and Blaine shivered again. Kurt chuckled slightly and then brought something to Blaine's attention that he wished he'd discovered earlier - the armrests went up in the McKinley Auditorium.

Blaine detached their hands and slipped an arm around Kurt's waist, feeling Kurt lean into his shoulder as Mike took to the stage. For awhile, he was content to simply watch Mike dance - because, after all, Mike was a _brilliant _dancer - but soon enough his thoughts returned to Kurt. He and Kurt had only been dating for just under two weeks, and so far Blaine had shied away from doing anything he thought would make Kurt uncomfortable. And knowing Kurt's past history with that idiot Karofsky, he hadn't even brought up the idea of them kissing. As much as he wanted to, he knew Karofsky had taken something special from Kurt and didn't want to rush Kurt into anything that might hurt him again -

"Blaine? You okay?" Kurt was looking up at him, frowning. Blaine realized his anger was rearing up again and pulled it back in, smiling down at his boyfriend.

"I'm alright. Just got lost in thought."

Kurt hummed, seeming to understand where Blaine's mind had gone. "Don't think about him, he doesn't mean anything."

"I know." Before Blaine could think it through - because after all he had _just _finished thinking about not rushing Kurt - he leant over and kissed Kurt on the forehead. As Kurt blinked up at him in surprise, he added, "You're the only one worth thinking about."

In the dim light, he could see Kurt's smile of pure delight and Blaine couldn't help but smile back. He had confessed to Kurt that he didn't know the first thing about romance, and Kurt told him that he was romantic when he wasn't trying. It certainly seemed to be the case, because Blaine _hadn't _prepared that line beforehand. _It's the same principle as Kurt and sexy. _The thought popped into his head before Blaine could stop it and he resisted the urge to look at Kurt, even though it wasn't like Kurt could read minds and know that Blaine had just thought about him being _sexy_.

Mike's performance finished and Blaine jumped a bit as the applause rang out. Kurt looked up at him, looking slightly amused. "Lost in thought there?"

"Just a bit." And, okay, the way Kurt was looking at him right now should be _illegal. _Obviously Kurt wasn't aware of the way he was peering up through his eyelashes, giving Blaine this coy little smile, his lips so _kissable _and right there...

And then Kurt's attention was gone. "Oh, Puck's got a solo!"

Blaine sighed slightly before turning his attention back to the front of the auditorium where, sure enough, the mohawked boy was setting up. He raised an eyebrow - Blaine had never heard Puck sing before, but had heard plenty of stories from Kurt.

"Is this going to be safe?" he leant over, whispering in Kurt's ear.

Kurt chuckled - a sound that really _shouldn't _do the things it did to Blaine - and nodded. "Puck wouldn't do anything stupid in front of his parents."

"This song is dedicated to Lauren," Puck said, swinging his guitar around from his back and gesturing to the band. Kurt clapped his hands together excitedly.

"That's so cute!"

Blaine turned to look at him, smiling softly. "_You're _cute," he murmured and Kurt ducked his head to hide a blush. Blaine honestly wasn't sure how much longer he could control himself - Kurt was making it way too hard for him to stay dapper and charming and not just _attack _his lips.

Puck began to strum, the band joining in.

"_Good morning. I love you._

_Now that you're here where you belong, _

_I want to be the man you need._

_Just tell me you love me,"_

Puck continued to sing but Blaine stopped paying attention, his brain latching onto what he felt were the only important words from the song. _I love you... tell me you love me._

_I'm in love with Kurt._

It wasn't a shock, more the sense of finally being able to put words to it. And now that Blaine knew for a certainty that he loved Kurt... well, he had to tell him. Immediately.

"Hey," he whispered, nudging his boyfriend lightly until Kurt turned to him. "This may be too soon, and the wrong setting and all that crap, but I just wanted to tell you that I love you."

Kurt's jaw dropped. Blaine continued to stare at him, smiling slightly as Kurt struggled for words. He knew his boyfriend was simply shocked, and waited patiently for Kurt to respond.

_But what if he doesn't feel the same way?_

Blaine's smile dropped, and he tore his eyes away from Kurt, focusing instead on Puck who was still singing. _Well done, Anderson. You screwed up already. _

"_I need you in my way._

_I have no right to love so true_

_But let me be the one_

_The one who lives inside of you."_

"Blaine. Hey, look at me, please?"

Blaine turned his head reluctantly to see Kurt staring at him, a smile on his face that Blaine immediately recognized from when he had actually asked Kurt out. "I love you too, okay?"

"Okay," Blaine murmured back. He knew he sounded like an idiot, he knew the smile on his face was ridiculously large and he probably looked like ... well, an idiot. But he couldn't bring himself to care because Kurt _loved _him.

"And on that note, if you'd actually asked me earlier instead of staring and thinking you were subtle, I would have told you that yes, you can kiss me."

"_Just let me be the one_

_You carry deep inside of you."_

And as Puck finished his song to the applause of the audience, Blaine leant over and gently kissed Kurt. He pulled back after a few seconds, not wanting to rush Kurt, but Kurt was having none of that. He snaked his arms around Blaine's neck, pulling him back in and kissing him in a way that Blaine really couldn't bring himself to argue with.

Light slowly invaded and Blaine opened his eyes, breaking the kiss to find it was intermission. Kurt pouted, glaring up at the lights as if it were their fault, and Blaine couldn't help but laugh. "Hey, there's still another half an hour to go. I think we've got _plenty _of time left to continue."

* * *

**I initially had it as Quinn having the solo, but I changed it to Puck because I am in love with that song at the moment. But when I changed it, I had '"Oh, Puck's got a solo!" ... where, sure enough, the pretty blonde was setting up...' It amused me.**

**Puck's solo is **_**Deep Inside Of You - Neil Diamond. **_**I had trouble trying to find the perfect Puck song so I ended up looking for songs he'd already done and going with the same artist.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape: **

**_"Kurt! Are you okay?"_**

**_"Mmm, just a bit cold." *fake shiver*_**

**_"What's cold?" *franticness*_**

**_"Mmm, my lips. Care to warm them up for me?"_**

**_*klissing*_**

**_A good while later..._**

**_"KURT, ARE YOU- oh. When the heck did you guys hookup. You didn't give me deets, white boy!"_**

**_"Um... right now?"_**

**_"You mean I worried my *censor* off while you were MAKING OUT with that white boy?" *glaring*_**

**_"Um... yes..."_**

**_Fear Mercede's wrsath. Fear it!_**


	106. French

**LISTEN UP!**

**Or ... read up? Anyway! Here's the deal: I wrote one of my prompts last night and it ended up being around 6,000 words (I know this one is too but shh). And I sent it off to Angela and she told me I should post it as a oneshot because it has more of a oneshot feel about it. I fully agree. So, this is what I'm going to do. PROMPTS ARE OPEN FOR 24 HOURS. If you wanted me to write something but missed the cutoff, here's your chance. I can only take ONE though to replace the one that's turning into a oneshot. So send me your best stuff and I'll let you know tomorrow night which one I'm doing, okay? :) you can also send prompts via Twitter (SarahFAWU) or into my Tumblr ask box (sarahforaworldundeserving). Links on profile as usual =D and good luck!**

_**Full-Empty-Spirit: AU klaine, where Blaine goes to Mcinley[sic], but he's a bit dumb, so a teacher asks Kurt to tutor him after school as extra credit or something, and feelings start to blossom...**_

**This is one of only two or three AU's I'll do where they don't know each other beforehand. I mean, I'd do more but they tend to take a long time to write and a lot of words, so I prefer to keep them as oneshots. All French translations are Angela's work and I love her for it :)**

**On a quick note, when I was writing this and sending it to Angela, she had an idea that I didn't have room to put in, so she then decided to write her own oneshot of it. By an amazing coincidence, she finished that last night (around 5am her time) and now these two are going up on the same day. So once you're done here, head on over to her page (SquirrelzAttack) and read her story called _Faire La Bise_. =D**

**And it's an AU, okay? So my timelines are very different, and I hardly remember Season One anyway, so I'm not going to try and follow canon. And Kurt's out and proud because I like writing confident Kurt.**

**I'm not covering every day that they study, obviously. Too much, and this is already so long. Looooooooooooooooong.**

* * *

French

"Kurt, could you stay after class, please?"

The jocks in the corner sniggered and Kurt rolled his eyes, gathering his binders together slowly as the rest of the class left. Once the room was empty, he stood and made his way over to his teachers desk.

"You wanted to see me?"

Madame Girard raised her head. "Yes, Kurt. You are aware that you hold the highest grade for this subject, correct?"

Kurt resisted the urge to preen. "I am, yes."

"Well we have a new transfer student in my other class from Westerville High who has never taken French before. Would you be available a few afternoons a week to tutor him? I can give you extra credit if that helps, not that you need it."

The flattery was working. "Well, I have Glee on Tuesday and Friday afternoons, so as long as he can make the other three, that works fine for me. Would we have use of the classroom?"

Madame Girard nodded. "And all the resources. That's splendid, Kurt, I'll let Blaine know. Could you come here after your last class tomorrow so you can meet him and work out a schedule?"

"That's fine with me." Kurt shouldered his bag, farewelling his teacher in French before leaving the classroom, engrossed in his thoughts. _Why would a sophomore choose to take French with no prior knowledge? _He hadn't met this Blaine kid before, but McKinley was a large school and Kurt didn't pretend to know everybody by name. _Hopefully he turns out to be nice. This school needs a lot more nice guys._

The second he turned the corner, a slushy was thrown in his face and he sighed. _We certainly do, _he thought to himself as he headed to the nearest bathroom to clean up.

* * *

Kurt shoved his books in his locker hastily before nearly running down the corridor to the French rooms. He had stayed back talking to Mercedes after Geography before remembering he was meant to be meeting the new kid to schedule their tutoring, and he was now fifteen minutes late. Bursting through the door, he immediately panted out an apology. "So sorry, got caught up."

"That's okay, Kurt. Blaine and I were just discussing how much French he knows."

Kurt straightened up and, for the first time, saw Blaine. The boy was sitting at a desk in the front row, looking down at his binder with his fingers twisted together. Kurt took in his appearance - curly hair which was a bit on the long side, dark wash jeans and a simple green shirt - and smiled a little. _Overall, pretty good looking._

Then Blaine looked up and Kurt felt his breath catch in his throat. _Scratch that, incredibly good looking._

"Well, I'll leave you boys to it. Much appreciated, Kurt, and do let me know if you two can't work out a schedule so I can find someone else to do it."

"I'm sure that won't be a problem," Kurt said, smiling politely at his teacher as she left. _Because I'll do whatever I need to spend time with this guy._

"Hi there," Kurt said, moving across to perch on the edge of the teacher's desk in front of Blaine. "I'm Kurt."

The boy held out a hand and Kurt grasped it, surprised by his manners. "Blaine."

He couldn't _quite _stop the smile that curved across his face as the boy spoke and Blaine smiled in response, looking slightly more reassured. "So, Westerville, right? They didn't teach French?"

"No, they didn't." Blaine shrugged. "But I'm fluent in Italian."

Kurt paused, raising an eyebrow. "I - wow." Blaine ducked his head, smiling slightly. "Well, that'll help, there's a lot of relation between French and Italian. I'm not sure whether Madame Girard told you, but I'm fluent in French, so you've come to the right place. I can offer you Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, do you have any sports or other activities that will interfere?"

Blaine shook his head. "No, I haven't really joined anything yet. I've only been here a week."

"Oh, okay." _So he has potential to become a jock then_, Kurt thought to himself. _But at least he's nice enough, for now. _"So, anything you're planning to join? What are you good at?"

He wasn't sure what he said to cause it, but Blaine suddenly shut off. It wouldn't be noticeable to anybody but Kurt, being as well practiced as he was, but it was definitely there. "Um, nothing in particular."

Kurt let it go. He certainly wasn't going to pry into this boy's life, especially since it seemed like Blaine was liable to shut off further or run at any sudden movements. "Well, there's plenty of opportunities here. You might find something you enjoy." Blaine smiled slightly and Kurt decided it was time to let the boy go. "Since I can't do tomorrow, it looks like we're meeting on Monday. So I'll meet you here after last period?"

"Sure." Blaine stood, grabbing his bag and Kurt took a moment to admire him. He was well built but not overly muscular, and at least had some idea of what to wear - something that the boys of McKinley were seriously lacking in.

Blaine stopped as he was about to leave. "And, um, thanks. For doing this."

"Not a problem. See you on Monday."

As Blaine left, Kurt could see the hint of a smile on his face. He had no idea what to make of the boy, only knowing that there was definitely a lot more to Blaine than met the eye.

* * *

Now that Kurt was aware of Blaine's presence, he was suddenly noticing the boy around the halls. They didn't share any classes, but he still managed to spot Blaine twice on Friday and three times on Monday before their lesson, and every sighting of the boy concerned Kurt. All five times, Blaine was walking alone with his bag clutched to his side, his head down as if in an attempt to blend in. He knew Blaine was only new to the school and probably hadn't made any real friends yet, but to see him acting this way wasn't something Kurt liked, and he wanted to work out what was going on. It looked like he was the only person who had actually spoken to the boy, and he wanted to learn more about him.

He started off slow, during their first tutoring lesson. As Blaine was working his way through some of the written exercises Kurt had set - a test of sorts to see where his comprehension was at - he tentatively brought up the subject of Blaine's old school. "So, Westerville High. Do you live out that way?"

Blaine nodded, his pen pausing momentarily before he continued translating. "On the outskirts, yeah. It's only about an hour from my place to here."

Kurt hadn't gleaned any information from the answer, and it looked like Blaine was still comfortable so he pressed a little further. "Not many people transfer mid-term unless their parents move for work or something. Did you just need a change of scenery or something?"

The pen stopped for a few seconds. "I - yeah, something like that."

"Okay, that's cool." Kurt watched Blaine out of the corner of his eye as he flicked through his Math textbook. A moment later, Blaine began writing again and Kurt breathed a quiet sigh of relief. The last thing he wanted was to scare Blaine off now, especially since he had almost worked out what was going on with the boy. Based on his nervousness and what appeared to be self-isolation, Kurt could tell that something had happened at the boys previous school that caused him to transfer; something that caused him to shut himself off from other people.

And Kurt had been bullied enough times to know that was a definite possibility. _But what would he get bullied for?_

"I'm done."

Kurt jerked himself out of his thoughts and stood up, leaning over Blaine's shoulder slightly to read his answers. "Okay, mostly good. This should be 'from', not 'to' but otherwise it's all right."

As Blaine made the correction on his page, Kurt glanced at the clock, surprised to find that an hour had already passed. "If you're driving out to Westerville tonight, we should probably finish up here. I'll get you to try and do today's homework and then we can look over it on Wednesday and do some spoken stuff as well. Does that sound alright?"

"Yeah, that's great." Blaine pulled his things together, standing. "Thanks, Kurt."

Kurt smiled. "You're welcome. See you on Wednesday."

* * *

Being gay himself, Kurt felt his gaydar worked pretty well. Sure, there had been the whole Finn thing, but he had always known Finn was straight, he just crushed on him anyway. Kurt knew of one other boy in the year below who was still in the closet and couldn't quite bring himself to scrutinize the jocks, wondering if there wasn't a reason behind the homophobia for at least one of them.

So yes. Kurt Hummel had very good gaydar. And when it came to Blaine, his gaydar was going off.

There was always the chance that it was a lot of wishful thinking on Kurt's part, but he didn't think so. He had spent a bit of time watching Blaine in the small amount of time he had known the boy, and even when Santana and Brittany had walked past suggestively, he hadn't glanced their way unlike every single other boy in the hall.

Then there were the small things, like the way he dressed - skinny jeans today, and a v-neck t-shirt which Kurt _highly _approved of - and his writing. Which Kurt was currently watching as it filled the page with French.

"Hold on. Past tense there."

Blaine nodded in thanks and changed the word, crossing it out neatly. Every other guy Kurt had seen writing would scribble through things and scrawl in an incomprehensible hand, but Blaine's writing was small and neat.

As Blaine continued to write, Kurt let his thoughts drift off Blaine to Glee rehearsals. He and Rachel were planning to compete for the _Defying Gravity _solo tomorrow, and while he was a touch nervous he knew he was going to do fine. He could hit the notes after all, and he _knew _he was the only boy in the school who could. Kurt suddenly realized he'd been humming the song and stopped, turning to apologize to Blaine for what was most likely a distraction. Instead, he found Blaine staring at him, his mouth open slightly.

"Was that _Defying Gravity?"_

Kurt's eyes widened. "It was. You've seen _Wicked_?"

Blaine looked hesitant for a second before nodding, and Kurt almost beamed. "It's incredible, isn't it? I'm singing the song for Glee tomorrow -"

"You're in Glee club? And you can sing _that_?"

Kurt smirked. "Yes, and yes. I'm a countertenor."

"Wow." Blaine looked shocked and a little bit awed. "My last school never had any countertenors, so I guess it's quite different." His eyes suddenly widened. "Not that it's bad or anything, you know? I just -"

Kurt chuckled, stopping Blaine mid-sentence. "I know what you're saying. I'm quite the phenomenon around here." Blaine smiled, and Kurt suddenly realized he had displayed a knowledge that nobody but a singer or musician would know. Hopefully, he asked, "So, do you sing?"

And there it was again; Blaine closed off. "No. Well, not well." He glanced at the clock, then pulled his books together. "I'd better get going."

Kurt wanted to question him - because obviously Blaine _had _sung at some point and when Kurt had looked at his hands he saw the callouses affiliated with a guitar player - but was still wary of pushing Blaine away. "Alright, well I'll see you on Monday then."

* * *

Kurt was used to seeing people wearing various colours of slushy. It was the means of asserting yourself on the hierarchy - if you threw it, you were at the top. If you wore it, you were nothing. He himself had worn slushies of every flavour various times over the past few years. Ever since the football team had worked out he was gay, they had felt the need to paint him in front of the entire school. The first few times it was mortifying; now it was just plain inconvenient.

Most of the time, Kurt was in the girls bathroom helping the latest slushy victim out. He was one of the few guys who got slushied (and the only one who just took it instead of trying to fight back) so seeing a guy washing his hair out was a rare occurrence. Which is why it was such a surprise when Kurt left Chemistry to visit the bathroom - he was _sure _his hair was out of place so feigned a need to use the facilities - to find a boy standing in there, his arms wrapped around himself shivering as the blue ice dripped down his hair.

"Blaine?"

Blaine turned, looking panicked, and Kurt immediately moved to reassure him. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. Do you want me to help you get it out?"

He could see the boy was battling his pride, but eventually nodded. Kurt grabbed the seat from the corner and positioned it in front of one of the sinks. "Here, sit."

Blaine sat down, still shivering and Kurt took a closer look at him, realizing he'd been crying. "First time being slushied?"

"I - yeah." Blaine's voice was shaky and fear was still dancing around in his eyes. Kurt recognized the expression from his first slushy and his heart went out to the boy.

"It sucks, I know." Kurt ran the water until it had warmed up as much as it was capable of. "Here, lean back."

Blaine tipped his head back and Kurt began to run the water through his hair, running his fingers through to work the ice out. Blaine tensed at the first touch, but had relaxed shortly after as Kurt worked all of the slushy out of his hair. Grabbing a couple of paper towels, he wet them under the water and gently wiped down Blaine's face, the boy closing his eyes as he did.

"Okay, your hair is going to smell gross for the rest of the day, but that's part of it, I'm afraid." Kurt tossed the paper towels as Blaine sat back up, squeezing the water out of his hair. "Your shirt - hold on, I'll be right back." Kurt left the bathroom, heading down the hall to his locker. He entered his combination and pulled out a spare shirt and a towel, taking them back to the bathroom with him. "Your shirt is probably ruined," he said as he entered, "so borrow this one for now."

He tossed the towel and the shirt to Blaine before turning to the mirror. Any time he had helped Finn or Puck to remove slushy, he had always turned his backs while the boys changed, knowing that it was easier. He wasn't sure whether Blaine knew he was gay, but Kurt wasn't planning on making the boy more uncomfortable.

A minute later, he heard the sound of Blaine's ruined shirt hitting the trash and then Blaine appeared behind him in the mirror, holding the towel. Kurt turned and took the towel from him, before waiting because Blaine was biting his lip and clearly had something he wanted to say.

"Why are you helping me?"

Kurt's heart almost broke at those words. _Has nobody ever shown him even the slightest human decency or something? _"Because I've been slushied 23 times this school year, I'm sort of the expert on getting it out."

"Why?" As soon as the word left Blaine's mouth, he looked horrified. "Forget I said that, I didn't mean to pry -"

Kurt raised a hand. "Hey, it's fine. I'm not exactly keeping it a secret or anything. I'm gay."

Blaine's jaw dropped and Kurt immediately knew his gaydar had been correct. "You are too, aren't you?"

It was a risk; Blaine could easily have been threatened and decided to close off again, but Kurt didn't think he would. Not after Kurt had just easily 'come out' himself. Sure enough, Blaine swallowed heavily before nodding. "Yeah, I am."

And suddenly the mask just fell away. Kurt almost gasped as he saw what he knew was the real Blaine standing in front of him, and he knew it was time to ask. "Blaine, what happened at your last school?"

There was a moment when Kurt thought he had misjudged it and Blaine wasn't going to answer. But then he took a deep breath, and began to speak, so quietly that Kurt had to lean in to catch it.

"They found out, last year. I hoped it would blow over during the holidays, but it was worse when I got back. Anybody who had said I was their friend, they wanted nothing to do with me. The jocks hated me." A tear slipped down his cheek and Kurt murmured softly, reaching a hand out to take Blaine's. "I wanted to get out of there earlier but my Dad was all for me standing up to them. Which worked so well when they pushed me down a flight of stairs and broke my arm and gave me concussion."

Kurt couldn't stop the horrified gasp and Blaine laughed bitterly. "At that point, I flat out refused to go back and asked if I could go to Dalton Academy - they have a zero tolerance bullying policy. But Dad said no, it cost too much, even though I _know _they could have afforded it." The words were spilling out now as Blaine shut his eyes against the onslaught of memories and tears. "So they sent me here instead and I've spent every day trying to keep out of the way of people, trying not to draw attention to myself. All I want to do is get through high school so I can get out of here."

And then he broke down, dropping to his knees on the bathroom floor and burying his face in his hands. Kurt was by his side instantly, wrapping his arm around him. "It's okay, it's okay, you're not alone here. You've got me."

Blaine wrapped his arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. All Kurt could do was hold him and tell him it would be alright, even when Kurt didn't know if it would himself.

* * *

Ever since that day in the bathroom, things had changed for the two boys. In the hallways, Blaine still refused to look at anybody or draw attention to himself. But he had started eating lunch with Kurt, Mercedes and Tina, who had all been told he was gay with Blaine's permission, and was a totally different person during tutoring.

The two had just finished comparing opinions on the latest spread of _Vogue _and Blaine was working his way through some more French exercises - he was up to freshman level, to Kurt's amazement - when Kurt decided it was time to bring up another subject he had been thinking about.

"So, when you told me you don't sing, you weren't really being honest were you?"

Blaine paused, looking up at Kurt. "No, I wasn't."

Kurt could tell that there was a difficult memory attached. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I should." But Blaine didn't look like he was going to speak, returning to his French sheet. Kurt frowned but left it, picking up his English book and continuing to read.

"I was in my school's show choir." Blaine was still writing as he spoke, and Kurt lowered the book slightly. "We weren't really well known, we just did our thing and nobody bothered us. It was ... well, really good." Blaine was smiling slightly, but Kurt could still see the pain on his face. "When I came out, the jocks decided they wanted to really make my life hell. So they found out I was in the Glee club and made up some allegations about me stealing money to get to Regionals, and we got disbanded. The rest of the club refused to talk to me after that."

Kurt refused to let Blaine dwell in the past. "But you still love to sing, don't you?" Blaine nodded and he forged ahead. "Well, join our Glee club! We'd love to have you, you get along great with Tina and Mercedes already, and while Rachel can be a bit overbearing, the rest of them are great at heart."

Blaine bit his lip and Kurt pouted. "Please?" He wasn't sure whether he had taken it too far - after all he was practically _flirting _with Blaine now - but the other boy only looked surprised for a second before laughing.

"Okay, I'll audition."

* * *

Kurt strode into the room before stopping and turning. "That's you too," he called.

A moment later, Blaine stepped in, looking a lot less sure. All conversation stopped as everybody stared at the visibly nervous boy who was looking like he wanted to run out any second.

"Seriously, guys, try and be a _bit _more subtle, why don't you?" Kurt rolled his eyes, gesturing for Blaine to stand next to him. "For anybody who hasn't met him yet, this is Blaine. He's from Westerville, he sang in their show choir and he's come to audition."

Mercedes and Tina both looked happy, but Rachel frowned. "While we could use some more strong male voices, we are at a pivotal point where any other voices that are less than par could easily tip the fine balance we -"

"Rachel, shut up. Anybody's allowed to audition." Kurt shook his head, wishing that for once the club would just be accepting. Blaine was slowly turning white and Kurt could tell he wasn't going to last much longer if they didn't change their attitudes.

Luckily Mercedes stepped in. "Blaine, I can't wait to hear you sing, I'm sure you've got an amazing voice."

Tina nodded her agreement and a bit of the colour flowed back into Blaine's face as he lifted his head, attempting to smile. "Thanks, Mercedes," he murmured.

Mr. Schuester walked into the room, stopping when he saw the two boys standing in front of the group. "A new addition? Blaine, isn't it?"

Blaine nodded. "Yes sir, I'd like to audition."

"Excellent!" Mr. Schuester sat down, and Kurt did the same, smiling reassuringly at Blaine. "What are you going to sing for us?"

"I was hoping to sing _Your Guardian Angel_. I just need to borrow a guitar."

Kurt's eyebrows shot up. He hadn't been expecting _that_, and judging by the murmurs from the rest of the room, neither had they. Rachel was sitting forward with interest and Mr. Schuester nodded appreciatively, gesturing for Blaine to take a guitar.

Blaine strummed the opening chords, and with one more nervous look at Kurt, began to sing.

"_When I see you smile, tears run down my face,"_

When he thought about it afterwards, Kurt couldn't remember a single word of the performance. He couldn't remember how anybody else in the room had responded, and he certainly wouldn't be able to remember his jaw dropping and staying that way for the entire song.

All he knew was that Blaine had the voice of an _angel_, and some idiots had tried to silence him forever. Well that wasn't happening on Kurt Hummel's watch.

Oh, and he had sort of fallen in love with one Blaine Anderson. That was worth mentioning too.

"_I'll be there for you through it all, even if saving you sends me to heaven."_

Blaine finished the song, and Kurt realized there were tears streaming down Blaine's face, as well as his own. He was on his feet before he realized it, pulling Blaine into a hug. After a few seconds, he felt Mercedes' arms wrap around them both, then Tina, followed by the rest of the group. All of the girls were crying and even a few of the boys looked like they were holding back their own tears.

As everybody pulled away, Mr. Schuester cleared his throat. "Welcome to the group, Blaine."

* * *

"Last one. _Qu'est-ce que tu fais pour t'amuser_?"

Blaine thought for a second before replying. "_Je chante et je fais la guitare_."

Kurt held the smile back for a few seconds as Blaine looked at him hopefully, then gave in. "Perfect. That's amazing, Blaine, I've never seen anybody pick up a language so quickly before!"

Blaine ducked his head. "Well, I had a great teacher."

"I - I guess that means you don't need tutoring anymore." Kurt felt his heart drop as he said it. He had _loved _spending so much time with Blaine, and he wasn't sure whether Blaine would want to continue hanging out with him now that there was no reason to.

Sure, he and Blaine had gotten a lot closer over time, especially now that Blaine had joined Glee club and they were seeing each other every afternoon. And it wasn't as if Kurt wouldn't see Blaine anymore after all, but having time with just the two of them ... well, Kurt had loved it.

There had been another change in Blaine ever since he had joined Glee. Kurt had met with Mercedes and Tina privately, both of the girls having classes with Blaine, and asked them if they would walk with him in the halls occasionally. The first time he had seen the girls walking with a laughing Blaine between them, he hadn't been able to stop smiling for the rest of the day. Blaine was finally becoming a part of the school.

And, of course, Kurt knew for sure he was in love with Blaine. So spending time alone with him was a high priority on his list at the moment.

"Yeah, I guess not." Blaine sighed, then looked Kurt in the eye. Kurt knew the look, it was the one Blaine had worn every time he wanted to ask a question that he was afraid of getting a negative answer to. "Would you like to go get coffee tomorrow afternoon? Just, you know, I'd like to thank you for giving up so much time to help me out."

Kurt was pretty sure his smile was about to split his face in half. "I'd love to."

* * *

"So what's your drug of choice?"

Blaine gestured to the board, pulling out his wallet. He turned to Kurt who replied, "Nonfat mocha, and there's no way you're paying -"

"Medium drip and a nonfat mocha, thanks." Blaine handed over his card before Kurt could stop him, smirking a little. Kurt rolled his eyes but he couldn't be too annoyed with Blaine - after all, this was the most relaxed he had seen his friend yet.

Kurt chose a set of window seats and the two boys sat, waiting on their coffees to arrive. There was a moment of awkward silence, then Blaine chuckled. "Okay, after everything we've spoken about and the number of times you've seen me bawling my eyes out, we don't get to be awkward now." Kurt laughed, taken aback by this confident side of Blaine. The fact that it wasn't just an act of confidence meant Kurt found himself falling even more for the curly haired boy who was smiling across the table at him. "We always end up talking about me, why don't you tell me a bit about you?"

"Okay, that's fair. Well, I've lived in Lima all of my life, it's just me and my dad. Mom died when I was eight - it's alright," he added, as Blaine winced. "I'm not going to start crying or anything, don't worry."

It was the running joke between them now. They had realized they were both emotional people at heart and the amount of times they had both started crying - usually when Blaine shared a part of his past and Kurt related to it a bit too strongly.

"Anyway, not much else to tell. I've known I was gay all of my life, I came out to my Dad about a year ago - he knew, but I was naive enough to think he didn't."

Their coffees arrived, and Kurt continued to talk, sharing stories of his childhood and experiences at McKinley. He found himself opening up to Blaine more than he had with anybody else, even when it was just simple things like why he worked so hard to be fluent at French or why he enjoyed certain songs. Something about Blaine made him comfortable to be himself.

Apparently Blaine felt the same, as the time seemed to fly by. Before they knew it, the sun was setting and Blaine looked at his watch, surprised. "I'd better go, they'll be getting dinner ready and probably wondering where I am."

They stood and headed out to part ways. As Blaine stepped over to his car, he stopped and turned back to Kurt. "Would you like to do this again? Maybe on Saturday?"

Kurt didn't want to ruin the moment, but he had to ask. "Like... like a date?"

"Yeah." Blaine shrugged, but Kurt could see the fear in his eyes. "Only if you want to, that is."

Kurt felt the familiar smile break across his face. "I'd like nothing more."

Blaine stared for a second, as if he had expected Kurt to say no, then grinned. "Great. Well, I'll see you tomorrow then."

He hesitated again before stepping over and wrapping his arms around Kurt. Kurt returned the hug, feeling a shiver run up his spine, before Blaine broke away and turned back to his car. Kurt got in his own, waiting until Blaine pulled out before heading home. He may have blasted his selection of love songs at full volume all the way home, but he actually _had _a reason to this time. Because he and Blaine Anderson were going on a _date_.

* * *

"But what if it's too much? What should I do with my _hair?"_

"Kurt, sweetie, chill. It's just Blaine, you're just getting coffee, he's not going to care what you look like."

Kurt gripped the phone between his shoulder and ear as he worked on his hair, trying to perfect it. "It's a _date_, 'Cedes. It's totally different when it's a date."

"Why?"

That stumped him. "Because... it ... I'm being stupid, aren't I?"

"Yep." There was a laugh. "Sorry, Kurt, but yes you are. Just relax and have fun, okay?"

"Alright. Love you, 'Cedes."

Kurt hung up, grabbing his jacket and keys and heading downstairs to meet a problem he hadn't forseen: his Dad.

"Kurt, can you come help me in the shop today? We're a man down."

Kurt winced. "I - I can't. I've got plans."

Burt frowned, then he took in Kurt's appearance and seemed to click. "What plans would those be, son?"

He considered lying, then realized the truth would come out soon enough. _And besides, what do you have to be ashamed of?_ "I've got a date. With Blaine."

"That's that kid who transferred from Westerville, the one who got bullied?"

Kurt nodded and watched his Dad's face relax. "At least I know he'll treat you right. Don't stay out too late, alright?"

"I - I won't." Kurt stared, dumbfounded at his Dad who actually looked _happy _that his son was dating someone. He turned, opening the front door to leave.

"And Kurt?"

Kurt winced, before turning around. "Yeah, Dad?"

But Burt was smiling. "Bring him home sometime, yeah?"

Kurt smiled. "Yeah, I will."

* * *

"Can we go for a walk?"

Kurt turned to Blaine in surprise. They had finished their date - which had gone for much longer than Kurt had thought, but he had enjoyed every second - and were by their cars, preparing to separate for the rest of the afternoon when Blaine had spoken up.

Blaine looked slightly nervous and Kurt had a sudden idea of what might be going on. So he simply smiled. "Of course."

The two headed down the road before turning into a large park. Apart from a few kids playing, it was empty and Blaine directed them through a large grassy area to a bench, where he sat. Kurt sat next to him, his suspicions growing when Blaine turned to him, hesitating for a second before reaching out and taking his hands.

"Kurt, there's something I want to ask you. I - I never thought I'd meet anybody like you in Ohio. After everything that happened at Westerville, I ..." Blaine swallowed and Kurt squeezed his hands reassuringly.

"Anyway, Kurt, after everything you've done for me; not just with the tutoring but helping me come to terms with everything, getting me into Glee, and just being my friend - well, I kind of found myself falling for you. Hard."

Kurt knew his face had just broken into a ridiculously huge smile, but he couldn't care less. Blaine had his own smile as he concluded his mini-speech simply. "Kurt, would you be my boyfriend?"

"Yes," Kurt said immediately. "Of course."

The fact that Blaine _still _looked surprised at his answer was something that Kurt wanted to change. After everything Blaine had dealt with, he needed to know just how much Kurt cared about him - how much Kurt _loved him._

So Kurt leant in, closing the gap between them and gently kissing Blaine. He had never done anything like this before - he'd never _had _anyone to do this with, certainly nobody as important as Blaine. But his mouth seemed to know what to do, gently seeking out Blaine's lips and pressing deeper as Blaine responded. His hand found its way to Blaine's face, running his fingers across the smooth skin he found there.

Blaine pulled away after a few seconds, his mouth curving into a smile of pure delight. "Wow," he murmured, and Kurt laughed.

"Wow indeed." And then, because there really _wasn't _a need for words, Kurt leant in for another kiss.

* * *

Kurt stepped out of his car, pulling his bag out of the passenger seat and turned around to see Blaine standing in front of him, holding a coffee in each hand.

"Well, what did I do to deserve this? Because I'll definitely do it more often," Kurt said, taking the coffee offered to him.

Blaine looked around the parking lot quickly before leaning in to kiss Kurt, taking him by surprise. "Just being yourself, of course. There's something I wanted to do this morning, if you're okay with it."

"What would that be?" Kurt headed for the doors, Blaine falling into line with him. As soon as they were through the front door, Blaine reached out and took his hand.

"This."

Kurt, as usual, felt himself smiling in a way he never thought he would in the McKinley halls. He squeezed Blaine's hand, then the two headed to Kurt's locker, both of their heads held high and ignoring the looks thrown their way, because they had both fought _damn_ hard for this.

And as Kurt reached his locker, Blaine leant over and whispered in his ear, sending a shiver down his spine, and not just from the contact.

"_Je t'aime."_

Oh yes, it was a very good day that Kurt Hummel had agreed to tutor one Blaine Anderson in French. After all, it was the language of love, and they might just be in need of it from now on.

* * *

**Phew! :) Don't forget to send prompts tonight, okay? =D**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_*tries popping up the arm rest*_**

**_"..." *continues trying* "..." *keeps trying*_**

**_*3 minutes later*_**

**_"Blaine, honey." *pops up arm rest*_**

**_"How the-"_**

**_"I'm magic. Come over here."_**

**_Then they cuddled and klisses were exchanged, and they stayed long past everyone left making out (mainly because they didn't realize everyone was gone)._**


	107. Broken

**PROMPTS ARE CLOSED. AGAIN.**

**Thanks to everybody who prompted! I should have known that asking for _one _prompt meant I would get somewhere around thirty! And I also should have seen this coming. But I didn't.**

**Basically, I can't choose between my top five. I simply cannot - getting it to the top five was difficult enough! So, I'm extending the story four more chapters and the fifth will replace the one that's turning into the onshot, AKA the original reason I prompted. The prompts that will be used came from: _xX-Fiona-Xx, MsImogenBlaineAnderson, getmeoutofthistie, Mariekejee _and _Anonymous(via Tumblr). _Sorry to everybody else, and if yours wasn't chosen then I highly recommend you attempt writing it yourself and I'd love to read them all! For those people, if you sent multiples and are curious of which one got chosen, feel free to PM me.**

**Oh, right. 4000 REVIEWS! Boy do I love you all! :)**

**From **_**pryalovesstories: Blaine and Kurt have a picnic. Blaine has a broken arm and has trouble with eating...**_

**TGTDOSBDK. **

**Kurt's back at McKinley and it's somewhere amidst all of the petty ND drama. ****Look, I'm sorry but I don't care who's dating who with them, they're one big incestuous family anyway. I don't care if Rachel spends 90 minutes deliberating whether to get a nose job or not. I watch Glee for Klaine because those two characters are the only ones who seem to have a plotline anymore. Well, Puckzies is up there too. Brittana was for awhile, but now it's just been teetering for too long. Prom just destroyed it for me - all those girls only caring about their title when a guy they said was their FRIEND just got publicly shamed in front of the school.**

**Okay, totally done ranting here.**

* * *

Broken

"Hello?"

Kurt juggled the phone between his shoulder and ear as he shoved books into his locker, wishing the day would hurry up and end. Luckily there was only one more period before he could leave, and Kurt was seriously considering just skipping - he was fluent in French after all.

"Hey, Kurt."

"Blaine!" Kurt slammed the locker door shut, grabbing the phone properly. "Where have you been? You didn't reply to any of my texts at all yesterday!"

Blaine sounded apologetic as he replied, "I'm sorry. Something came up, but we're still on for this afternoon, aren't we?"

Kurt considered getting even with Blaine for the worry he had put Kurt through, then the urge to see his boyfriend won out. "Of course."

"Great! Just one thing... could you pick me up?"

"Why?" Kurt frowned. "Wait, please tell me you didn't wreck your car again or something like that?"

Blaine chuckled. "No, not this time. I'll explain when you get here."

Kurt glanced at the door to his French classroom, then turned and walked away. "Well I refuse to sit through French in suspense. I'll be there soon."

He hung up before Blaine could lecture him on cutting class - because if he had tried that, Kurt might very well have cancelled their entire _date _- and headed out the front doors, not even bothering to check if any teachers were watching because he knew they weren't. One of the things Kurt certainly didn't miss about Dalton was the feeling of always being watched - Kurt wasn't perfect and he wasn't going to try to be for a school.

The route to Dalton was well travelled by Kurt at this point. He and Blaine made an effort to catch up at least twice a week, planning dates that wouldn't involve running into any of the McKinley jocks. That usually meant Kurt was the one heading out to Westerville, but he didn't mind if it meant he and Blaine could have an uninterrupted date. This afternoon, Blaine had chosen a picnic. Kurt had originally found the idea cliche, but after finding out that Blaine actually _could _cook, he relented. Plus, cliche with Blaine worked in a way that simply couldn't with anybody else. Just because it was Blaine.

Kurt found himself pulling up outside Dalton before he realized, having been lost in his thoughts about his boyfriend. Which wasn't uncommon, Blaine had always been on Kurt's mind even before they were dating. But now he knew he was on Blaine's mind too. Hopping out of the car, Kurt made his way into the foyer and signed in with administration. Usually Blaine would be waiting so he didn't have to bother, but Kurt was early and he remembered it was a Warbler rehearsal afternoon. Realizing he was going to get to see all of the other Warblers again, Kurt quickened his pace until he was outside the choir room. The sound of singing could be heard so he waited, smiling fondly as his boyfriend's voice rose up above the others.

Finally the song ended and Kurt knocked. There was a moment of silence, then the door opened to reveal David.

"KURT!"

The rest of the room erupted in chaos as the darker-skinned Warbler pulled him into a hug. "So good to see you again, come in!"

Kurt was literally pulled into the room and surrounded by Warblers all wanting to know how he was, whether the 'McKinley idiots' were treating him right, what it was like preparing for Nationals... Kurt answered as many questions as he could, then held up a hand laughing. "Okay, okay! It's great to see you all again but I'm sort of here for my boyfriend." Kurt realized he couldn't see Blaine and looked around. He locked eyes with an amused Nick and frowned. "I know that look. Spill the beans."

The Warblers all moved aside to reveal Blaine who was still sitting on the couch smiling sheepishly. His blazer was off and one arm was completely covered in plaster with various signatures and names.

Kurt's jaw dropped.

"You - _what_? How?" he stammered.

Blaine laughed. "Hello to you too." He stood, grabbing a picnic basket with his free arm. "Alright guys, looks like we're out of here. See you later."

Blaine left the room, a dumbfounded Kurt following amidst the Warblers calling out their goodbyes. As soon as they were out of the room, Kurt grabbed the arm not in plaster and spun Blaine to face him, grabbing the basket in the process. "How on earth did you _break your arm?_"

"David," Blaine replied simply, linking his fingers with Kurt's and turning to walk again. "He insisted everybody could do a backflip. Turns out I'm the exception to the rule."

Kurt shook his head, thankful he had left the group when he had. "Did it hurt?"

Blaine turned his head slightly and raised an eyebrow. "I snapped a bone in my arm. Of course not." He laughed as Kurt elbowed him. "Yes, it did. And that's why I didn't text you, I spent the afternoon at the hospital and the painkillers they put me on made me kind of loopy so I slept as soon as I got back to Dalton."

"Loopy?" Kurt looked over with interest as Blaine blushed slightly. "What did you _do?_"

"Nothing, and there's no need to ask Wes because his story will match mine exactly." Blaine stared forward determinedly and Kurt filed the information away for later use, unlocking the car and opening Blaine's door for him.

"I'm going to have to be your helper all afternoon, aren't I?" he asked.

"I think so." Kurt threw his bag and the basket in the back before moving around to the drivers side. Settling in, he turned to Blaine to see his boyfriend looking guilty. "I'm sorry, this is going to be a huge burden on you isn't it?"

Kurt rolled his eyes affectionately. "You'll never be a burden."

He tried to ignore the way Blaine's face lit up at that, turning his attention to the road and following Blaine's directions. It wasn't that he didn't want to make his boyfriend happy, quite the opposite in fact. But Kurt couldn't hold himself responsible for what he might end up doing if Blaine kept _smiling _like that -

"Okay, turn right here."

Kurt focused back in, turning into a deserted country road. They drove for another mile before Blaine instructed him to pull off into a small field. Kurt killed the engine and grabbed the basket from the back as Blaine eased himself out of the car carefully. "It's just through the trees there."

Kurt cocked his head, listening. He could hear the sound of water running a small distance off, and the answer was revealed as he and Blaine walked hand-in-hand into a clearing. The river was running next to them with sunlight streaming through the gaps in the tree tops, and Kurt immediately took back everything he had once thought about cliche things not being worthwhile. "It's gorgeous," he murmured, feeling Blaine squeeze his hand lightly. "How did you find it?"

Blaine sat down, using Kurt for support. "My house is a mile in the other direction. I used to go for really long walks and I found it one day when I was at the end of my rope and it just calmed me down."

Kurt sat next to Blaine, putting down the basket and leaning over to wrap his arms around his boyfriend. Blaine was slowly opening up and revealing about his past, and Kurt knew it was difficult for him. He nestled his head into Blaine's shoulder and Blaine wrapped his good arm around Kurt and they just sat together for a moment.

"I really don't want to break this moment but I'm starving," Blaine murmured into the top of Kurt's head, sounding sheepish.

Kurt chuckled and pulled away, leaning over to open the picnic basket. He pulled out a container of fruit salad, handing another one over to Blaine. Lifting the lid off his, he grabbed a fork and speared a piece of watermelon before turning to Blaine to say something. Whatever it was died as he suddenly realized the problem. Blaine was attempting to balance the container up against his plastered arm. He was right handed and, of course, had managed to break his right arm so the fork was clasped weakly in his left. Kurt shook his head and chuckled. "Okay, here."

He took the container from Blaine then, after a moment of hesitation, grabbed the fork out of his hand. Quickly spearing a piece of fruit, he held it towards Blaine who stared at it blankly for a second before chuckling and opening his mouth. "This is weird," he stated around a mouthful of pineapple.

"Just a bit," Kurt agreed, eating his own fruit before getting another piece for Blaine. And with the proximity, he couldn't help but notice the way Blaine ate, the way his lips closed around the fork for that split second before pulling back... lips Kurt would really like to have an intimate acquaintance with.

Shaking away the thoughts, he continued to feed Blaine until the food was gone. Blaine eyed up the basket, clearly still hungry. But as Kurt reached back in, Blaine suddenly groaned.

"What?" Kurt turned, frowning.

"You'll see."

Kurt peered into the basket for a second before laughing. "Oh, you'd better hope I'm in a nice mood," he teased as he pulled out the chocolate mousse and a couple of spoons. "Otherwise I get to eat this whole thing myself and you have to sit and watch."

But Kurt's teasing backfired - Blaine caught his eye and pouted. Hurriedly trying to calm his rapidly pounding heart, he relented. "Put the puppy dog eyes away before someone gets hurt. Of course I'm going to help you."

Blaine smirked. "I knew that look got to you."

Kurt rolled his eyes, busying himself with opening the container. _Believe me, Blaine Anderson, you have no idea. _"That look gets to _everyone _and you know it. You got Cameron to give you the last pancake at breakfast, and _nothing _gets between Cameron and pancakes."

Blaine laughed at the memory, giving Kurt time to scoop up some of the mousse. He looked at Blaine for a moment before making a great show of eating the mousse, practically moaning as he swallowed. "That's _so good. _I bet you'd love it."

"You know I'll bring out the eyes again," Blaine threatened playfully and Kurt held up his hands in resignation.

"If you want to lower yourself to threats, so be it." As he grabbed the other spoon, an idea came to Kurt's mind - something so uncharacteristically Kurt Hummel that he nearly dropped the container. _Could I?_

Turning back to Blaine, the answer was obvious. _Yes, I think I could._ Taking a deep breath, Kurt quickly scooped up another spoonful and held it out towards Blaine's mouth. As the boy opened his mouth, however, Kurt quickly moved the spoon to the side and smeared it across Blaine's cheek. "Oh, so sorry about that!"

Blaine growled, reaching up a hand to wipe it off. Kurt got there first and caught his hand, lowering it again. "I don't think so," he whispered, drawing up all of his courage. Before Blaine could speak, Kurt leant in and licked a trail across Blaine's cheek.

Pulling back, he swallowed the mouthful only to nearly choke on it when he saw the look in Blaine's eyes. They had glazed over slightly and were full of lust. "I don't think it's all gone," he murmured, his voice rough.

Kurt found he couldn't speak, so simply leant in and continued to lick the mousse away. He could hear Blaine's erratic breathing beside his ear and was overwhelmingly aware that his boyfriend's lips were _right there_. It took every inch of self control he possessed to pull away, raising an eyebrow at Blaine. "Satisfied?"

"Not hardly," Blaine growled, leaning forward and crushing their lips together.

He couldn't think. He couldn't describe it, all he knew was that he was kissing Blaine and it was the best thing he'd ever done and _why _had he been _stopping _himself from doing this?

And then Blaine pulled away, looking at him slightly hesitantly. "I - was that okay? I mean, I've been trying to stop myself from doing that for _weeks _and -"

Kurt shut him up in what was quickly becoming his favourite manner of keeping Blaine's lips otherwise occupied. "So was I," he murmured against Blaine's lips, unable to stop from smiling and feeling Blaine do the same.

Reluctantly, Kurt broke away and reached for the mousse again. They finished their picnic amidst kisses with only a few more mousse-on-face incidents - Blaine learnt quickly that Kurt was just a _bit _too touchy about his skin to let someone lick mousse off it, but Kurt had no problem with repeating the action. As they relaxed next to the river, watching the sun set, Kurt leant down and tapped his fingers lightly on Blaine's cast. "Do I get to sign this?"

Blaine hummed in agreement, reaching into the basket and pulling out a permanent marker. "I was hoping you would, yeah. I saved you a spot."

Taking the pen, Kurt uncapped it and found the spot Blaine had been talking about - right above his hand. Smiling, he quickly scrawled his message before putting the lid back on and returning the pen to Blaine. Blaine read the message quickly before smiling and drawing him back in for another kiss.

_I love you, broken arm and all. Kurt :)_

* * *

**This got longer than expected :) but I couldn't quite resist.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**If it was the other way around, with Blaine teaching Kurt Italian...**_

_***throws down pencil* "This is stupid!"**_

_**"No, it's not, see? Then you turn this into-"**_

_**"I don't GET IT!"**_

_**"Hmm... how 'bout a reward system?" *kliss***_

_***dazed* "Oh... okay..."**_

_**Kurt got one of the highest grades on the test the next day, but the teacher was not amused with the little scribblings of "B+K" in the margins.**_


	108. Loopy

**So... with my crazy amount of WIP's in progress, plus adding another four chapters to _Kiss_, you think I wouldn't sign up for anything new, right? Yeah, well I'm crazy.**

**_Chasing Aspirations _has set me a Kliss challenge with 14 days of prompts. Every night at 10pm I'll get a new prompt with three or four words that I have to put into a story revolving around Kurt and Blaine kissing and it has to be posted by 10pm the next night. So 24 hours to write each story which won't be posted here, but in a new story. I'll be getting my first prompt tonight, so you'll see the first chapter of that tomorrow. And just to make it clear, that story will not take any other prompts from other people. It's strictly a 14 day thing.**

**From **_**TaylorrStrife **_**and similarly prompted by **_**Kat3418 **_**and **_**Laa-Fro'se**__**: Kurt being sick and Blaine having to take care of him and since Kurt has a high fever and is disoriented he admits his feelings to Blaine.**_

**I got a response on the sick!Blaine chapter saying that it was good we didn't have to see sick Kurt because he'd probably whinge the whole time... so cue whingeysick!Kurt ;)**

**I will be honest, I took inspiration from one of the chapters of **_**Comfortable by storyofthehour **_**and **_**Lortab by UniversalOverlordess **_**to write these fics. **_**Lortab **_**is my favourite sick fic by far because it features druggedup!Kurt who's totally loopy. I didn't steal though, but if anybody thinks I did then I apologize. I could never dream of writing stuff like they have.**

* * *

Loopy

Blaine woke to the harsh buzzing of his alarm clock. He groaned, reaching over to turn it off as he attempted to peel his eyelids open. He had stayed up late the previous night working on an assignment and it felt like he had only slept for about three hours. Probably because he had.

Rolling over and picking up his phone, he smiled when he saw a message from Kurt. Kurt was nearly always up earlier than Blaine, taking a lot more time to perfect his hair and skin for the day, and frequently sent Blaine a text to make sure he was awake and not sleeping in. Opening the message, Blaine frowned at the contents.

_npt goin 2 school_

Kurt was the most articulate texter that Blaine knew - resorting to shorthand, spelling mistakes and not even bothering to sign off were sure indications that something was wrong. Blaine briefly wondered whether Kurt had another nightmare before deciding that calling his friend would probably give the best answers.

Pressing the phone to his ear, he waited until he heard the sound of Kurt's voice on the end of the phone. "H'lo?"

Kurt sounded tired, frustrated and his voice was raspy, which led to only one possible conclusion. "Hey, are you sick?"

There was a cough from the other end before Kurt snarked back a reply. "No, I like to sound like this for fun." Blaine suppressed a chuckle, knowing it would only make his friend more annoyed. "Yes, I feel like absolute crap."

"Okay, give me five minutes and I'll come down and check on you."

Kurt sighed on the other end. "You are aware that you're not my mother, right?"

"Perfectly." Blaine pulled himself out of bed, walking over to the closet to grab his uniform. "Be there soon."

He hung up, quickly putting his uniform on and heading into the bathroom to fix his hair, an art he had perfected down to one minute. By the time he was ready to leave, Wes was stirring and looking at him blearily. "What's the rush?"

"Kurt's sick, I'm going down to check on him." Blaine grabbed his tie and looped it around his neck as Wes sat up.

"What's wrong with him?"

Blaine finished tying the tie and picked up his bag. "Sounds like the flu. I'm not sure but he really didn't sound good. Do you still have that medicine you used when you got sick?"

Wes nodded, pointing towards a drawer. Blaine pulled it open and grabbed the tablets. "Okay, make sure his teachers know he's not going to be in. And depending on how bad he is, I might stick around with him." He caught the smirk on Wes's face and shook his head. "To look after him, Wes. Do you honestly think I'd make a move on Kurt while he's sick?

"No, because you don't make a move on Kurt, ever. It's getting a bit frustrating watching you both." Wes pulled himself out of bed, beginning to get ready for the day and Blaine rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Input appreciated, really. See you later."

Blaine headed out of the room and down to Kurt's. Because Kurt had transferred mid-term, he was given a single room, a perk Blaine had often been jealous of considering his roommate was sane one minute and crazy gavel-wielding Council Member the next. Knocking on the door, Blaine waited for a muffled affirmative before opening it and sticking his head in. As soon as he saw Kurt, he had to force back his laughter with every ounce of self restraint he possessed.

Kurt was sitting up in bed, his arms crossed. His hair was an absolute mess, there were bags under his eyes and he looked like he hadn't slept a wink. But what really got to Blaine was the disgruntled, yet so adorable pout on his face. "_Blaaaaaaine_," he whined. "I'm sick."

"I can see that." Blaine entered the room, shutting the door behind him and pulling up a chair.

"I _never _get sick. I'm healthy! You're the one who should be sick, you don't eat properly or sleep enough. Why is it me?"

Blaine pressed a hand to Kurt's forehead, noticing the complaining stopped instantly. His friend's forehead was warm, and Kurt angled his head into the touch as if it felt good - which it most likely did considering the difference in temperature. "Yeah, you're burning up. Have you taken any medication?"

Kurt shook his head. "I don't have any. Because I never _get _sick." He reached up as Blaine went to move his arm, keeping his hand firmly in place.

Blaine chuckled. "Yes, you've made that clear."

Bad move. Kurt huffed, crossing his arms again dramatically. "Don't you sass me, I'm _sick!_"

Blaine considered telling Kurt that wasn't an excuse, but didn't want to wind up his crush any further. "Okay, I'm sorry. Here, I brought this from our room. I'll get you some water, I think they'll knock you out for a little while which should help."

As he stood and moved into the bathroom, he heard Kurt start coughing. As soon as he had finished, there was an indignant reply. "_Help? _Are you saying you're sick of me being awake?"

Blaine rolled his eyes affectionately, turning back to bring the water to Kurt. "Sleep will make _you _feel better, silly." He continued before Kurt could fire up any more. "Take a couple of those, I'll go to my first class then come and check on you in my study period, okay? I've got my phone if you need anything."

"I'm not useless, Blaine." But Kurt picked up the tablets and took them before lying back down, and Blaine could see the glimmer of appreciation in his eyes.

"Never said you were. Try to sleep, okay? I'll be back soon."

Blaine left the room, waiting until he was far enough away from Kurt's room to let out the laughter. Kurt was a diva at the best of times, but when he was sick it was truly something else. And for some reason, it just endeared him to Blaine even more.

* * *

In the middle of Math, Blaine was drawing idly on a piece of paper when his phone buzzed. Checking to make sure the teacher was busy working with other students, he slid the phone out of his pocket and read the text.

_Can you please come and tell Wes to get out of my room and stop trying to hit me with his gavel? It's not appreciated. - Kurt_

Blaine stared at the text for a couple of minutes, then turned to Wes who was sitting right next to him. "Did you happen to go to Kurt's room within the last ten minutes and threaten to hit him with your gavel?"

Wes stared at him like he was crazy, so Blaine slid his phone over under the desk. Wes read the text and snorted with laughter. "Sounds like the pills are working. Maybe 'I'll' knock him out so he can sleep more."

"I'd better go and check on him. I do remember what happened the last time you took those pills." Wes wisely decided not to argue, considering the last time Wes was sick, Blaine had come back to the room to find the boy sitting in the bottom of the shower arguing with 'Thad' about setlists. It had taken Blaine ten minutes to convince Wes that Thad wasn't conspiring to take his spot as Head Warbler before the boy would go back to bed.

Excusing himself by saying he wasn't feeling well, Blaine quickly headed up to Kurt's room. Not sure what to expect, he pushed the door open gingerly and stepped in. "Kurt?"

Kurt was sitting up again, except this time tears were pouring down his cheeks and he had his phone clutched to his ear. "But I thought you loved me!" he sobbed down the phone.

Blaine immediately moved to sit on the edge of the bed, taking the phone from Kurt who didn't resist, throwing his arms around Blaine and sobbing into his shoulder. Blaine lifted the phone to his ear to hear a voice on the other end. "... don't know what I did wrong, dude, you need to tell me."

"Finn?"

"Blaine? I didn't do anything, I promise! He just called me and asked me some weird stuff and I said I didn't know what he was talking about and he lost it!"

Blaine chuckled. "It's alright, Finn. He's sick and I think the medicine's made him a bit loopy." There was a sigh of relief from the other end and Blaine laughed again. "What was he asking exactly?"

"Something about these guys, Wes and David I think? Anyway, he wanted to know whether he was the only one who had caught onto their secret love affair."

Blaine was biting his lip, trying to hold the laughter back. "Um... right. It's probably in your best interest to forget about that..."

"Will do. I don't want to think about you and Kurt, much less whoever they are."

"Um... me and Kurt?"

There was silence. "Oh, he didn't - um, nothing. Nothing at all. I've got to go."

The line went dead and Blaine frowned. From the way Finn was talking, it sounded like he had reason to believe Kurt and Blaine were a couple. _The only reason he'd think that would be if Kurt had admitted his feelings or something..._

"Does Finn hate me now?"

Kurt had lifted his head from Blaine's shoulder, still sniffing a little. Blaine shook his head, smiling affectionately and pushing those thoughts away to think over later. "No, of course not."

"Good." Kurt made no move to unwrap himself from Blaine. "I love Finn. But not like a boyfriend, like a brother. I tried loving Finn like a boyfriend but he didn't want a boyfriend."

Kurt had told Blaine about his crush on Finn, so that didn't come as much of a shock. Kurt still sounded like he was under the effect of the medicine though, so Blaine definitely wanted to stick around to see what came out of his mouth next.

"So now I love you like a boyfriend but I don't think you want me as a boyfriend so I haven't told you." Kurt was staring at him, completely oblivious to what he had just said. Blaine felt his jaw drop before collecting himself. _He... he loves me?_

Kurt yawned, unwrapping his arms from Blaine to rub his eyes. "M'tired, Blaine. Why am I tired?"

"Because you're sick." Blaine couldn't know how much stock to put in Kurt's words until the medicine wore off and the boy was better. "Lie down and get some more sleep, alright?"

Kurt obediently lay down and Blaine moved to stand before finding his wrist caught in Kurt's hand. "Don't leave me?"

"I won't. I'm just moving to the chair." Blaine sat back down next to Kurt who hadn't released his hand.

"Good," Kurt muttered, his eyes sliding closed. "Love you, Blaine."

He wasn't sure whether Kurt would remember anything, but either way it didn't matter so much anymore. "I love you too, Kurt."

* * *

Blaine used his free hand to flip a page of the book he was balancing on his knee. He had already missed his study period and Geography class as Kurt still hadn't wanted to let him move. Sneaking a glance at the boy, he found him still asleep but with more colour in his face. The medicine was definitely doing its work.

Not for the first time in the past few hours, Blaine wondered how he was going to handle things when Kurt woke up. If the boy remembered what he had said, he would probably be embarrassed beyond belief, that or try and pretend he didn't mean it. But if he didn't ... well, Blaine didn't know if he could go without asking. Either way, he was going to find out Kurt's feelings that day.

Kurt shuffled a little, rolling onto his stomach and releasing Blaine's hand. A second later his eyes flickered open and he groaned. "I actually feel almost normal again."

"That's good. Guess the drugs worked." Blaine did his best to fight back a smirk.

Kurt's eyes fixed on him and Blaine could see they were focused again - clearly the effects had worn off. He sat up again, rolling his neck so it cracked. "I had the weirdest dream. I dreamt that Wes was hitting me with his gavel and then I called Finn and yelled at him and then you came in..." Kurt trailed off as Blaine held up his phone. "Oh.. no. No, I didn't?"

"I'm afraid you did." Blaine placed the phone down and waited as Kurt's mind ran through everything that had happened. "Wes wasn't here though, you dreamt that one up yourself."

Kurt chuckled slightly, but his mind was still thinking furiously. Blaine saw the moment he remembered - his eyes widened and his head snapped around to stare at Blaine. "I - um. Did I...?"

"Yes." Because, really, how else could he have put it?

Kurt buried his head in his hands. "I can't believe I _told you_." And that sealed it for Blaine, Kurt really did love him. He couldn't stop the grin from erupting across his face as the boy mumbled incoherently between splayed fingers. Blaine simply waited, hoping Kurt would remember for himself.

And then his head shot up. "You...?"

Blaine nodded, still grinning from ear to ear. "If I'd known all it would take to find out you love me back was medicine, I'd have drugged you up ages ago," he teased lightly, watching as the smile crossed Kurt's face.

"Say it again?" Kurt suddenly looked shy, ducking his head. Blaine chuckled fondly, reaching out to lift his chin gently.

"I love you, Kurt Hummel."

Kurt's face absolutely lit up and Blaine knew if he hadn't loved the boy before, he would have after that look. He reached out to take one of Kurt's hands, running his thumb over it lightly.

And then Kurt looked back at him. "I love you too, Blaine Anderson."

Blaine wasn't sure his heart could handle much more, but he had no choice because the next thing he knew, Kurt's lips were on his, kissing tentatively as if he wasn't sure it was the right thing to do. Blaine responded, trying to speak without words and tell Kurt it was _more than _the right thing.

And then Kurt was pulling away, looking horrified. "I can't believe I just did that!" Blaine's heart attempted to break into a thousand pieces until Kurt spoke again. "I'm sick, I probably just gave you my germs and then you're going to get sick and if you're sick I won't want to kiss you because then I'll get sick again -"

Blaine settled the matter by attaching their lips again. "Nothing as petty as sickness can stop me from kissing you, and that's a promise."

After a few more kisses, he pulled away slightly and murmured against Kurt's lips. "Besides, I have a History exam tomorrow I really wouldn't mind missing. I think we need to keep doing this until I get sick."

Kurt just rolled his eyes and reattached their lips.

* * *

**I love Kurt's little germaphobe freak-out.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_"Pass me the-oops!"_**

**_"I. Hate. You. These are new jeans that cost me $300!" *huff*_**

**_"I'm sorry, Kurt!"_**

**_"Sorry's not going to cut it." *moves away to edge of blanket with all of the food*_**

**_Poor, hungry, Blaine._**


	109. Original

**The first day of _The Kliss Challenge _is up! Go and let me know if I did it justice, okay? :)**

**From **_**Kat3418: what if Kurt had realized that ND were writing their own songs? Rachel said that dating a guy that turned out to be gay was 'song writing gold' and I can't really believe Kurt would just let that go and at that point he wouldn't be thinking of going back to McKinley so...what if he realized what ND was doing and mentioned it to Blaine or during Warbler practice (just talking to Blaine) and Blaine's face goes blank for a second, Kurt thinks he maybe did something wrong..Blaine gets really excited calls him a genius, kisses him and runs off, leaving the warblers freaking out and kurt sitting still in the middle of the chaos with a goofy grin on his face. a few minutes or seconds later blaine realizes that he kissed Kurt and goes back to do it again...or something of the sort.**_

**I always get long and detailed prompts from this reviewer, which means less thinking for me ;)**

* * *

Original

"So we're cool?"

Kurt shook his head, smiling. "We're cool."

Blaine leant back against the couch, looking relieved. After everything that had happened over the past week, and after Blaine had realized he was truly gay, Kurt had pulled him out of the Lima Bean and back to Dalton, where they had spent the past half an hour talking everything out and understanding each other's point of view. Both boys agreed that they had overreacted and apologized, and Kurt was just ready to forget it all and move on.

After all, being in love with a guy and fighting with him was a bit of a drain on the heart.

The other Warblers filed in, a few looking relieved to see the two boys talking again. Things had been a bit strained when they were both too proud to admit their faults, and it had easily dampened all of their rehearsals. Wes walked in and literally sagged with relief. "Oh, about time," he murmured, just loud enough for Kurt to hear, before straightening up and stepping behind the Council's desk. Thad and David still hadn't arrived, so he was waiting to start the meeting until they got there.

"So, I have to ask." Blaine's voice pulled Kurt's attention back. "What happened when I left after Rachel kissed me? I mean, she was gone when I got back."

Kurt chuckled, remembering what had happened with the dramatic brunette. "Oh, she said something about song writing gold; apparently you're inspirational." _You have no idea just how much_, he added privately.

"Song writing gold? Rachel writes songs?" Blaine looked intrigued and Kurt remembered that Blaine dabbled in song writing himself, so naturally he would be interested.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I didn't tell you? New Directions are writing original songs for Regionals, and Rachel's been looking for some life experience. Apparently 'dating a guy who turned out to be gay'," he used air quotes, smirking slightly, "is good life experience. So if they win Regionals, it's on your head."

Blaine stared at him for a second, his face completely blank. "Blaine? I was kidding, it wouldn't be your faul - _mph!_"

Blaine leant over and kissed him, and Kurt felt his mind go blank. It only lasted a second, and then Blaine was pulling away, his face alight. "Kurt, that's a brilliant idea! I need to get my songbook!"

And with that, Blaine jumped up off the couch and ran into the room, ducking around David who had frozen in the doorway, the last Warbler to enter the room.

Kurt totally ignored all of the Warblers staring at him in shock. He touched a hand to his lips, knowing he had a ridiculously goofy smile on his face and not caring in the slightest. Instead, he began to count. _5 ... 4 ... 3 ..._

Blaine reappeared in the doorway and Kurt looked up, allowing the smirk to cross his face. "Forget something, did you?"

He knew he was being much more forward than usual, but he figured he could. After all, Blaine had just _kissed _him, and - and then Kurt frowned. _What if it was the same situation as Rachel, kissing me just made him realize how much he __doesn't __like me..._

His thoughts were cut off by Blaine's lips pressed against his again, this time softer and with much more feeling. _That, or he realized how much he does. _

Kurt kissed him back, reaching up to wrap his arms around Blaine's neck. Blaine had leant over the edge of the couch and was standing in what was probably a rather uncomfortable position, but Kurt couldn't quite bring himself to care. They only broke apart when Wes began to bang his gavel loudly, but by then a couple of murmurs had begun to spread in the usually respectful room. Kurt turned and gave the council his best 'bitch glare' as he asked, "Do you _mind_? We're a bit busy here."

The other Warblers burst into laughter and Wes reared back in surprise - apparently nobody had dared to question the Council. Blaine chuckled, before standing and addressing the Council politely, because of course Kurt couldn't expect anything less of Blaine.

"Kurt has given us a brilliant idea for Regionals. It was discovered that the competition may be using original songs and this will definitely give them an edge. If we do the same, we not only take that edge from them, but can rise above them. Now, I have already written a few songs, and with a bit of tweaking we can..."

* * *

They won Regionals and Rachel was furious. But Kurt couldn't bring himself to care.

* * *

**Because furious!Rachel is fun to write. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_"If I'd known all it would take to find out you love me back was medicine, I'd have drugged you up ages ago." -Chapter 108 of Kiss_**

**_"Say, what's in this drink?" -Baby It's Cold Outside_**

**_"Blaine, my head is spinning."_**

**_"I think Wes put alcohol in the punch."  
_**

**_"Oooh..." *passes out*_**

**_-Random thing I made up literally 3 seconds ago_**

**_Blaine seems intent on making Kurt loopy to get him to confess his deepest secrets..._**


	110. Sue

**I just want to chuck something out there, because I've been asked this before and because there's been an increasing trend lately in people asking me to continue a lot of my stories and make oneshots or chapter stories. I've had people ask me to make side stories to stories that are _already _side stories, and it's just a little bit insane. I mean, I have this story that I update every day, _The Kliss Challenge _where I have 24 hours to _write _the story and then my others. I'm not saying I won't write things if I'm asked to, but a lot of the time I can't get it done.**

**So, here it is, once and for all. You _can _write in my worlds. If you want to continue on my stories and write what you think would come next, you can. All I ask is you reference where you got the ideas from and let me know so I can go and read it :)**

_**Syaoran-Lover **_**and similarly prompted by**_** e.: I was thinking Sue has yet to appear in any of these chaps so far... so how about I prompt you to have Sue appear behind them right after the Prom pic and then ramble enough to make them kiss? as in "So, Porcelain, I guess you really are gay (reference to Season 1, episode 18 - have you even kissed a boy/no/have you kissed a girl/no...), but I did hope you would have picked someone your own size, as it makes it difficult for me to insult him when I can't look at this face..." and so on, and then that kinda spurs them on somehow to kiss in the mist of all the chaos. XD**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

**I've never claimed to be any good at writing Sue as a character. In fact, I try to avoid her dialogue most of the time because I can't do her insults any justice - and I haven't found a writer yet who can. (Ironically, my first ever fic was a Sue story, but whatevs) So I hope it's not too bad... If you know of a story where someone has actually written Sue really well, let me know! :)**

* * *

Sue

Kurt had never been great with getting his photo taken. In fact, most of the time he was worse than the girls - constantly over-analyzing every photo of himself that ended up on Facebook or in the yearbook. He was too self conscious about his smile, whether his hair was perfect and how his skin was going to look because of the flash. But right now, nothing could keep the smile off his face. Because right now, Kurt Hummel had his arm wrapped around his boyfriend, holding a plastic scepter with a crown perched on his head, and was at his _Junior Prom._

Yes, the previous events of the night had been somewhat traumatic and Kurt knew he could never forget his Prom, but it wasn't only for bad reasons. He had still had a great time with Blaine after all, and his boyfriend had really come through for him when he thought he was about to become the humiliation of the school again.

And now they were both grinning for a slightly surprised photographer who obediently took their photo. He was about to request another - perhaps drag Mercedes and Sam in with them - when a figure appeared at his shoulder between himself and Blaine. "So, Porcelain, I guess you really are gay."

Kurt sighed, grabbing Blaine's hand and stepping out of the photo area, Sue following suit. "So where did you find this one - half off at the Lord of the Rings collectable museum?"

Blaine turned to Kurt, raising an eyebrow. He simply shook his head. "It's just her way." He turned his attention back to Sue. "He's from Dalton actually, if you must know."

"I'm Blaine." Blaine held out his hand which Sue stared at for a moment before he drew it back. "You must be Coach Sylvester."

Sue continued to stare at Blaine before turning to Kurt and shaking her head. "Well, I'll tell you the truth, Porcelain. When I heard you were going to an entirely male school, I had high hopes for you, considering the sheer number of male-on-male shenanigans that must occur within those walls." Blaine opened his mouth to interrupt but Kurt squeezed his hand, shaking his head when Blaine looked at him. _Not worth it_, he mouthed. "And when I heard on my extensive grapevine that you were bringing a boyfriend, I had expectations for you. So you can imagine my disappointment when I saw..." Sue gestured in Blaine's direction. "That."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me? What's wrong with him, exactly?"

"He's a hobbit."

Blaine's jaw dropped. Kurt turned slowly to stare at him, both boys looking incredulous. "I'm _two inches _shorter than Kurt!"

"And Porcelain here didn't exactly inherit his step-brother's genes for height."

"How am I suppose to _inherit _his genes when we're not -"

"So, therefore," Sue overrode Kurt's interjections. "You rank in the classing of 'tall midget' or one bearing an uncanny resemblance to a fictional character in a movie set in a country that I will destroy one day."

Blaine was shaking his head and Kurt knew he was completely confused. Meeting Sue for the first time always did make people's heads spin, and Kurt squeezed his hand again before directing his attention back at his old coach. "What does it matter if he's shorter than me, anyway?"

"Well, Porcelain, I'm very glad you asked." Sue settled herself into a nearby chair, leaving the two boys standing in front of her. "Apart from the part where I can't insult him properly if I can't look him in the face -"

Kurt snorted. _She's doing a damn good job anyway. _

"- It was never about his height, that's just what caught my attention as the two of you pranced into Prom tonight."

Kurt was taking deep breaths, working on staying calm. The last thing he needed tonight was to cause another scene. But he had a funny feeling he knew where this was going.

"So naturally I've been watching you - between my quick dentistry work on Wheels of course, and guarding over the punch bowl - and I came to a conclusion."

"And what would that be?" Kurt could hear Blaine's teeth were gritted, but he wasn't feeling much better. _Why did she have to come and try to ruin our night further, just when things were going good?_

Sue raised her shoulders in a half-shrug. "Well, that he's clearly not your boyfriend."

"_Excuse me?"_

Blaine's voice had risen in pitch, but luckily nobody was too close by to be paying attention. Kurt figured he had been given his share of attention and staring for the night and was thankful for it. Blaine's temper had been on edge ever since the Prom Queen announcement, and the last thing he wanted was for the entire school to see his boyfriend lose it.

"You and Hobbit haven't engaged in the usual activities of a couple at Prom - hand holding, slow dancing -"

"We _did_ -"

"I'm afraid that one doesn't count." Kurt raised an eyebrow, wondering who exactly decided that Sue Sylvester could dictate the rules of _Prom etiquette_. "Nor did you engage in displays of public affection that could cause you to be kicked out such as inappropriate dancing, suggestive maneuvers and sticking your tongues so far down each other's throats that you may require surgery to remove them. I'm still waiting for Asian and Asianer to separate."

Kurt couldn't help but imagine the scene and knew Blaine was probably doing the same. "So, one can only assume that you dragged in the poor orphaned Hobbit to assist you in your charade, perhaps finding him sleeping in a ditch after being out of work for so long - because face it, nobody wants a miniature actor except for the writers who enjoy working with the freakishly small -"

And that pretty much did it. All the frustration Kurt had been feeling about _not _being able to be close to his boyfriend - their refraining from slow dancing as to not offend the rest of the school's tiny moral codes - exploded. Tugging on Blaine's hand, he spun his boyfriend towards him and pulled him in for a heated kiss.

As soon as their lips collided, Kurt was suddenly aware of what he was doing. They hadn't done _this _before, both boys wanting to wait until they felt it was the right time. But even though it was to prove a point to his old cheerleading coach - someone who _shouldn't _have a say in his life anymore - it was still amazing. Somehow it summed up everything that they had been fighting for all of their lives; their relationship was always going to be judged and hated, but they could fight back. They could stand up for themselves and each other.

Kurt broke away slowly, staring into Blaine's eyes for a few seconds before turning back to Sue. "Was that good enough?"

He finally saw the woman without words. After a few seconds of silence, a couple making out in the middle of the dance floor caught her eye, and Sue stormed off to take her ire out on them.

"Very," Blaine murmured from beside him and Kurt turned back to him to see a soft smile on his face,"_very_ good."

Kurt grinned. "How about we skip out on the rest of Prom and go see how much _better _we can make it?"

* * *

**Okay, I totally admit it. I had so much fun writing Sue. I know it's nothing on the Sue we see on the episodes, but she's still fun**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Furious!Rachel is funny. She goes off rampaging and ranting, and while she's distracted with that we steal her horrible socks and burn them. **_

_**Revenge on the council for 'trying too hard'? We never got around to that... So how 'bout this:**_

_***making out***_

_**"Hello, fellow War- EWWW! Guys, on the council table? Seriously?"**_

_***still making out***_

_**"GUYS!"**_

_***bitch glare* "Do you MIND? We're a bit busy here." *goes back to making out***_

_**And that's why Wes burned the Council table. The school board wasn't very happy, and ask Blaine and Kurt to help pick out a new table.**_

_**A very... pink table... with gavels on it... and unicorns...**_


	111. Touch

**Thanks to everybody who said I did alright with Sue's portrayal last chapter :) **

**So I saw Duets for the first time two days ago and immediately bought River Deep Mountain High which I have already listened to 16 times and is definitely making its way into my Top 25 most played on iTunes. I can't believe I never saw that episode... and that scene with Kurt and Burt just near broke my heart and made me realize why Burt and Blaine seem to (from what we've seen) get along so well - Blaine is what Burt wanted for Kurt, his chance to be out and proud with his boyfriend who might be scared too, but is willing to be with Kurt. **

**By the way, we're close to halfway through this story. Wow...**

**From **_**Syaoran-Lover: BLaine may not have hugged Kurt or similar, but when Kurt got to his knees while saying "they can't touch us!", Blaine was inclining towards him with a smug expression on his face. I'm willing to bet he could have kissed Kurt at that moment (and the cameras just didn't show it! XP). you could say something about the "touch me" to. like, "they can't, but I sure can touch you... and I will" or something. LOL**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Touch

"Wasn't this prom supposed to be about redemption?"

Blaine looked up from where he was sitting against the lockers. He had managed to get Kurt to join him in an attempt to calm down once his boyfriend had stopped crying, but now Kurt was back on his feet, pacing. Except something had changed in his voice, and Blaine realized he had made a decision.

"What are you going to do?"

Kurt turned to face him. "I'm going to go back in there and get coronated. I'm going to show them that it doesn't matter if they are yelling at me, or whispering behind my back; they can't touch me. They can't touch _us_, or what we have." Kurt dropped to his knees in front of him and Blaine moved forward, reaching out to touch his arm. Kurt's face was alight with passion and determination and Blaine had never been more in love with his boyfriend than he was right at that moment.

_Love?_

They hadn't said the word yet. Blaine wanted it to be special the first time they shared it. He wanted more than a high school relationship where 'love' was tossed around like a hacky sack, and so they had promised to keep the word until they were sure.

But seeing Kurt here right now, willing to go in there and face public embarrassment and hatred to stand up for _both of them _- well, that was enough for Blaine.

"They can't. And they'll never know what we have either," he breathed, running his fingers down Kurt's arm to take his hand. "In that room are a bunch of people who have never had to fight for a relationship. They just get what they want whenever. They don't know what it's like for us, to fight through every single odd to get this. They don't know how _special _it makes it."

Kurt squeezed his hand, his eyes still glowing. "No, they don't," he agreed. "And they never will."

They stared into each other's eyes for a moment before Blaine decided, _to hell with it. _In his mind, nothing else could be more perfect than now.

"I love you, Kurt."

Kurt blinked a couple of times before an impossibly _beautiful _smile crossed his face. "Really?"

"Really." Blaine didn't care if Kurt wasn't ready to say the words back - seeing how Kurt responded to being told he was loved was more than enough for Blaine.

But Kurt had other ideas. "I love you too, Blaine."

It felt like someone had lit his heart on fire in the best way possible. All Blaine could do was smile, staring into his boyfriend's eyes and trying to read all of the wonderful emotions dancing there.

And then the fire exploded. Because Kurt had just leant in and brushed their lips together.

Blaine was pressing back before his mind had caught up, seeking the feeling and taste of Kurt's lips like they were the only things that mattered to him. A hand was resting against his face and Blaine mimicked the action, running his fingers along Kurt's impossibly smooth cheek. And all the time, their lips danced together like they were made to do this.

After what was far too short a time in Blaine's opinion, Kurt pulled away. His fingers traced small circles into Blaine's cheek and the smile on his face made Blaine want to pull him back in, to feel those lips against his again.

"We need to go back in there." Kurt sniffed, wiping the last of his tears from his cheeks and chuckling slightly. "I must look a mess."

"You're beautiful," Blaine murmured, running his thumb across one of the tear tracks on Kurt's face. "Nothing can take that away from you."

Blaine reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of tissues, holding them out to Kurt. His boyfriend looked as if he wanted to ask why exactly Blaine had tissues but refrained, something Blaine was thankful for. He remembered how his last prom had ended, and while he didn't want to be pessimistic, he knew there was potential for the night to go badly, if not be ruined completely. And some might say it had, but Blaine would beg to differ and he knew Kurt would say the same. Yes, there had been low points and might still be some more, but nothing could ruin what they had just shared.

But if Kurt ever did ask, Blaine would tell him the half-truth - that he knew Kurt would probably cry when one of the girls was crowned Prom Queen, because Kurt was a hopeless romantic like that.

Blaine stood, holding out a hand to help Kurt up. As Kurt stood, Blaine realized he was glowing and the look on his face was completely indescribable. He might be going back in to face a rampantly homophobic school body who just voted him in for Prom Queen as a sick joke, but he was going to stand up there and face it. No matter how scared he might be - and Blaine knew Kurt well enough to know he wasn't fearless at all - he was doing it.

It was enough for Blaine to pull him back in for another kiss, smiling against his lips before pulling away. "You really are amazing, and I really am completely crazy about you."

Kurt just smiled before they turned to make their way into the auditorium. Blaine stopped at the door. "You go in first, okay?"

Kurt nodded, taking a deep breath before holding his head high and pushing open the doors.

* * *

**And of course, we know what happens next.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE. SUE SYLVESTER IS NEVER SPEECHLESS. She LIES!"**_

_**"So, Sue, tell us what you thought about Blaine."**_

_**"You mean love child of a hobbit and Schuester? Well, he's a midget, therefore I couldn't shoot him out of a cannon during one of my Cheerio's performances because his height would mess up his landing. But maybe if I launch him *just* right, it would destroy that disgusting bush on top of his head. It's almost like Curly's, ("Um, that's Mr Schue, I think, but it's Sue, so who knows?") and normally I would be worried about the little people jumping from his hair while he danced to try to invade out world, but it appears that he suffocated them with all of that sickening hair gel."**_

_**"Um, thanks Sue..."**_

_**"This is a message to the people of America: one day, I WILL control you, and the first thing I will do is shave the head of every person with curly hair."**_

_**Sorry, but the Glee! Talkshow is having some technical difficulties. Please stand by.**_

_**...did I do Sue justice? I know you did, but I'm not sure about me...**_ (this is for you guys to answer! Put it in the reviews and I'll pass the message on)


	112. Spontaneous

**To anybody who watched me publicly break down on Tumblr last night, I'm sorry you saw that happen. To everybody who proceeded to send me messages, whether anonymous or not, telling me to stay strong and that it'll get better and that you all love me, you all helped, I promise. Thank you so much. And thank you to everybody who reads and reviews this because every review helps too. ****For anybody who doesn't know what I'm rambling about, it doesn't matter anymore because my life is going back on track. For anybody who didn't know it was off track... yeah, ignore all of this ;)**

**To _MusicalEscape_, these people all thought you got the Sue impression dead on - _KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek, KlainebowKlisses, littlemarsz, mysticrain4, Klaineforthewin, BrokenSnow.X, Secrets of the Fall, WishesintheNightSky, Chasing Aspirations, ShevyLikeTheCar, sassy selena, Queen of Drama13, 13xgreeniex13 _and_ SragonZ_. And me :)**

**From **_**Broken Gold: Completely Spontaneously**_

**Spontaneous... half. It's certainly spontaneous in Blaine's eyes.**

* * *

Spontaneous

"Truth or dare... Kurt!"

Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes. "Truth," he said, sitting up and crossing his legs. For some reason, when Nick, Jeff, Wes and David had cornered him after his last class and informed him he was playing truth or dare with them, he hadn't fought with them. The boys loved pulling out the game whenever they could but usually Kurt never joined in - nobody could ever think of anything original to ask so they always ended up asking the same questions..

"Who do you like?"

_Like that one. _

Kurt sighed, figuring that getting it over and done with was the best bet. "Blaine," he muttered, staring down at the carpet. _Why did you pick today to join in? _

Well, at least Blaine had gone out for the afternoon - his mother's birthday was coming up and he needed to get her a present - otherwise he would be here too. Blaine might love playing the game, but Kurt didn't want his confession of feelings to be in the middle of a game like this.

"Kurt?" Jeff poked his knee lightly and he looked up to see everyone's attention on him, Wes and David lowering their hands suspiciously as if they had just shared a high-five. "It's alright, we all knew anyway."

Kurt groaned. "Great. Does that mean he does too?"

Wes snorted. "Yeah right. Blaine's completely oblivious. Anyway, it's your turn to ask someone."

"Fine. Jeff, truth or dare?"

Jeff deliberated for a second. "Dare."

Kurt grinned. "Kiss Wes."

Amidst the splutters and complaints, Kurt allowed himself to drift back to his thoughts. _So, Blaine doesn't know, just everyone else? _Kurt had thought he had been fairly subtle with his attraction to his friend, but the fact that everybody knew was concerning.

Laughter rose as Jeff leant in, pecking Wes on the lips quickly before moving back and wrinkling his nose. Wes shuddered theatrically before laughing. "Not the first time I've had to kiss a guy in truth or dare."

The game continued, Kurt drifting in and out of focus while he thought about Blaine. Now that he knew that everybody else knew, he had started worrying about someone telling Blaine or about it slipping out accidentally.. and what would happen the next time he played this game with Blaine and they asked -

"Kurt?"

"Huh? Oh, dare."

The second the word slipped out of his mouth, he winced. Looking up, he saw a group of evil smirks and groaned. "What are you going to do to me?"

Nick laughed. "Well, since you made my boyfriend kiss Wes, I think it's only fair that you have to kiss someone."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Okay, David, right?"

"Blaine."

He froze, staring frantically at Nick. "No, you're kidding... aren't you?"

Nick shook his head, smirk still firmly in place. Kurt immediately began to think. _Okay, it's fine, just tell him the guys dared you to and get it over with... _"Okay."

"Oh, and you're not allowed to tell him it's a dare." Nick folded his arms, looking satisfied. Wes and David shared another high-five and Kurt glared at them.

"Come on, that's not fair!"

Jeff rolled his eyes at the rest of the boys who were looking immensely proud of themselves. "Obviously you all don't remember what it was like to kiss someone for the first time, not knowing whether they wanted it or not. And we were all _in _relationships when that happened."

With that, the guys pulled themselves together. Nick looked sheepish, Wes and David not as much. "A dare's a dare," Wes reminded them. "Just do it spontaneously, and see what happens."

Kurt grumbled under his breath and crossed his arms, refusing to join in for the rest of the game as his mind worked in overdrive. _How am I meant to go up to Blaine, the guy I __love __and kiss him like it means nothing?_

* * *

Three days later and Kurt was a nervous wreck. Every time he had seen Blaine, his mind had reminded him of the kiss that was still pending and he found himself making excuses to get out of wherever he was as quickly as possible. It didn't help that the other boys were winking and muttering things under their breath any time they saw Kurt beginning to feel awkward.

It _really _didn't help that Blaine looked like a kicked puppy any time Kurt made up an excuse, and he knew if he dragged it out any longer then Blaine would be confronting him and asking what was going on.

So, completely spontaneously? He could do that, right?

Blaine was standing in a group of Warblers, laughing about something. Kurt had just entered the room and was about to turn and run when he stopped himself. _No, this ends now._

Blaine had his back to Kurt, but David caught his eye questioningly. Kurt nodded and the boy broke into a huge grin, elbowing Wes who was beside him. Kurt knew that any second, Blaine would realize something was going on, and Kurt needed the element of surprise on his side to get through it.

Striding up to the group, he heard the tail end of a conversation spearheaded by Cameron. "- and then she decided I'd make a good _coatrack _and threw all of her bags on me while she kept shopping..."

Kurt tapped Blaine on the shoulder and the boy turned to face him. Before he could say anything or even show any signs of recognition, Kurt grabbed his shoulders and pulled him in, kissing him. All conversation ceased as everybody stared at the two kissing boys. Kurt broke the contact quickly and turned, walking away briskly as the tears filled his eyes. _There you go, dare done. Now you can pretend this never happened._

This time it was a hand on his shoulder, pulling him back to meet Blaine's eyes which were _burning. _"You don't just _do _that and walk away," he growled and Kurt's heart sunk, snapped in two, disintegrated...

"Because then I can't do _this_." Blaine reached one hand around the back of Kurt's head, pulling them together so their lips met again. And this time Kurt actually let himself feel what was going on - the pressure of Blaine's lips against his, seeking him out; Blaine's hand twisting lightly in his hair. He snaked his own arms around Blaine's neck, pulling him closer and feeling his heart beating almost out of his chest because he had never thought this would actually _happen_.

Blaine pulled away first this time, resting his forehead against Kurt's. Kurt blocked out the sounds of the other Warblers wolf whistling and cheering, instead focusing on the myriad of emotions glittering behind Blaine's eyes.

"So why did you walk away?"

Kurt chuckled. "I'll tell you some day. Maybe."

* * *

**You've got to wonder just how long Kurt kept that a secret! After all, if he said it right then that it was truth or dare, Blaine would be crushed. I can just imagine it coming out when they get married or something ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape: **

_**Hello, this is a documentary to explore what exactly is in Blaine's pocket after thr prom "tissue" event.**_

_**Hm... here's a pair of Dalton Academy dress pants. Let's see... pencil, small notebook with song ideas...**_

_**Let's see, right pocket: gum, mints, tissues, a hankerchief... seriously Blaine? I know you're dapper, but a hankerchief? Hmm... a thumbdrive, library card.**_

_**Left pocket: a pen... wallet... in the wallet is about $50, his school ID, a picture of Cheerio Kurt... that can be used as blackmail, later.**_

_**"HEY!"**_

_**Oh, hi Blaine. *starts running***_

_**"GIVE BACK THE PICTURE!"**_

_**Mmm... nope. Bye!**_


	113. Conspire

**Angela has been dying for me to publish this one and I'm glad we're finally up to it :) **

**From **_**Broken Gold: The staff of the coffee shop conspire to get them together**_

**This would totally be me and Angela. You all know it. So... ;)**

**Angela and I were talking and I asked her what she'd say if Kurt sat down and said the stuff to her that he's saying in the story. She replied with a sentence and my eyes lit up and I went "We are TOTALLY doing this!" So the part with Angela and Kurt's dialogue is a roleplay. Enjoy!**

**An important note: This is the first chapter where we don't actually **_**see **_**the kiss - as in, 'we' are not there at the time. You'll understand why once you read it. If this bothers you... well, you were warned.**

* * *

Conspire

"It's so obvious that they like each other!"

Angela nodded, wiping down the counter. "I mean look at him!" She gestured subtly to the dark-haired boy who was laughing at something the other boy had said, reaching out to touch his hand lightly. The other boy blushed lightly but continued talking, a soft smile playing around his face.

Sarah bit her lip, trying not to squeal out loud. "They're adorable too. I don't understand why people don't want them to be together."

"Neither." Angela shrugged, tossing her cloth in the bin and heading over to the counter to take the orders of a couple who had just walked in. Sarah busied herself with the coffee machine, sneaking a peek over at the two boys in the meantime. Of course it was a little bit weird that they were spending their time spying on two guys, but they were honestly too cute for words.

The two Dalton boys had been coming to the coffee shop for quite some time now, and any time she or Angela had a shift they would end up invariably watching the two interact. There had been a few situations that had made them cringe - watching them fight, then seeing the lighter-haired boy just sitting there looking lost. Then the situation with the girl who _kissed_ the dark-haired boy, but watching the two boys make up was more than worth it. Yet, they didn't know so much as the two boys names - both girls loved watching, but neither were willing to pry into the lives of their customers.

"What are they doing?" Angela leant over, pretending to help Sarah with the coffees as they both peered at the two boys.

"_Blaine!" _

Sarah bit her lip again, but she couldn't stop the smile crossing her face. The dark-haired boy - Blaine, it seemed - had just scooped up a small pile of froth from his friend's coffee and smeared it on his nose. It was adorable.

"I think that's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Are they a couple yet, do you think?"

Sarah shrugged. "I don't know. I don't think so." She studied the two boys again as the machine whirred. Handing over the coffees to the other customer, she stepped back to put the boys in her line of sight again, only to find that Blaine had stood, clearly taking a call on his phone. As he walked away, the other boy gazed after him with so much longing in his eyes that Angela actually squealed, thankfully muffling it with her hand.

"Did you _see _that?"

Sarah rolled her eyes but she was grinning. "Yes, I did. Clearly they're not together, but he _wants _to be."

Angela grabbed a plate, sticking a couple of biscuits on it. "I've got an idea."

Without any explanation, the brunette girl strode out from behind the counter and over to the table. Sarah immediately turned away, not wanting to be caught looking and biting back a smile. _What is that girl doing this time?_

Within moments, Angela was back. "His name's Kurt," she announced quietly. "And he says thanks."

Angela turned away to serve another customer and Sarah deemed it safe to turn around. Blaine had returned and the two boys were talking quietly, Kurt snapping one of the biscuits in half and handing it over with a shy smile. Sarah smiled, knowing that they had just entered themselves into the impending relationship, and not minding too much at all.

* * *

Angela had just finished a long and boring shift and was handing over to Doug when the door flew open and in strode a very familiar boy. _Kurt._

As Angela removed her apron and grabbed her handbag, she heard Kurt making his usual order, but sounding a lot more terse than usual. Doug scribbled it down and was about to move over to the coffee machine when she beat him to it. "He's a friend of sorts," she explained to his questioning glance. "I'll take it over."

Making the coffee in record time, Angela grabbed a biscuit for good measure and headed over to the table. She set it down in front of Kurt who had been glaring at the table top, and he raised surprised eyes to meet hers. "Oh, you didn't have to."

"I wanted to. Mind if I join you?"

He smiled, albeit slightly strained. "Not at all."

Angela pulled out the other seat and sat, watching Kurt stir his coffee absent mindedly. She gave him a minute before asking, "What's on your mind?"

He shrugged. "Just some stuff with my friend..."

"Blaine?" Angela watched with amusement as Kurt looked at her, surprise written all over his face. "You come here a lot," she added as explanation.

"Ah. Yes, it is Blaine. We've just... well, it wasn't a fight." Angela breathed a silent sigh of relief, remembering how painful the last fight had been on her and Sarah. "We just disagreed over certain ways our school does things."

Angela raised an eyebrow, an art she had only recently perfected and was very proud of. "Why were you arguing over _school_?"

"It wasn't so much school." Kurt propped his head on his elbow, taking a sip of his coffee before continuing. "We're both Warblers - show choir," he added when Angela looked confused. "And he always gets solos and I get jealous."

Angela tried not to smirk. _I'm sure that's not the only thing you're worried about. _As she worked on keeping her face neutral, she realized Kurt had continued talking.

"... I mean, it's not like he doesn't _deserve_ solos or anything. His voice is exquisite, it literally blows me away any time he sings and I just fall more in love with him ... and I absolutely did not just say that." Kurt's eyes jerked up, looking afraid and Angela's heart went out to him. Clearly he was used to people judging him for his feelings, and all she could do was treat him exactly the way she'd treat any other friend in this situation.

Angela smiled indulgently. "It's okay, Kurt. I already knew you had feelings for him. No offense or anything, but it's really obvious. And I'm _certain _that he likes you back."

"I - what? How did you know?" The boy looked stunned and Angela chuckled, reaching out a hand to touch his across the table.

"Come on. You two flirt _all the time_. And sometimes you two just get lost in each other...it's ridiculously cute!" She had to suppress a squeal as she recalled one of their creepy-yet-cute staring sessions.

Kurt frowned. "We do, don't we? I thought I was making it all up, after the fiasco of Valentines Day... and he's still done nothing about it," he added under his breath, immediately arousing Angela's curiosity.

"What's all this about a Valentine's Day fiasco?" she asked, frowning. "You were so happy just before. Sarah said it was something about Blaine knowing your coffee order."

Kurt shook his head. "You two really do know a lot, don't you?" He sighed, frowning again. "I thought he had feelings for me, he ended up meaning someone else and sung to him, it failed miserably, I admitted my own feelings and that's where it ended. He hinted at reciprocal feelings, told me he didn't want to screw things up and ever since then, we've just been friends. I guess I don't know what to think now."

Angela blushed sheepishly, not wanting to admit just how much she and Sarah had been stalking these two boys. "You learn a lot by observing the regulars." she said breezily, hoping that the subject could be successfully glossed over. "And whatever crap he said on Valentine's Day was probably just a cover-up. Trust me, hun. He's _totally_ into you."

"Then why would he not just _tell _me?"

"Boys are temperamental." she said, sympathetically patting his hand. "He probably just needs a wake up call. But he'll come around eventually. You'll see."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "You do realize _I'm _a boy as well?" But he looked slightly mollified by her previous words. "You really think he feels the same way? Should I ask him?"

"I'm sure you're temperamental too." she said teasingly. "And, well...I'm not sure. You don't want to put him in an uncomfortable spot. And in case you didn't know, he already admitted to having feelings for you too. Honestly, I'm not sure what's stopping you two. Oh!" her face lit up. "I know! Just go up and plant one on him! Perfect! No words needed." She brushed imaginary dirt from her shoulder, looking very self-satisfied.

Kurt simply rolled his eyes. "You saw what happened the last time someone 'planted one' on Blaine, I presume? After all, it happened here."

"Well...this is different." Angela flushed again. "Plus, he decided that he was gay, right? It's impossible for him _not_ to be interested. And that Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal thing? Adorable!"

Now it was Kurt's turn to blush, but there was a soft smile playing around the corners of his lips. "I still don't know whether he's quite picked up on the meaning. Anyway, I don't plan on kissing him without knowing for sure he wants to be kissed back." A shadow passed over his eyes quickly, but it was gone as soon as Angela blinked. "Plus, after all the time I've spent waiting for him, I think he should be the one to make the first move - if he feels the same, that is."

Angela rolled her eyes. "How can he have _not_ picked up the meaning? Everybody knows they get together in the end! Duh!" She hesitated briefly. "I understand how you feel, about wanting him to make the first move. But...he seems to be quite oblivious for a seemingly smart guy."

"And I'm actually quite scared for a seemingly brave guy," Kurt shot back. "I've loved Blaine for too long now, and been his friend for even longer, to want to do something now and screw it up. I want to be 100% sure that he feels the same before doing anything. Besides, don't I _deserve _someone chasing after me for a change?"

Angela raised her hands defensively. "Of course you deserve it. Everyone deserves to be chased and wanted. But how much longer are you willing to wait for him?"

"Too long," Kurt murmured softly. "He means too much to me to give up on."

"You love him." She said, a small smile gracing her features. "And, as cliche as it sounds, it'll all work out. I promise."

Kurt smiled back, looking hesitantly hopeful. "Yeah, I think it might." He drained his coffee cup and stood. "Well, I'd best get back. Homework to do, songs to rehearse, boys to seduce, you know."

He winked as Angela stood, laughing. "Well, you enjoy that."

"I will." He grabbed his bag, swinging it over his shoulder. "And thank you."

Kurt turned and left, leaving a smiling Angela to grab her own bag and make her way out of the coffee shop. Pulling out her phone, she found Sarah's number and called it, knowing there was a long gossip session ahead for the two girls.

* * *

It was only a couple of days later that another appearance was made, but this time it was only Blaine. Sarah served him, noticing he looked subdued and thoughtful. Angela wasn't working that day, and there were only two other customers in the shop so Sarah was bored out of her brain.

After cleaning every flat surface behind the counter and finding nothing else to do, Sarah watched the boy for a moment. Blaine was staring at the table, biting his lip occasionally and stirring his still un-drunk coffee. Sarah debated with herself for a few seconds (_'He's a customer! You can't just go and talk to a customer when you're on shift!' 'Angela does it!'_) before grabbing herself a glass of water and heading over.

"Um, hi. Mind if I sit?"

Blaine looked up, smiling politely. "Of course not, have a seat."

Sarah sat, smiling back at the slightly confused looking boy. "I'm Sarah. And you're Blaine," she added, as he opened his mouth to introduce himself. "You come here a lot. We learn these things."

Blaine shook his head, chuckling. "Fair enough. So what brings you over here when you should be behind the counter?"

"You look..." Sarah searched for the words. "Confused. And a bit lonely. So I thought I'd come and see if everything's alright."

Blaine looked honestly touched. "Thank you, I appreciate it. And I guess there is a lot on my mind, I'm not too sure of what to do with it to be honest."

"Talk about it?" Sarah knew she might be overstepping her mark, but she had a hunch it was about Kurt. Angela had told her about her conversation with the other boy, and Sarah was wondering whether something had happened between the two boys.

"It's a little ... unconventional." Blaine shrugged, a light blush colouring his face.

Sarah laughed. "It's about Kurt, isn't it?" Blaine looked stunned and glanced down before nodding. Sarah knew he had caught sight of her cross necklace. "It's alright. I'm not going to judge you or anything, promise."

"Alright." Blaine stared at the table for a few moments before looking back up. "His bird died."

Sarah couldn't help herself; she snorted. "That definitely wins for most interesting story starter."

Blaine chuckled as well. "I know. It gets weirder - he burst into our show choir meeting, all dressed in black and sung _Blackbird_, and we all joined in on harmony without any of us ever having sung the song before."

"I seriously want to meet your school." Sarah wasn't kidding. _These boys sound incredible._

"We're a bit odd. But anyway, I'm sitting there singing along, and Kurt turns in my direction. And there's tears streaming down his face and the sunlight streaming through the window hits him _just _right and the next thing I knew, the song was over and I ... well, I was in love with Kurt."

Sarah was making a huge effort to stop herself from squealing, but concentrated on the boy in front of her who was looking far less cheerful than she had thought he would. "Well, what are you doing here? Go tell him that!"

Blaine sighed, and it seemed to come from deep within. "I can't."

"You have nothing to be nervous about -"

"I'm not nervous." Blaine looked up, slightly apologetic at having interrupted her but continued talking. "I just - I've screwed everything up in the past. I went on a date with the girl who ended up with the last guy he had a crush on. I sung to some other guy without realizing that Kurt wanted me to sing to _him_, but at least I had the sense to tell Kurt I didn't want to hurt him, which was true. And still is," he added. "And then I told him he looked like he had gas pain when he was trying to be sexy -"

"What?" Sarah exclaimed, before clapping a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, her face flushing red.

Blaine simply smiled, shaking his head. "It's fine, I know how it sounds. We were practicing a number and ... anyway, it's not important. Long story short, I should have lost my _friendship _with Kurt a long time ago, let alone any chance at being in a relationship. What if I ask him out and then I do something _stupid _and ruin everything and hurt him and he never talks to me again and -"

"Blaine, stop." Sarah reached out, placing her hand on his. "Take a minute to think about what you're saying here. Think about Kurt - is he the kind of person to give up on you the second you do something wrong?"

Blaine ducked his head. "No," he admitted quietly. "He's waited for me this long."

"Exactly." Sarah knew she was going out on a limb, after all she didn't know Kurt. But she just wanted to see the two boys _happy_. "Kurt has waited for you, and he knows you're not perfect by any means. All you can do is _try_. Don't give up on a chance at a relationship because you're worried about what _might _happen, Blaine. Take what you've got now, because things change too fast for us to worry about the future."

Sarah knew her expressions were plain across her face as Blaine surveyed her. "You're speaking from experience?"

She nodded. "My ex... sort of decided I wasn't worth it. I wasted a good five months pining over him, but I wouldn't trade that for the few months we had together. I couldn't - it taught me so much about myself after all."

Blaine's hand squeezed Sarah's reassuringly. "Blaine, I don't want Kurt to be the boyfriend that ends up being your lessons learned as you walk away from the end of the relationship heartbroken. But the only thing that would be worse is walking away without trying. If Kurt is who you say he is, he's worth risking everything for."

Sarah looked up again to see the determination in Blaine's eyes, and she knew she'd gotten through to him. "Bring him here when you've asked him out, and coffee will be on the house."

"Well, that just sealed the deal." Blaine chuckled, before the bell rang over the door.

Sarah sighed, standing up as a few customers walked in. "Better get back to work then. Good luck, Blaine."

Leaving the boy to drink his coffee, Sarah walked back across to the counter and began to serve. As she glanced over, she saw Blaine pull out a notebook and began to scribble down notes. _Hopefully he's planning something romantic, _she thought to herself as she began to make another coffee.

* * *

"So, was your ex there?"

Sarah nodded, emptying the coffee dregs into the trash. "And?"

"And I did exactly what you suggested," Sarah replied, letting a smile cross her face as Angela punched the air in joy.

"How did he take it?"

Sarah thought back to the previous night and the reaction she had gotten out of the boy. "Well, he wanted to know who this friend was and why she wanted to come after him with a machete, but I was already walking away at that point. He kept a wide berth for the rest of the night."

"As long as you know that I _will _do it if you need me to." Sarah couldn't quite tell if Angela was serious or not, but decided to hope that the girl was joking.

Stepping into the back room for another bag of coffee beans, Sarah heard the bell ring over the door. There was a gasp from out the front, then; "Sarah!"

Frowning, Sarah turned and headed back behind the counter. She was about to ask what the drama was about when she found herself staring at two boys who were all but _beaming _at them from the front of the counter. Kurt and Blaine were standing there, their hands linked together. Kurt was winking in Angela's direction, while Blaine was staring straight at Sarah, a grateful smile on his lips.

"About time!" Angela broke the silence, and suddenly it was a hubbub of noise. Kurt had broken contact with Blaine and was right in front of Angela, telling her all about what had happened. Sarah briefly heard something about 'kissed me,' and 'duet,' before Blaine was there.

"I see all went well," Sarah said, smiling at the boy who looked like he couldn't quite believe his luck.

"You were right. He's worth it." Blaine shook his head, reaching out to thread his fingers through Kurt's again.

Kurt turned, smiling at Blaine. "What was that?"

"I said you're worth risking everything for."

Kurt's face lit up and he leant in, kissing Blaine on the lips. Angela clapped her hands together and Sarah couldn't help the squeal that escaped. "You two are adorable!" Angela exclaimed as they broke apart.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah saw a couple of patrons looking their way and frowning, muttering things under their breath. She glared at them until they caught her eye and ducked their heads, looking suitably chastened. Sarah didn't care if it lost her her job, she wasn't going to have any homophobia in their coffee shop. Those two boys were going to be given the same rights as any other couple.

"So," she said, turning her attention back to the two boys. "How about that coffee?"

* * *

**That's totally what we would do :)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Wait a second... I just realized something... MERCEDES! She keeps cockblocking Klaine!**_

**_The kiss:_**

**_"We should... we should practice..."_**

**_"I thought we were..."_**

**_*Making out*_**

**_*RANDOM RED KEYBOARD*_**

**_"Mama said get your ass out of bed... I said HELL TO THE NO!"_**

**_I love you's..._**

**_"...I sang on a Broadway stage..."_**

**_"I love you."_**

**_"...I love you too!"_**

**_"you know, when you stop and think about it, Kurt Hummel's had a pretty good year."_**

**_"OH! Look who's here!"_**

**_MERCEDES... I thought you shipped Klaine..._**


	114. Elevator

**My heart goes out to all of those who are dealing with the London Riots right now. I hope you all stay safe and take care of yourselves and those close to you. **

**Gmail and I had an epic battle last night. It decided to delete my account for no reason, so I had to switch over to my secondary/beta email account and redirect all of my reviews there. Then I tried to reset but instead of just being able to chuck in a code or answer a question, I had to supply email addresses of people I'd emailed recently and folders I had and dates of activation and all this stuff. Thank goodness I won!**

**WARBLERS IN SEASON THREE WARBLERS IN SEASON THREE WARBLERS IN SEASON THREE!**

**From **_**believer123: Kurt and Blaine are in an elevator, just anywhere, maybe at the mall or **__**something, and it breaks. During this, they get talking about stuff, it moves **__**on to feelings and well...**_

**At this time I'm playing an online game of Never Have I Ever with **_**keariel **_**which I love... and who I love. Shout out to _keariel _for being awesome! So I thought this would work :)**

* * *

Elevator

"Are we done yet?"

Blaine knew he sounded whiny, but he couldn't help it. Kurt had convinced him to go shopping - one of the world's worst evils in Blaine's opinion. But somehow Kurt had neglected that on top of finding a birthday present for Mercedes (which took an _hour _in itself) he wanted to 'go into a couple of stores.'

Kurt rolled his eyes. "There's still heaps of stores left, Blaine."

"Yes, but we've spent three hours in the past seven. I don't know if I can handle any more shopping." Blaine shifted the bags between his arms and sighed.

"Just one more on the ground floor, okay? Then we can go."

Blaine sighed, but stopped when Kurt headed for the stairs. "Not a chance! We're taking the elevator."

Kurt grumbled something about him being a wimp, but obediently headed towards the elevator. Blaine hit the button and the doors opened immediately, revealing an empty elevator cart. Dropping the bags on the floor, he heaved a sigh of relief as Kurt hit the button for the ground floor. Blaine sunk to the ground, leaning against the wall as Kurt chuckled. "You know you're only going to have to get up in a second -"

And with that proclamation, the elevator stopped moving and the lights went out. Kurt let out a shriek and Blaine could hear him fumbling around in the dark. "Kurt, stay still," he said quickly, "you're only going to end up hurting yourself." Kurt stopped moving but Blaine could hear his breathing, harsh with fear. "It's alright. The emergency lights will come on any second and then we can see if the phone's working to call for help."

At that, the dim lights flickered on and Kurt made a beeline for the floor, sitting down next to Blaine and wrapping his arms around him. Blaine pulled Kurt into his side, secretly reveling in the close contact. "Sorry," Kurt muttered. "I'm a bit claustrophobic, it's usually fine but just knowing we're trapped here..."

"It'll be fine, Kurt." Blaine ran his hands over Kurt's back soothingly. "Once you're feeling a bit calmer, I'll try the emergency phone, alright?"

Kurt nodded, staying in the embrace for a few more seconds before pulling away. Blaine bit back a sigh at the loss of contact before getting up and trying the phone. Which, of course, was dead. "Okay, I think we're stuck here for a little bit. Looks like power's out to the entire centre, but it'll be fine. They won't forget we're in here."

Blaine sat back down next to Kurt, wrapping an arm around the boy who still looked shaky. "Tell you what, we'll play a game to pass the time."

"What kind of game?"

Blaine thought for a second before snapping his fingers. "Let's play Never Have I Ever!"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that the drunken party game where everybody basically spills their sexcapades and does shots?"

"Um..." Blaine shrugged. "Usually. But we don't have to play it that way. Just say whether you've done the thing or not, and we'll keep it PG. The last thing we need is to have people find out we spent all afternoon sitting in an elevator talking about sex." Kurt laughed, which had been Blaine's goal. If he kept the younger boy distracted, hopefully he wouldn't freak out if their rescue took longer than anticipated. "Okay, I'll go first. Never have I ever..." Blaine racked his brain, thinking of a good starting point. "Spent more than half an hour on my hair."

"Do I even need to answer?" Kurt gestured to his perfectly styled hair. "Do you think this styles itself?"

Blaine chuckled as Kurt thought. "Never have I ever... done a performance other than with a Glee club."

"Really?"

Kurt nodded. "There's not exactly much in the way of performances in Lima. I'm assuming you have?"

"Yeah. Kings Island Christmas Spectacular, remember?"

Kurt didn't answer for a second and Blaine looked over to see a slightly dreamy expression on his face. The next second, Kurt snapped out of it but Blaine was left wondering what had caused that reaction. "Okay. Your turn then."

"Right. Never have I ever dyed my hair."

Once again there was no reply from Kurt, but this time he was looking at the ground, blushing. Blaine bit his lip to stop the laughter that was bubbling up. "You have?" he managed to get out.

Kurt glared. "Temporarily, I'll have you know. Never have I ever _gelled _my hair within an inch of its life."

"Oh wow, I wonder." Blaine rolled his eyes, grinning. "What colour?"

"Red. It's your turn."

But the game was put on hold as Blaine turned his head on an angle, staring at Kurt's hair and trying to imagine the boy as a red-head. It wasn't working. "Why on earth did you dye your hair red? And by red, do you mean brown-y red or Weasley red?"

Kurt sighed. "I'll tell you once you've had your turn."

"Fine. Never have I ever flunked a test."

"Never?" Kurt once again raised an eyebrow. "Nerd. I failed a math exam last year. And I dyed my hair red - _not _Weasley red, it almost looked nice, thank you - because Mercedes had gotten a bad hair cut and was feeling self conscious. That way all the attention was on me."

Blaine unconsciously pulled Kurt a little closer to him. "That's a really nice thing to do."

Kurt ducked his head and Blaine knew he was blushing again. But there was a small smile on his face as he looked up, locking eyes with Blaine. "Never have I ever crushed on a celebrity."

"_Never_?" Blaine stared at Kurt, his jaw dropping as the younger boy shook his head. "Kurt Hummel, you are _deprived!_"

"Why, who have you crushed on?"

Blaine waved a hand dismissively. "Far too many to list." He changed the subject quickly before Kurt could ask again, blurting out the first thing he could think of. "Never have I ever... been a cheerleader."

"I have."

Kurt spoke seriously but Blaine paused, expecting the boy to laugh it off. A few seconds passed and his jaw dropped again. "Really?"

"Mm. Not for long, Coach Sylvester did a Madonna thing and 'Cedes and I were looking for somewhere to fit in so we joined the squad. It was a lot of fun."

Blaine tried desperately to keep his thoughts off Kurt as a cheerleader but his mind betrayed him. _That would be so.. _"Hot," he whispered. Kurt looked up at him sharply and Blaine realized he had said it out loud. "Um, it's hot in here, isn't it?" He tugged at the collar of his shirt, laughing nervously.

Kurt was still staring at him, but a smirk was playing around the corners of his mouth. "Really?" he drawled, drawing the word out in a way that made a shiver run down Blaine's spine. "I'm sure. Never have I ever had anybody play with my hair."

"Neither. Though I think that's because nobody wants to with all the gel and stuff." Kurt laughed as Blaine eyed up his hair. "Do you not let people touch yours?"

"I think it's more that people get the impression that I'd flay them alive if they _did_," Kurt admitted. "I wouldn't mind so much if it were the... the right person." His eyes met Blaine's for a moment before ducking and now it was _definitely _too warm in the elevator, especially as Kurt continued talking, murmuring quietly as if he didn't really want to say the words. "Especially if I was caught in a - a moment with them. I really wouldn't mind at all if yo - if they did."

And that was all it took for Blaine to take the chance. Not that it was all that much of a chance, Kurt had all but confessed and he knew it. As Kurt lifted his head, still looking embarrassed and unsure, Blaine leant in slightly. "Never have I ever wanted to kiss someone within a two foot radius."

Kurt's face dropped and Blaine moved closer, murmuring under his breath. "And by never, I mean _always_."

"Well in that case, I can't argue," Kurt breathed, before closing the gap between them.

Blaine's hands were in Kurt's hair immediately as they kissed and he felt Kurt shiver before wrapping his arms around Blaine's waist. Their lips worked together as if they were made for this - and Blaine wondered idly if they _were_. Then all normal thoughts were pulled from his brain as it focused on other more important matters, like the taste of Kurt or the feel of his soft hair running across Blaine's fingertips.

And then the phone rang. Kurt broke away to turn and look at incredulously. "Seriously? You could have called at _any time _but you choose now? Stupid phone..."

He continued to mutter as Blaine chuckled, getting to his feet to answer. "Hello?"

"This is emergency services. How many of you are in there and are you all okay?"

Blaine glanced at Kurt who had finished his grumbling and was now allowing a soft smile to cross his face, touching a hand to his lips lightly. "Two, and we're fine." _Better than fine._

"Well we're working on restoring power but you might be in there for anywhere up to an hour unless we force the doors and get you out. Do you think you can wait it out?"

"I think we'll be fine." Kurt had stood and crossed the small distance between them, wrapping his arms around Blaine's waist. He placed the phone back in its cradle before lightly pushing Kurt up against the wall. "We're stuck here for another hour. Whatever shall we do to pass the time?"

Kurt smirked. "I'll never know," he murmured before crashing their lips together again.

* * *

**Cue cliche ending line! ;) now, everybody imagine Chris Colfer as a redhead for me... and tell me if I'm the only one who thinks it's hot...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**The awesome plan that may involve us paying for dry cleaning:**_

_**Me: Here you are, sweetie- oops! *spills coffee on Kurt***_

_**Kurt: AAAH! *falls bckwards***_

_**Blaine: *catches* Kurt, are you oka-**_

_**Me: *smashes heads together***_

_**And thats how they started making out in the Lima Bean. I still had to pay for dry cleaning, though...**_


	115. Leaving

**For everybody going crazy about my comment (or crazed rant) last chapter about the Warblers being in Season Three, this is where it came from. I couldn't find the actual tweet because I don't follow him, but I have this from a very reliable source. Angela's email to me, with a subject line that can't be repeated in mixed company: "Jon Hall (the beatboxer) tweeted: Can't wait to see what AdamAnders has lined up for season 3!"**

**So, we are very very very optimistic about the fate of our Warbler boys. Just keeping an eye out now for any more tweets that give away the boys going in for filming or recording or anything. Let me know if you see anything to back this up or (I'd almost rather not know but) whether you see something that proves us wrong.**

**Oh, I had a job interview today. I had one last week and never heard back and they promised to call back regardless so .. I don't know. But today's interview was a group interview and it was weird, to say the least. I had to pick a celebrity for some group exercise and you'll all be happy to know I chose Darren Criss and pretty much nobody there knew him. And then I mentioned Glee and I got, "Oh, yeah. Is he that guy who plays Kurt?" Sigh...**

**Anyway, I'm currently battling the second bout of a migraine. Not impressed.**

**From **_**Mrs. Malfoy-Goode: After Kurt meets w/ David in BTW, Kurt meets w/ Blaine to talk it over w/ him (no kiss yet, but they're dating) and then...?**_

**This confused me because I immediately thought 'Warbler David?' So I had to message Mrs. Malfoy-Goode to ask for clarification before realizing it was Dave Karofsky.**

* * *

Leaving

Kurt's emotions were fraying rapidly as he drove back to Dalton. The entire time he had been talking with Karofsky, Kurt had been on tenterhooks, just waiting for the boy to snap and lash out at him. But the whole event had gone well, and there had been a moment of understanding in the boys eyes - rapidly concealed of course - that had given Kurt hope that maybe Dave might come to terms with his own sexuality one day.

But after the excitement had worn off - he was going back to _McKinley_! - and he had hugged his Dad and Finn and hopped back in the car, Kurt had realized.

_Blaine._

Of course Blaine was all for him going back to McKinley. He knew Kurt wouldn't ever be truly happy as a Warbler; and while McKinley was chaotic, dramatic and undeniably homophobic, it was home for Kurt. No, Blaine wasn't going to argue with Kurt's decision. But Blaine was his _boyfriend_. And even though at the moment, boyfriend meant nothing more than occasional hand-holding and more coffee dates and movie nights, he still knew that he loved Blaine and Blaine cared for him a lot, if not loved him back.

And now Kurt was going to go and leave him.

Kurt took a deep breath, then another. It wasn't doing him much good. _Of course it'll be fine, _he told himself sharply, _you've dealt with distance before. It's not like you're moving across the _world _or anything. It's only a couple of hours._

But the words were just words, and his heart knew otherwise. Pulling into Dalton, Kurt felt his heart rising in his throat, his eyes filling. He was always a crier - no matter what the emotion, no matter how insignificant, Kurt always found himself near tears at the worst of times. Right now, the overwhelming mix of emotions was tearing him apart, and Kurt knew he was about to lose it. And walking through the main entrance of Dalton was possibly the worst time for Kurt to cry.

Biting his lip, Kurt ducked his head and rushed through the halls quickly towards his room. As he walked, he realized that of course he wouldn't be alone to deal with his emotions - Blaine would be waiting. Kurt had been called out during class after all, and told Blaine to wait for him later.

Faced with the inevitable, Kurt pushed open his door to see Blaine sitting on his bed.

"So, what hap - Kurt?"

Blaine's brow furrowed in concern as Kurt fell next to him, curled into a ball and began to cry.

He didn't _want _to cry in front of Blaine, and he knew his boyfriend was probably thinking that something horrible had happened - Blaine didn't even know Kurt had gone to McKinley so he probably though it was some kind of family emergency. But once he had started, Kurt couldn't stop.

There was a moment of what Kurt knew was hesitance, then Blaine's arms were wrapping around him. Kurt resisted for a second, before realizing it wasn't pity or obligation that Blaine was offering, but comfort. Unballing his legs, he leant his head into Blaine's shoulder, feeling his tears soak into his boyfriend's blazer and instantly regretting it. But Blaine's arms were on his back, stroking gently, and words were being murmured in his ear and Kurt couldn't bring himself to move away.

Finally, the tears subsided and Kurt sniffed, pulling away to grab a tissue. Blaine's arms were still around him and Kurt rested back against the wall next to his boyfriend. He glanced at Blaine, only to see the boy looking back at him with concern written all over his face.

"Did... I mean, was it - ?" Blaine shook his head, trying to find the words.

"It wasn't my Dad," Kurt said instantly, knowing what Blaine was trying to ask.

Blaine sighed in relief. "Thank goodness, I didn't know how I was going to handle that."

Kurt chuckled and, feeling unusually bold, slipped an arm around Blaine's back so they were mirroring each other's gestures. Ignoring the sudden fluttering of his heart, Kurt leant slightly into Blaine. "No, I went to McKinley."

Blaine frowned. "It didn't go well then?"

"No, it did. Karofsky's agreed to behave and I can go back if I want to." Kurt allowed himself to smile at that, and Blaine smiled in return.

"But that's great, Kurt!"

He nodded, turning to face Blaine fully. "It also means I have to leave Dalton, Blaine. And ... and leave you."

Blaine's face dropped slightly, and Kurt knew it wasn't the first time his boyfriend had thought about it. Clearly Blaine had come to the realization a long time ago and Kurt instantly felt guilty for not having though about it earlier.

"Kurt, it's alright."

And clearly that guilt showed on his face. Blaine sighed, reaching out to take Kurt's free hand. "I knew ever since you agreed to be my boyfriend that this was going to happen. I could see it in your eyes, even back then, that you weren't going to stay at Dalton much longer. So I resolved to make the most of what we had then, and then deal with this when it came. Which, it seems, is now."

And now Blaine was pulling away, unwrapping their arms to take both of Kurt's hands. "Kurt, I won't try and stop you from going back. I could never do that. But I will give you the choice, albeit unfair, to make. I love you -"

Kurt gasped and Blaine's eyes widened. "Okay, I haven't said that yet. Crap -"

"I love you too."

Blaine's eyes attempted to go wider and Kurt couldn't help but laugh. "Sorry, you just look so... did you honestly think I didn't?"

"I .. I wasn't sure." Blaine collected himself again, seeming to remember the matter at hand. "Anyway, I do love you Kurt, but I don't want this to be difficult on you. So.." Blaine swallowed, and Kurt squeezed his hands, not sure what Blaine was trying to say but not liking the look on his boyfriend's face.

Blaine sighed. "What the hell. Kurt, if you want to end things, do it."

Kurt's jaw dropped, giving Blaine the chance to continue talking. "I'm not saying I want things to end, not at all. I've never been _happier_, Kurt. But - but if you don't think we can make it work, if you'd rather not worry about having to travel to see me or waiting for me to travel or... Kurt, I don't know. It's up to you and that's unfair and I'm sorry, but it is up to you."

And Blaine turned away, staring across the room. Kurt could hear his breathing, unsteady and as if he was trying to hold back tears, and Kurt knew how much it was _killing _Blaine to say what he had just said and now have to wait with the possibility of his boyfriend breaking up with him. But Blaine Anderson had forgotten one thing, and that was that Kurt Hummel _never _gave up the things he wanted the most.

And Kurt wanted Blaine.

"Blaine?"

As Blaine turned back, Kurt leant in and kissed him.

There weren't words to describe it, and Kurt knew even if he did this a million times - which he aimed to at least _attempt _- he still wouldn't have any. All he could feel was himself connecting to Blaine in yet another way, so wonderful and complex and _perfect_. Pulling away, Kurt rested their foreheads together and lifted his hands to touch either side of Blaine's face. "The only way we're breaking up is if you get sick of _me_, mister. I'm not doing your dirty work."

And Blaine _laughed, _so light and free and in a way that Kurt hadn't heard in so long - and which made him realize just how long this burden must have been on his boyfriend's shoulders. "Well then, it looks like we're going to be together forever."

Kurt couldn't ignore the excited little jump his heart gave this time and the smile curving over his lips was mirroring itself in Blaine's face. "You know, I think I'll be okay with that."

"Me too."

* * *

**Klaine fluff. I'm overdosing on it.**

**I have to admit it - I write these stories heaps in advance and the day I upload them onto the Document Manager and read them again, I can't help but smile. It's like finding a new story.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**"BOO! Are you okay? I tried calling, but I hooked up with some mall people __****instead telling me about the power thing. I got them to hook me up."**

_**"Mercedes, I'm-" *giggle* "fine."**_

**"Are you sure you're not high from a lack of oxygen? You're voice is kinda __****squeaky."**

_**"Merc-" *moan* "I'm fine. Don't worry."**_

_**"WHITE BOY, WHAT'S HAPPENING DOWN THERE?"**_

_**"Blaine's here. *muffled* Stop Blaine, that tickles!"**_

_**"What are you- oh. OH. Let me talk to him."**_

_**"Hi Mercedes!"**_

_**"Break my boy's heart, I break your face. Give the phone back to Kurt."**_

_**"Um, okay." *gives phone***_

_**"White boy, get some." *line goes dead***_

_**"What was that?"**_

_**"Nothing." *starts making out again***_


	116. Strange

**So I'm up to stage two of my interview to work for a branch of a major company which I won't name for obvious reasons. I should hear about my next interview very soon :)**

**In other news, I just realized why I've felt so off the past few days. One of the men who went to my group interview told us he'd nearly died of the flu a few days prior and now I'm starting to get flu-like symptoms... if I get this, I will not be impressed. So I'll go and do what I always do when I feel off and write sick!Klaine fics ;)**

**From **_**The Comment: Why is Blaine acting so funny? Staring off into space, playing Teenage Dream on a Loop, and acting uncomfortable whenever someone talks about the newest Warbler. Even he doesn't know, until Wes and David help him get to the bottom of it. When he finds Kurt again...**_

**Because I don't write enough fics in the POV of Wes and David. Snapshots in time.**

* * *

Strange

Wes flipped idly through the sheet music as he knocked on his friend's door. "Hey, Blaine, so that went well today but I was wondering... what are you doing?"

Blaine didn't respond. Worried, Wes knelt in front of his friend, breaking his eye contact with the wall. "Blaine? What's wrong?"

He knew Blaine's past sometimes came back to haunt him, and considering they had left Blaine with a kid who had most likely revealed things about bullying might mean that Blaine was dealing with flashbacks. "Do you need me to get David?"

"No," Blaine murmured. He shook his head and forced a smile onto his face. "No, I'm cool. What did you want?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "Don't, Blaine. Tell me what's wrong. What happened with Kurt?"

But the small smile that flickered across Blaine's face said it all. It was gone a moment later, and Blaine began to talk about Kurt's situation - leaving out details, of course - but Wes knew what he had seen.

_Blaine's got a crush on this guy..._

_Finally!_

Wes and David had spent a lot of time coaxing Blaine out of his shell when he first arrived at Dalton. And even though Blaine had finally managed to become his confident self, he still seemed afraid to have feelings for people, like it was wrong. The two boys had sat him down and had one of the most awkward conversations of Wes's life, where Blaine politely informed them that he knew it was okay to like boys, he just didn't have feelings for anybody at Dalton at this point in time. Wes knew Blaine was trying to convince himself more than Wes and David, but had let it drop, assuming Blaine would get there in time.

And now it seemed, was that time. Blaine was still talking, so Wes let himself think about the possibilities. It seemed like Kurt was having some issues at the moment, and Wes wasn't stupid enough to think that he wanted a boyfriend right now. What he needed was a group of people to support him, and it looked like Blaine was going to take on that role singlehandedly.

"... so I don't know what's going to happen, but he has my number so he said he'll call or text if anything goes wrong. I just wish there was something else I could do."

"Could he transfer?" Wes asked. He knew it wasn't viable for everybody, but Blaine had done it and he too was worried about the kid.

But Blaine was already shaking his head. "He refuses to ask his Dad. Says they can't afford it."

Wes winced sympathetically. "Well if there's anything we can do, just let us know, okay?"

"I will. Thanks."

"Anytime," Wes replied. Blaine smiled, but Wes could tell his thoughts were elsewhere. Standing up, he left his friend to his daydreaming and wandered off to find David to tell him about the latest development. After all, their Blaine was finally growing up.

* * *

"Wes, make it stop!"

Wes frowned. "David?" he asked down the phone. "What's wrong?"

There was a shuffling sound, then the sound of music came through the speaker.

"_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream,_

_The way you turn me on, I can't sleep..."_

Wes could hear Blaine singing along, as well as the sound of running water. "What's wrong with that? He's practicing, that's a good thing. You should do it more."

The music grew fainter as David took him off speakerphone. "I practice plenty, thank you. And I have no problem with Blaine singing, but he's been singing that particular song _all day_."

Wes began to laugh, suddenly realizing what was going on. "Of course he has! It reminds him of Kurt after all."

"I know, and it's usually been played about ten times a day, but ever since Kurt rang this morning and told Blaine he was transferring, it's been -"

"Wait, what?" Wes blinked. "Kurt's transferring?" He hung up before David could reply and walked out of his room and down the hall to David and Blaine's, barging in without knocking. "Since when has Kurt been transferring?"

David sat up from where he was sprawled out on his bed, eating chips. "He only found out this morning. He'll be moving in tomorrow and starting here on Monday."

"Well do you know why?"

David shook his head. "I didn't want to pry. I'm not sure how much he told Blaine either."

Wes sighed. "Did Blaine look concerned? I don't want to stick my head where it shouldn't be either, but I don't want to accidentally put my foot in my mouth when Kurt arrives -"

"Yes, he told me."

Wes turned to see Blaine's head poking around the bathroom door. _Teenage Dream _was still playing in the background, but Wes hadn't heard the shower go off. "Is he alright, Blaine?"

Blaine ducked his head back in and a minute later, the music stopped playing. The door opened fully to reveal Blaine, dressed only in a towel. He ignored the mock wolf whistle from David as he sat on his bed. "He's... I don't know. He will be okay."

"You can't tell us what happened, can you?"

Blaine shook his head. "That's up to Kurt. But the important thing is that he's safe and he's coming here." The smile that crossed his friend's face at that statement was almost exactly the same as the one Blaine had worn the last time he had spoken about Kurt. Wes was about to make a comment when Blaine stood and returned to the bathroom, clearly wanting to get dressed. A moment later, the sound of Katy Perry began to fill the room again.

"He's so into him."

Wes turned to David who was smirking. "Yes, he is," he agreed quietly, sitting next to his friend. "But we're going to let them sort it out, okay? We don't know what happened to Kurt so no pushing."

David groaned loudly and Wes rolled his eyes at his friend. "Thanks for coming over anyway, man."

Wes shook his head, standing to leave. "Anytime, David."

* * *

"Hey, Blaine?"

Wes watched with interest as Nick leant over, poking Blaine with his fork. Blaine sighed and looked up from his textbook, positioned in front of his plate. "Yes, Nick?"

"Who's the new kid?"

The smile that crossed Blaine's face had David nudging him furiously. "Yes, David, I see it," Wes hissed out of the corner of his mouth, keeping his attention on Blaine.

"His name's Kurt. He came from McKinley and he's auditioning for the Warblers this afternoon."

Jeff leant over from the other side of Nick. "He seems pretty cool. Shy, but like there's a great personality there. Question though, is he gay?"

Wes chuckled. Jeff never worried about whether his questions were going to be taken offensively and the first thing he wanted to learn about anybody new was their sexual preference. Anyone would think he was looking for a boyfriend if they hadn't seen the way his and Nick's hands were linked under the table.

Blaine was still smiling as he nodded. "Yeah, he is."

Wes immediately elbowed David, who he had seen opening his mouth out of the corner of his eye. But his efforts were fruitless as Cameron bluntly asked, "So, you like him?"

Blaine's jaw dropped. "I .. no, I hardly know him!"

Wes was all set to call his friend out when he saw the genuine surprise in Blaine's eyes and realized. _He actually doesn't think he likes Kurt yet. _

David had apparently come to the same realization. "He's oblivious! Please tell me we can do something now?"

"Oh, I left my Chemistry textbook in my room." Wes stood, grabbing David's arm. "See you guys soon."

Ignoring the strange looks he was getting from the rest of his Warblers, Wes dragged David out into the corridor before stopping. "Look. Kurt's still settling in here, he's still getting used to things. The last thing he needs is one of our crazy schemes trying to get him together with probably the first gay guy he's met."

"I know that, I wasn't dreaming of saying anything to Kurt. _Blaine_, on the other hand..." David trailed off and Wes raised an eyebrow, suddenly smirking.

"You know, I think that's a good idea. We're his friends, after all, we should do whatever we can to help him out."

David was grinning from ear to ear, but Wes noticed a figure walking up behind him. "Oh, hey Kurt!"

Kurt looked up, surprised and Wes noticed the slight flinch before he smiled. "Hey guys."

"How are you finding things here? Anything we can do to help you settle in?"

Kurt blinked a couple of times, clearly surprised. "I - no, I'm doing fine." But the slight hesitance gave him away.

"Are you sure?"

"Well.." Kurt ducked his head a little. "I have Chemistry next and I don't know where the classroom is."

Wes grinned. "I've got that with you. Go have some lunch and meet me here afterwards and we'll walk down together."

The smile he got in return was brilliant. "Thanks, Wes."

"Anytime."

Kurt turned to walk into the cafeteria and Wes watched him go before turning back to David. "That kid needs some happiness. The sooner we knock Blaine into shape, the better."

* * *

Leaning on his desk, Wes propped his head up in his hands and surveyed his friend who was digging through his closet. A few more minutes passed in silence before Wes gave in.

"Blaine, stop."

Blaine poked his head back out of his closet. "I can't. Going for coffee in ten minutes."

"Blaine, stop and come here."

Blaine stepped out fully, looking irritated. "What, Wes?"

Wes stood, meeting his friend in the middle of the room. "You're going for coffee with Kurt. Why are you so worried about what you wear?" Of course Wes knew perfectly well why Blaine was acting so frantic, but he wanted Blaine to say it. Not that Blaine _would_, however. He still seemed to be under the delusion that he and Kurt were just friends.

"Kurt's a fashion god, Wes. If I don't wear something that's up to the mark, I'll probably end up embarrassing him or something."

Wes shook his head. "_Riiight_," he drawled. "This isn't anything to do with how you've been looking at Kurt when you think nobody's watching?"

Blaine flushed, but the denial was still apparent in his eyes. "Wes, I don't know what you're talking about."

"You don't think Kurt's attractive?" Wes widened his eyes and made his expression as innocent as possible.

Blaine's eyes narrowed and he seemed to be catching on to what Wes was implying, finally. "Yes, but that doesn't mean I have feelings for him, Wes."

Wes shrugged and backed off. "You've got eight minutes. Go find something to wear." And as Blaine looked at the clock and jumped back into the closet, Wes sat down and allowed himself to smile. He knew his friend well enough to know what the look in Blaine's eyes the second before he had turned away meant. Maybe Blaine was in denial now, but he was certainly going to be mulling over Wes's words later.

* * *

"He's just been lying there for about half an hour now."

Wes poked his head further into the room, nodding. "I see what you mean, that is a bit worrying. Do you think he can hear us?"

"Considering neither of you are actually _whispering_, yes, he can." Blaine didn't look over at them, still staring at the ceiling. David smiled sheepishly and Wes sighed, walking over to sit on the foot of his friend's bed.

"Blaine, talk. What's wrong?"

Blaine sat up, running his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, Wes. I just feel ... lost."

David joined them, sitting on the other side of Blaine and swapping a worried look with Wes. The last time Blaine had said he felt lost was a few weeks into his time at Dalton when he had a run in with some old bullies and didn't know what to do. "Has something happened?"

"No. Not that I know anyway." Blaine sighed, still looking confused. "I spent the afternoon with Kurt, just hanging out and working on homework and listening to music. And then he left to go home for the weekend and now I just feel... I don't know, guys."

Wes couldn't hide the smile that crossed his face; neither could David. "You like him," Wes said softly.

Blaine turned to him in surprise. "What? Kurt? No I don't..."

But Wes could see the contemplative look in his eyes. "Blaine, think about it. You were happy with Kurt and once he left, you felt lonely. You two hang out all the time -"

"Seriously, all the time," David interjected. "We don't see you anymore - not that this is what that's about," he added hastily as Blaine suddenly looked apologetic.

Wes shook his head at his friend before turning back to Blaine. "The point is, you may not realize it yet but you _like _Kurt. We don't want to push you into something you're not ready for, but we just want you to be happy. And we want Kurt to be happy, and we think you two would be happy together."

Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "I - I think I have a lot to think about."

Wes stood, grabbing David's elbow to pull him up. "We'll leave you to it then, okay? Just let us know if you need to talk, okay? Anytime."

As the two boys left, Wes saw Blaine fall back on his bed and smiled.

* * *

Wes was interrupted from his studying by a hesitant knock on his door. Looking up, he saw Blaine standing in the doorway. "What's up?"

"Can I talk to you?"

Wes frowned, standing. "Always, Blaine. What's wrong?"

Blaine hesitated for a moment before stepping in and closing the door. He sat on the end of Wes's bed, staring across at Kurt's immaculate but empty side of the room before turning back to Wes. "I like Kurt."

Wes immediately sat down next to Blaine, grinning. "I knew you'd work it out. What now?"

"That's the problem. What now?" Blaine twisted his hands together, staring at the floor. "I mean, what do I do? Do I just tell him, do I ask him on a date, should I serenade him -"

"No," Wes said firmly. "Keep it low key, okay? This is your first relationship, and I presume it's his too?" Blaine nodded. "Then the best thing to do would be to go up to him and tell him. Pick a time when you can just sit down and talk -"

"We never get the chance to do that at the moment though," Blaine interrupted. "We're all so busy with studying and Warbler rehearsals and he's out at Lima every weekend and always hanging out with Mercedes and the other girls at night."

Wes thought for a moment. "Tell you what. I'll make sure Thad's late to our next rehearsal. Get a couch for you and Kurt and talk to him then. It's not the best of times, but it'll do."

Blaine stared at him for a moment. "I never thought I'd see the day that Wesley Hughes deliberately put off a Warbler rehearsal." He shook his head, smiling. "Thanks, Wes."

"Anytime. Just make Kurt happy, alright?"

As Blaine left the room, Wes suddenly realized that Blaine hadn't even thought about the possibility of Kurt not feeling the same way. _Is he truly that confident, or did he just not think -_

"Wait." Blaine burst back in. "What if he says no?"

Wes chuckled, shaking his head and preparing himself for a long reassuring chat.

* * *

"So, do you think he's done it yet?"

Wes shook his head, peering at the two boys over his setlist pages. "No, but he's doing it right... now."

Across the room, Blaine reached over and took Kurt's hand. Wes saw Kurt look down at the hand clasping his before looking into Blaine's eyes again as the boy spoke quietly. When Kurt's face split in a smile of delight, Wes automatically held his hand out, feeling David slap a high-five into it. "They look so happy," David murmured, and Wes knew he was smiling as well. Blaine suddenly looked up, catching Wes's eye and shaking his head. Wes shrugged before giving him the thumbs up just as Thad walked into the room.

Mid-meeting, Wes's phone buzzed in his pocket. The Warbler group were splitting up to practice their respective harmonies, so he quickly reached in and read the text.

_I'm taking him to Breadstix on Friday. Thanks Wes - Blaine._

Wes smiled, quickly tapping out a reply before joining David and Jeff on the other side of the room.

_Anytime. - Wes_

* * *

"So, I had a great time tonight."

Wes looked up, hearing voices outside his door. Standing in the doorway, apparently oblivious to Wes's presence in the room, was Kurt and Blaine.

"Me too," Kurt murmured, stepping a little closer to Blaine. "Are we going to do that again sometime?"

Blaine reciprocated the action, reaching out to take Kurt's hands. "I hope so. I was kind of hoping we could change our dates to actual dating."

And that beautiful smile crossed Kurt's face again as he ducked his head slightly. "I'd love to," he whispered, and a similar smile broke across Blaine's face.

"Good," he murmured. And then there was a silence where the two boys just stared at each other. Wes felt slightly weird about watching, but couldn't manage to draw his eyes away from the beautiful scene playing out right outside his bedroom door. And he knew exactly what was coming next, the only question was who was going to make the move.

It ended up being Kurt, surprisingly enough. Leaning in, he gently pressed his lips against Blaine's, both of their eyes fluttering shut at the contact. Their hands were still linked between their bodies as they kissed, and the light flickering across them from the hallway made the scene even more beautiful. Quietly, Wes stood and made his way into the bathroom. The last thing he wanted was for the two boys to break away from their perfect moment and find their friend watching.

A few moments later, he heard Kurt saying goodnight before the door closed. Wes stuck his head out the door to find Kurt leaning against it, one hand lightly pressed against his mouth and the smile permanently attached to his face. Closing the bathroom door behind him, Wes waited until Kurt looked up. "Good night?"

"The best," Kurt murmured breathlessly, before remembering where he was. "Um, yeah. Great. I'm going to go shower."

Kurt brushed past him on the way to the bathroom, a blush covering his face. On instinct, Wes stopped him. "Hey. I'm happy for you, you know that?"

He knew it was the right thing to do when Kurt finally met his eyes, looking relieved. "I do. Thanks, Wes."

As the door shut behind Kurt, Wes smiled.

"Anytime."

* * *

**Isn't Wes such a lovely guy? ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***cries onto Blaine's shoulder* "IT'S NOT FAIR!"**_

_**"Oh my God, what happened? Was it-"**_

_**"Finn spilled coffee on my new shirt!"**_

_**"...Okay? Can it be dry-cleaned?"**_

_**"NO!" *sobs***_

_**"What's so special about the shirt?"**_

_**"It's a Gryffindor shirt."**_

_***later that night***_

_**"FINN! DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID TO KURT'S SHIRT?"**_

_**"...Do I know you?"**_


	117. Funeral

**GLEE TICKETS =D**

**I'm going tomorrow night with my sister... so I have to reign in my fangirlness... that'll be difficult ;)**

**And while we're on the topic of good news, guess who finally got a job! I'm now working night shifts three days a week (minimum) so ... that'll be an adjustment! But I think it'll be good :) it's money anyway!**

**From **_**boegapa: It's pretty obvious it's gonna be a funeral in it, right? So just at the funeral. Blaine's there. Then it's up to you!**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Funeral

As Sue Sylvester broke down, Blaine knew he wasn't the only one who was tearing up. He heard Kurt sniff quietly beside him and resisted the urge to take his boyfriend's hand. He didn't even know the woman, or her sister for that matter, but to see someone who Kurt had told him was so fierce and proud, succumbing to her emotions.. it was powerful.

When Kurt had called Blaine the previous day and told him what was happening with the funeral and Sue's fears that nobody would show up, Blaine immediately offered to come. He knew the funeral would be a difficult time for Kurt as well and wanted to do his best to support his boyfriend. Being at separate schools now meant that they didn't have as much time to just be together, and Blaine missed even sitting beside Kurt in Warbler rehearsals.

There was a movement in front of Blaine and then Will stood, moving over to the podium. Sue stepped aside and Will took over, beginning to read again. Blaine chanced a glance at Kurt who had a glimmer of unshed tears in his eyes, but was staring straight ahead, listening.

"When you love someone like I loved her, there's a part of you that's like you're attached by this invisible tether. And no matter how far away you are, you can always feel them."

Will continued to speak, but Blaine was frozen, fixated on those words. Vaguely, he noticed Finn glancing across at Quinn and knew the words had the same impact on the other boy. But for Blaine, it wasn't a negative feeling at all.

_I love Kurt like that._

And it was true. No matter how much Blaine sat there alone at Dalton, he could always feel Kurt attached to him. Whenever they talked, from the second Kurt picked up the phone, Blaine could tell what kind of mood he was in and how to respond. Kurt was his first boyfriend, yes, but Blaine knew he didn't need to play the field or try things out. Because Kurt was everything he had ever wanted.

A movement from beside him brought Blaine back to reality. Kurt offered him a small smile as he stood with the rest of the Glee club, moving over to the side. Finn stood in front of the casket momentarily. "This was Jean's favourite song," he announced quietly, before moving over to the others.

Tina began to speak softly. "Hold your breath. Make a wish. Count to three."

And then Kurt began his part, singing the words flawlessly and with a raw emotion that Blaine knew was from his own experiences.

"_Come with me, and you'll be,_

_In a world of pure imagination"_

He knew Kurt wasn't just singing for Jean, but for his own mother.

"_Take a look, and you'll see,_

_Into your imagination," _

Finn sang the next few lines, and Blaine could see the expression on his face mirroring Kurt's. He knew Finn had lost his father when he was young, and his heart went out to the boy who always appeared so strong.

"_You'll begin with a spin,_

_Traveling in the world of my creation,"_

Tina took over as the music grew louder.

"_What we'll see will defy explanation."_

Artie finished off the verse, but Blaine's eyes were drawn to Kurt. There was sadness on his face, but also a sense of peace, and Blaine realized he was coming to terms with his own experiences.

The group began to sing the chorus together, and Blaine felt the first tear slip down his cheek.

"_If you want to view paradise, simply look around and you will,_

_Anything you want to do it, want to change the world,"_

Blaine saw Sue's face crumple and he looked at the video to see pictures of her and her sister together. He didn't even know the girl, but the smile on Jean's face broke his heart all over again. She was beautiful.

And then Kurt was singing the final line, his voice angelic.

"_You'll be free if you truly,"_

The rest of the group joined in on the final words.

"_Wish to be."_

Blaine saw Kurt staring at Sue, and offering her a quick smile. He knew that despite their aminosity, Kurt was one of Sue's favourites, and he knew that it would at least offer the woman some sort of support. And then the first tear slipped down Kurt's cheek, and Blaine nearly lost it completely. But Kurt glanced his way a second later, smiling softly, and Blaine knew he was going to be okay.

The group moved to sit down as the pastor closed the service. Kurt squeezed his hand quickly before standing again. "I'm going to go talk to Sue. Meet you outside?"

Blaine nodded, not quite trusting his words. He stood, heading out the door. As he stepped outside, he saw Finn standing out there, looking choked up. "Finn?"

Finn turned, not even bothering to hide his emotion. "Blaine."

"You alright?"

The boy shook his head. "Not really. I - I need to break up with Quinn."

Blaine winced sympathetically, but of course he knew why. "The tether?"

"Yeah. I just - we don't have it. We never did." Finn shrugged, wiping the tears off his face. "But after everything that's happened with me and girls, I'm sick of causing and getting hurt."

Blaine reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder tentatively. He knew Finn had had some issues with homophobia a little while back, so had always been hesitant of how much contact to actually give the boy. But Finn seemed to appreciate it, offering him half a smile in return. "You know you and Rachel will work things out. And you know that pull is there with her, and you can't fight that. You can't even try, you just need to accept it, and then do everything you can to make it possible and show them that you love them."

Kurt had always said that Finn wasn't the most perceptive of people, but right now he seemed to be getting it. "You and Kurt?"

"Yeah."

Finn smiled properly. "I'm glad. He deserves it." He reached into his pocket, pulling out his keys. "I need to think about what I'm going to say to Quinn."

Blaine patted his shoulder quickly before stepping away. "Of course." Finn walked towards his car, getting in behind the wheel. Blaine turned away, moving to sit on a bench outside the funeral home. He had his own words to prepare.

Of course Kurt knew how he felt - they were dating, after all. But after hearing that speech in there and knowing that at any point, Kurt could be taken away from him, Blaine couldn't just let the opportunity pass to let Kurt know just how much he meant to him.

"Hey."

Kurt's quiet voice broke him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see his boyfriend taking a seat next to him. "Hey. How are you holding up?"

"I'm -" Kurt paused, as if thinking about it. "I'm good. It felt sort of ... freeing to do that."

Blaine nodded, reaching out to take Kurt's hand and running his thumb over it absently. "It was a beautiful service. You should all be proud."

Kurt hummed an agreement and the two sat in silence for a few moments. Blaine glanced at Kurt out of the corner of his eye to see his boyfriend staring across the parking lot, an indescribable expression on his face. The late afternoon sun bathed him in a glow and Blaine found himself lost for words. _He's so... beautiful._

"Kurt?" he murmured quietly.

"Mm?"

Kurt turned to him and Blaine shifted slightly on the seat so he was facing his boyfriend. He took Kurt's other hand gently, resting both in his lap. "So, Sue's speech.."

"It was quite something, wasn't it?"

Blaine nodded, smiling softly. "It was. It - it really got to me, Kurt. And it reminded me that life is short and things always change -"

Kurt's eyes widened. "Blaine... are you breaking up with me?"

Blaine's jaw dropped. "What? Kurt - no, babe, no! Not a chance!"

"Oh." Kurt blushed, ducking his head slightly. "I just saw the way Finn looked when Sue was talking about the tether and then I looked at you and you were... I - I thought..."

"Not like that." Blaine squeezed his hands gently. "Kurt, it was that speech that made me realize that that's _us_. That's - that's how I feel about you, and I was saying that things change but I don't want this to be one of those things. You're my _world, _Kurt." He hesitated for a second, but Kurt had looked back up, his eyes alight. "I love you."

Kurt stared at him for a second, before smiling. "I love you too."

Blaine's hands were moving before he even realized what he was doing, rising to cup Kurt's face. He traced his thumbs over Kurt's cheekbones, trying to comprehend the sheer _beauty _of the person sitting across from him. And before he could stop himself, he was leaning in, their lips meeting gently. Kurt kissed him back instantly, his hands still resting on Blaine's knees. Blaine tilted his head, pressing closer to Kurt and capturing his lips as if marking his claim. _This is my boyfriend who I love with everything I have in me._

They broke the kiss a few seconds later, Kurt staring at him as if he couldn't quite believe what had happened. Blaine simply smiled, before chuckling. "So, we just had our first kiss at a funeral."

Kurt snorted. "Aren't we classy?" He reached up, taking Blaine's hands from his face and grasping them in his own. "I love you."

"I love you too."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Wes, are you okay? You look... tired, I think... and kinda annoyed."**_

_**"It's Klaine."**_

_**"OHMIGOD HAVE THE BROKEN UP OHMIGOD NOOO-"**_

_**"Shut up, David. They're in their permanent honeymoon stage and it's bugging the crap out of me. And theres SO MUCH sexual tension-"**_

_**"Plan number 52?"**_

_**"I like the way you think, my friend."**_

_**That's how Kurt and Blaine found themselves locked in a janitor's closet. They made good use of their time, though... ;P**_

_**(For any of you who were wondering, Wevid has over 100 plans stored in a notebook that they were going to use if Klaine never happened.) (Also, Wes would like me to tell you all that it's not true there's a plan involving a hundred roses, a panda bear and a blender. First: I don't even want to know, second: Sure, Wes, sure...)**_


	118. Bullies

**So as soon as I've posted this chapter, I'll be heading off with my sister to see...**

***drumroll***

**GLEE LIVE!**

**(duh!)**

**Anyway, I'm quite excited and I've been watching interviews of Darren and Chris in preparation and to hopefully get all my fangirlness out of the way so I don't freak my sister out. I don't think it'll work but at least the theatre will be dark ;)**

**So if you follow The Kliss Challenge, I'll be posting my thoughts of the movie on that chapter when I get back, so go check that authors note out if you want to know what I thought :) **

**From **_**Stroppy Poppy: Blaine runs into some bullies from his old school while out with Kurt. Kurt gets annoyed at them after they push Blaine down some stairs(only really cuts his leg, nothing major) and punches them right in the face, Blaine has never wanted to kiss him more in his life.**_

**So they're not out anywhere, but that's just because I was too lazy to take them away from Dalton.**

* * *

Bullies

"So what exactly are we meant to do?" Kurt tugged at his blazer, staring at the people milling around on the grounds.

"Just act like model students, I guess." Blaine shrugged, smiling politely at a few people passing by. "It's only for a few more minutes, then they'll all go inside and listen to some boring speech about how amazing Dalton is and how all of their kids should come here."

Sure enough, a few of the board members were beginning to round people up and call them inside, the Dalton boys helping out. Kurt and Blaine began to guide people into the auditorium, waiting for the last ones to go in before collapsing on the ground.

"That was so _boring_."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. I swear it gets worse every year."

Blaine turned on his side to face his boyfriend, smiling as the foreign word bounced around his head. _This boy right here is my boyfriend._

"What are you thinking about?" Kurt was watching him, a smile slowly crossing his face.

"You," Blaine said simply.

Kurt's smile widened and for a little while they just lay there, looking at each other. Finally, Blaine broke the silence. "We should probably check if anybody else is out here."

Sighing, Kurt got to his feet and linked arms with Blaine. Methodically, they made their way around the buildings before heading inside the main building where most of the tours had been heading through. Checking the top floor, they found it empty and were heading towards the stairs. "We'll just check the lobby one more time to see if anybody else is out here in case -"

"In case they have to witness your hideous display of homosexuality?"

Blaine stiffened, his eyes growing wide as he recognized the voice. _No... not here..._

"Excuse me?" Kurt turned and Blaine cringed, mentally begging him not to say anything.

"You heard me."

Blaine turned around, trying not to look at the boy standing in front of them. He knew if he did, he would start to freak out and remember -

"Who the hell do you think you are to come into our school and tell us what to do?" Kurt was firing up and Blaine knew it could only end badly.

"Oh, I don't know. _Blaine_, why don't you tell him who I am?"

Blaine couldn't hold back a shudder when his name came out of Zach's mouth and he saw Kurt turning to him. He locked eyes with his boyfriend, trying to plead with him to just stop talking, to wait for them to go away...

"Oh, how rude. Rude as always, aren't you fag?"

He flinched, closing his eyes briefly as the word hit him. "Well, I'm a _friend_ of Blaine's. I went to Westerville High with him before he wimped out and ran here."

"What are you doing here, Zach?" Blaine felt the words slip past his lips in a monotone.

"Oh look, he speaks!" Suddenly Blaine felt a hand on his jaw, pulling his head up to face his tormenter. He could hear Kurt saying something beside him but as soon as he locked eyes with Zach, the memories began to flood back -

_of being locked in the cubicle of the boys toilets with the broken lock, the door wedged shut and the boys laughing outside as he pleaded to be let out -_

_the push down the stairs that broke his arm, looking back to see Zach's face full of malice as he pretended to be concerned about him -_

_the insults between classes -_

_the shoves into lockers -_

And then the pressure on his jaw was released and he blinked, seeing Kurt's hand holding Zach's wrist away. "I suggest you leave, now."

With a deft flick of the wrist, Zach pulled his hand out of Kurt's and stepped towards Blaine again. He looked over Blaine's shoulder as if judging something and, as he did, Blaine suddenly realized how close they were to the edge of the stairs.

"No!"

But Kurt was too late. Blaine felt a pair of hands push into his chest and he was falling backwards. He felt his leg catch against one of the stairs and the pressure of ripping skin - and then mercifully he was at the bottom. Looking up, he saw Zach was still standing with Kurt and tried to get to his feet to get back up there, to do something -

And then Kurt had pulled his arm back and punched Zach square in the face. There was a crack and blood began to spurt out of his nose and Blaine just stared as Kurt flew down the stairs.

"Blaine, are you okay?" Kurt was rambling frantically as he knelt next to Blaine, checking him over for injuries. "Oh, your leg! Does anything else hurt, did you hit your head? Can you answer me, can you _hear_ me? Are -"

Blaine reached up, grabbed his boyfriend's tie and pulled him into a kiss. He knew it was hardly the time or place, but he didn't care, because Kurt had just done something that Blaine had never had the courage to do and he knew right now he couldn't possibly love him more than he did right this second.

There was a choking sound from the top of the steps and Blaine pulled away slightly to see Zach staring at them, blood still running down his face. And seeing his bully like that suddenly reduced any power he had once had over Blaine.

"What's the matter, Zach? You might want to get that nose checked out, it looks a bit painful."

Blaine stood, Kurt immediately wrapping an arm around him so he could keep the weight off his leg. He knew the injury was only superficial but let Kurt do it anyway, just to rub it in further. They walked away and as soon as they were out of sight, Kurt pushed him against the wall and began to kiss him again. Blaine sunk into him happily, not sure where this sudden take-charge Kurt had come from but loving it.

Kurt pulled away a little and whispered to him, "Seeing him hurt you like that, Blaine, I _never _want that to happen again. And I'm damn well going to make the most of the time we have together because idiots like him are going to be trying to split us up for the rest of our lives now."

Blaine felt his face break into a huge smile when he thought of the rest of his life with Kurt. And ignoring the blood dripping down his leg, the fact that he'd need to buy new trousers because his were ripped, that they'd left a guy with a broken nose at the top of the stairs - Blaine just leant in and continued to kiss his boyfriend.

Because none of that mattered. Not in perspective.

* * *

**I hope I did it justice. The idea's not one I'd normally write and I did find it off, but I'm not going to say no to Kurt breaking someone's nose.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape didn't want to make something humorous about a funeral. Completely understandable.**


	119. Hair

**This is my last authors note as an unemployed bum (Darren: I am a bum. Oh my gosh, you're interviewing a bum!) **

***cough* Anyway, now that Darren Criss isn't invading my thoughts (yeah right), tomorrow I have a full day of orientation before I start training for the rest of the week. So I spent a lot of today trying to get as many stories churned out as possible so I can upload them when I don't have time to write. Oh, and I went shopping. But that's irrelevant. The point of this message: if my story output rate declines a bit, this is why. **

**From **_**Kat3418: And one about Kurt's hair. Like maybe he and Blaine have a movie night to make up from their BIOTA fight and Kurt ends up falling asleep so in the morning he is without his normal hair products/he wants to be lazy for a day (he IS a teenage boy, it has to happen SOMETIME!) and Blaine finds Kurt sexy. Oh that could work for Sexy too heh.**_

**I'm not using either setting because I had another idea.**

* * *

Hair

"Bla -"

Blaine raised a finger to his lips, leaning forward further. On the screen, the last few scenes of _RENT _were playing and Blaine was absolutely transfixed.

Kurt sighed, leaning back against his headboard and watching his boyfriend watch the movie that they both practically knew by heart. He and Blaine had decided to spend the night watching movies in Kurt's dorm, kicking David out to go hang out with Wes in Blaine's room and insisting that nothing was going to go on. And the truth was, nothing would. The two had only been dating for a week after all, and Blaine hadn't made any moves on Kurt yet. In fact, they had sat down just the previous day and had the all important conversation about what they were ready to do, and Kurt had quickly admitted that he wasn't willing to be the one to make the first move. Blaine had just smiled and said he was more than happy to when the moment was right.

The credits finally began to roll and Blaine leant back against the wall, turning to smile apologetically. "Sorry, you know I love that movie."

"You do. You've loved it every single time we've watched it too." Kurt rolled his eyes. "Anyway what I was going to say is that you'd better go if you don't want to miss curfew. Except I was going to say that fifteen minutes ago when you still had time to get back to your dorm."

Blaine glanced over at the clock that now said 10:13. "Crap," he muttered.

As if on cue, Kurt's phone began to ring and he picked it up, seeing David's name on the caller ID. "Hey guys."

"Kurt, Wes is flipping out. What's going on over there?"

Kurt couldn't help but smirk. "Are you sure you want to know?" There was only silence from the other end until Kurt laughed. "No, we were just watching a movie and lost track of time. Looks like you'll need to stay in Wes's room tonight and Blaine will be staying here."

_Blaine will be staying here..._

"Alright." David's voice grew serious. "Kurt, you know I don't want to jump to assumptions or anything and I know you and Blaine have only been dating a little while, but -"

"David. Blaine and I are just sharing a room, we're not going to be sleeping together." Blaine's eyes grew wide and Kurt bit back a laugh, softening his tone slightly. "Thank you for looking out for us, but I promise nothing will happen tonight."

"Okay. See you guys in the morning."

David hung up and Kurt turned back to Blaine who was still looking shocked. "David's misguided attempts to 'look out for us'," he explained.

Blaine nodded, glancing around the room. Kurt frowned and shuffled closer, reaching out to take Blaine's hand. "What's wrong?"

"How do you want to do this?" Blaine gestured to the two beds and Kurt bit his lip, thinking.

"I don't know. What do you want to do?"

Blaine stood, kicking Kurt's feet off his lap in the process. "Rules dictate that we sleep in separate beds. But truthfully... I quite like cuddling with you. And since we have the opportunity to, I really hate to pass it up. Unless, of course, you don't want to, in which case I'm happy to take the other bed."

Kurt hesitated for a second and that was all Blaine needed. "Separate beds?"

"I think so. Just -" Kurt trailed off, but somehow Blaine understood.

"It's alright." Blaine sat back down on the end of the bed and opened his arms. "Hug?"

Kurt pretended to deliberate for a second before Blaine pulled out the pout and his heart melted into goo. "That's so not fair," he groaned, shuffling across the bed into his boyfriend's arms. "You can make me do anything with that look."

Blaine chuckled. "You're lucky I don't abuse it then." He pulled away, smiling at Kurt who felt his heart skip a beat. "Well, I guess I'm in David's bed then." Standing, he glanced over at it and wrinkled his nose. Then, before Kurt could say anything, or even think about it, Blaine pulled his shirt over his head and placed it on the end of the bed. A sort of strangled noise escaped Kurt before he could help it and Blaine turned with a frown, which quickly turned into a smirk when he realized what was going on.

Kurt looked down at his hands, blushing furiously. There was a chuckle, then Blaine was kneeling in front of him, taking his hands. "You're allowed to look. I consider it a compliment."

_Stop being the insecure one all the time! _

Raising his eyes, Kurt took his hands from Blaine's grasp, then quickly pulled off his own shirt. Blaine's smirk faded, and his eyes dropped to stare at Kurt's torso. Kurt resisted the urge to cover his body, which quickly disappeared as Blaine looked up at him again. "You're gorgeous," he murmured.

"So are you," Kurt replied, lifting a hand to run down Blaine's arm. Both boys shivered at the contact, before Blaine reluctantly moved away.

"If we continue down this path, we're not going to sleep and we may end up further than we'd like to."

Kurt nodded. He reached out, pulling Blaine into a hug and trying really _really _hard not to think about their bare skin touching. "Goodnight," he murmured into his boyfriend's ear.

"Goodnight." Blaine's breath ghosted over his cheek. Kurt resisted the urge to shiver again as Blaine pulled away, standing and moving over to David's bed, killing the lights on the way. As he listened to the sound of his boyfriend getting comfortable, Kurt tried to keep his mind from thoughts of Blaine's skin pressed against his, which quickly led to Blaine's lips against his...

* * *

Kurt blinked awake, suddenly aware that something wasn't right. Sitting up, he looked over to David's bed to see - _oh. That's not David._

Blaine was sprawled on his stomach, one arm dangling off the side of the bed. His face was turned towards the wall, so Kurt could see his curly hair, messed up from sleep. Kurt took a moment to stare at his boyfriend, eyes lingering on the expanse of skin across his back, before pulling himself out of bed.

As he finished his moisturizing routine, Kurt's eyes drifted to his hair. Of course it was a mess and Kurt reached for his hair care products before stopping. _I really can't be bothered, and it's not like Blaine's going to care. _

Leaving the bathroom, Kurt saw that Blaine was still sleeping and smiled fondly, pulling out his laptop. Exams were coming up and Kurt had two papers to complete before he could begin studying. Heading back to his bed, Kurt tangled his feet in the blankets and opened his laptop, pulling up his papers and beginning to type.

Half an hour later, and Kurt was thoroughly sick of doing work. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed loudly before remembering Blaine was still asleep. It was only as he glanced over at his boyfriend that he realized that Blaine certainly _wasn't _asleep, but was staring at him.

"Hey," Blaine murmured, his voice still rough with sleep. "Frustrated?"

Kurt nodded. "Sick of doing work, that's for sure."

"Mm." Blaine yawned, propping himself up on his elbows. "Come here."

Pushing his laptop aside, Kurt moved across to David's bed, sitting on the edge and smiling down at Blaine. A second later, Blaine had wrapped his arms around Kurt's waist and pulled him down. Kurt squeaked slightly before settling himself in next to his boyfriend. "Much better," Blaine murmured quietly.

A comfortable silence fell as the two boys stared at one another. Acting on impulse, Kurt reached out and lightly ghosted his fingers over Blaine's cheek, watching in fascination as his boyfriend's eyelids fluttered shut. "That good?"

"Mm." Apparently Blaine wasn't capable of words and Kurt smiled, letting one hand rest on his boyfriend's arm lightly. "You're amazing, you know that?"

Kurt's hand stilled. Usually when Blaine said a compliment like that, Kurt would reply with a facetious comment and try to laugh the whole thing off. But there was something so intimate about their current setting that he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Blaine noticed of course, opening his eyes. "I mean it," he whispered. "You are. And your _hair_ right now... wow."

Kurt suddenly found himself aware of just how close their faces were. His hand was still resting on Blaine's cheek, and they were staring into each other's eyes again. Kurt wanted to say something that would show Blaine how much he cared about him, how much he _loved _him, even, but there were no words.

So, Kurt leant in and gently kissed him. Blaine's arms immediately tightened around his waist as he responded, and Kurt's hand began to sweep in light strokes over Blaine's cheek again. Tilting his head slightly, Kurt moved in closer and deepened the kiss, reveling in the taste of Blaine against his own lips, something he had never been able to imagine but knew it was better than anything his brain could have ever come up with.

Slowly, gently, they broke the kiss, pulling back to stare at each other again. After a few seconds, Blaine smiled and Kurt mirrored the expression, feeling strangely relieved. "I didn't have the words," he found himself explaining.

"I'm quite thankful for that actually." Blaine's smile widened. "Words are overrated anyway."

"They are," Kurt responded, before leaning in to kiss him again. A second later, a knock at the door interrupted them, Kurt pulling away with a sigh. "What, David?"

"I don't want to interrupt anything -" Blaine started smirking at that and Kurt shook his head at him playfully. "But I really want to get changed."

"Just a minute!" Kurt pulled himself out of David's bed, Blaine following suit. Both boys chucked on a shirt before Kurt opened the door. "Okay, Blaine was on his way out anyway so - what?"

David was staring at his chest, smirking. Looking down, Kurt groaned as he realized he had thrown on Blaine's shirt instead of his own. Blaine was laughing behind him as he grabbed Kurt's arm and spun him around, pulling him into a hug. "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied, grimacing slightly at the thought of being left alone with David. His expression changed, however, when Blaine leant in and kissed him lightly on the cheek before wandering out the door. Kurt watched him leave before closing the door and sitting on the end of his bed.

"Oh, you've got that _look_. I'll leave you to it." David was still smirking as he grabbed his clothes and headed towards the shower. Kurt shot him a glare, but it was half-hearted. As soon as the other boy closed the door, Kurt fell backwards, staring at the ceiling with what he knew must be a ridiculously huge smile on his face as he allowed the events of the morning to replay in his head.

_Yeah. Words are totally overrated._

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**RAWR! Zach better hide, because I swear, I'mma- *gets dragged away* HEY! I'M NOT DONE WITH HIM! Let GO of me, Wes! I'll tell Kathy about THAT thing if you don't let go of me. Thank you. *brushes self off* Where was I? Oh yeah, I'mma- *commercial break***_

_**Here I go:**_

_**"So, joining us here on Fondue for 2 are the birdies, David and Wes-"**_

_**"That's Wes and David. Go on."**_

_**"-and Emily. So, what did you guys need to tell us?"**_

_**"Us?"**_

_**"Me and Lord Tubbington."**_

_**"Who the-"**_

_***elbows* "Shut up, David. Well, me and my two friends here-"**_

_**"We have names."**_

_**"Wes, I will sock you if you don't shut up. Anyways, I discovered some photos that I would like everyone to see." *holds up photo* "This is Zachary Smith from Westerville High. Here's Zach painting his nails-"**_

_**"Heh."**_

_**"Shhh. Here's one of him asleep with a Fuzzy Purple Unicorn that says 'I'm a pretty princess!' in his clutches-"**_

_**"I totally have one of those too."**_

_**"That's nice, Brittany. We just wanted everyone to see what happens with Zach behind closed doors."**_

_**"That's all the time we have. Thanks for watching Fondue for 2!"**_

_**That video got over 2 million Youtube hits within 3 hours.**_


	120. Defensive

**So I had my orientation for my job today which was actually heaps of fun and put me a lot more at ease at starting work tomorrow. I also got give a bright green polo which I love more than is healthy. And for those of you who live in Australia and possibly other areas, you already might know where I work, which I can't mention for security reasons. Anyway, training should be interesting :)**

**From **_**TwihardGleek2011: So I got you a prompt from SLS: when Blaine walks out to talkto[sic] Jeramiah[sic] about what happened and Kirt[sic] makes the commet[sic] about Jeramiah's[sic] hair, maybe Jeramiah[sic] could say something mean to Kurt and Blaine get[sic] mad and say something to Jeramiah[sic] and then talk to Kurt and end up kissing him!**_

* * *

Defensive

"... no one here knows I'm gay."

Kurt couldn't resist. "Can I be honest? Just with the hair ... I think they do."

He hadn't expected any kind of response from the older boy, after all he looked like he wanted to get out of there as soon as possible. Which is why he was so surprised when Jeremiah turned on him, eyes flashing. "Who asked you to talk?"

He took a step forward, Kurt frozen in shock. "Just because you're comfortable screaming _I'm flamboyantly and stereotypically gay_, doesn't mean the rest of us are or _want to_ be. Blaine never normally acted this .. this _forward _when we hung up, I bet you told him that this was a good idea -"

"Hey!"

Blaine was suddenly in front of Kurt. "Don't you even think about pinning this on him! All he did was something you're too _scared _to do - be proud of who he is."

"I'm not _scared _to -"

"Yes, you are." Blaine cut him off, shaking his head angrily. "I don't know how I didn't see it before - we could never go to a coffee place close by because you were too scared to be seen by anybody you knew with a _gay _kid. And you told me you were out, Jeremiah."

Kurt stared in amazement as Blaine came to his defense, flaring up with anger. "That's not out. That's calling yourself gay and then never acting on it. At least I had the guts to come and tell you how I thought I felt - and I was incredibly mistaken by the way. And at least Kurt has the guts to be himself, no matter what."

Kurt couldn't stop the small smile from appearing as Blaine spoke about him. "Kurt is who he is, and he doesn't change that for anybody. He inspires me to be myself every time I see him stand up for something he believes in or just lets his guard down and has fun with us guys. He's genuine and real and, more importantly, he _wants _to be who he is. I don't know if I'd be the person I am today if I hadn't had Kurt in my life these past few months. So maybe he did inspire me to do this, even if it was for the wrong person -"

_Does that mean there was a right person? _Kurt thought to himself, trying to not to blush at Blaine's praise. He had never known that Blaine felt that way about their friendship and, even if that was all that they ended up having, Kurt was okay with that. Because Blaine meant just as much to Kurt as it seemed Kurt meant to Blaine.

"- at least I did it and I was true to myself."

Jeremiah snorted, adjusting his hoodie. "Well, if he's that awesome, why don't you date him instead?"

"Maybe I should!"

Kurt's mouth ran dry. _No, he's just saying it to prove a point. _

"And maybe I would have asked him first if I hadn't thought he would say no, if I hadn't thought he was so out of my league." Blaine's voice was still angry, but Kurt could hear the hesitance behind it. He tapped Blaine on the shoulder and the boy stiffened, as if he had suddenly remembered Kurt was standing beside him and had heard every word.

"He would've said yes, by the way. Just saying. You can continue."

Kurt stepped back slightly, letting a smile cross his face and waiting. A second later, Blaine spun to face him, his eyes wide. "Really?"

"Yeah. Feel free to continue fighting with Jeremiah though, I quite like people coming to my defense sometimes."

Blaine shook his head, stepping closer. "I'd much rather be doing this."

And before Kurt could process it, Blaine's lips were against his.

It wasn't the first time Kurt had been kissed. His first experience had been Brittany trying to shove her tongue down his throat and Kurt letting his mind wander to the latest collection of _Vogue_. His experience with Karofksy had left him feeling violated and pressured. But this was nothing like either of those two. Blaine's lips were smoother and softer against his, definitely, but it was about the way Blaine was kissing him - like Kurt was the most important person to him in that point in time.

And all Kurt could do was kiss him back and try and express the same sentiments.

After a few moments, Blaine pulled away, staring into Kurt's eyes for a long moment before turning back to Jeremiah. "That's called being out and proud. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and ask this lovely boy to be my boyfriend and then take him out for lunch."

"And get the rest of the Warblers out of The Gap," Kurt interjected quietly as Jeremiah turned to storm off. "David's going to spend way too much money on awful quality clothing if we don't stop him."

Blaine turned to face Kurt, his gaze softening from anger to affection. "You're amazing, you know that?" he murmured. "And I'm sorry. I wish I'd known how you felt, I would have spared both of us that awful display in there."

"At least I know you'll stop at nothing to get what you want." Kurt smirked, reaching out to take Blaine's hands. "I believe there was something you had to ask me?"

Blaine suddenly smiled in a way that made Kurt's heart skip a beat. "That there was. Where would you like to go for lunch."

Kurt detached one of his hands to hit him lightly. "Just for that, I'm going to say no when you actually do ask."

"Really? So, Kurt, would you be my boyfriend?"

Kurt tried. He really did. But he couldn't stop the smile from breaking his face and the blush staining his cheeks. Blaine smiled in return. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"That would be a yes," Kurt admitted before leaning in to kiss Blaine again, wondering if he would ever get over the sensation of the other boys lips against his own. He hoped not.

Blaine broke away, resting their foreheads together in such a cliche way that Kurt immediately decided that cliche was his new favourite. "I like that yes," he murmured. "Let's go rescue The Gap from the Warblers and then go spend some time together, okay?"

"Mm, okay." Kurt pulled away reluctantly, looking over Blaine's shoulder to see the moping figure of Jeremiah walking away in the distance. _Thank goodness he didn't realize how amazing Blaine is_, Kurt thought to himself as he linked hands with Blaine and headed back into The Gap.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Blaine's hair:**_

_**Awakening in Kurt's bed after BIOTA (I feel sorry for Kurt's pillow, which had to be washed multiple times to get the gel out)**_

_***walks up to Blaine* "Here. Read." *shoves paper in face***_

_**"A... petition? 'Blaine Anderson should let his hair loose more?'"**_

_**"Yup."**_

_***flips pages* "You got ore than a thousand people to sign this."**_

_**"Yup. I might have also stolen your hair products and hacked your credit card account and put it on lock so you can't order any more gel..."**_


	121. Dates

**My head is so not here right now. I just uploaded the unedited document as the first chapter. Sigh. **

**Work was good for anybody who's interested. I'm too tired to talk about it right now though.**

**From **_**Hikari no Kokoro **_**and similarly prompted by **_**LiliesAreWhite**__**: Our beloved Kurt always seems to be on the short end when it comes to be liked by other people. I mean, he got Blaine only after he sang about a dead bird. I want to see other boys in Dalton, or even outside the school asking for his phone number and to go on dates, making Blaine jealous. Extra points if it includes Jeremiah after the disastrous serenade and Blaine kisses Kurt in front of everyone to show them Kurt is his.**_

* * *

Dates

"So, tomorrow night then?"

Blaine frowned, walking up behind Kurt who was talking to Jeff in the hallway. Jeff was leaning against a door frame, smiling at the other boy. "Tomorrow sounds great. See you then, Kurt. Oh, hi Blaine." He gave a quick wave before turning and walking away.

Kurt spun, flashing Blaine a smile. "Hey, what brings you here?"

"I was coming to see if you were still wanting to study this afternoon." Blaine smiled back, but his mind was on the conversation he had just overheard.

"Yeah, of course." Kurt's phone buzzed and he rummaged in his pocket, pulling it out. "You need my help with French anyway."

Blaine chuckled, watching Kurt read the text with a soft smile. "So what are you and Jeff doing tomorrow night? More studying?"

"Huh?" Kurt glanced up for a second. "Oh, no, he asked me on a date."

Kurt's eyes had flicked back down to his phone, where he was replying to the text, thankfully missing Blaine's jaw dropping. _Jeff asked Kurt out? But he knows ..._

_No, he doesn't._

Blaine hadn't told anybody that he was starting to develop feelings for his friend. After all, it had taken him this long himself to realize that he was seeing Kurt a different way, he didn't want to include all of the Warblers in their impending relationship. And of course, Blaine had assumed it was an eventuality that he would ask Kurt out, Kurt would say yes and they'd end up happily ever after. He hadn't anticipated _other _guys being interested in Kurt. But, now that Blaine thought about it, it made sense. After all, Kurt had a great personality, a wonderful sense of humor, gorgeous eyes, that _smile_...

"Blaine?"

Kurt was looking at him hesitantly and Blaine realized he hadn't responded. "Um," he cast around for a suitable response. "Wow, okay. I - I didn't realize he was interested in that way. And that you were interested back."

"Oh, it's not like that." Kurt chuckled lightly. "I mean, it sort of is. I don't _like _Jeff, but he's a great guy and I think we'd have a lot of fun. Plus, he's cute so there's no harm really, is there?"

Kurt's phone began to ring and he rolled his eyes. "Sorry, gotta take this. See you later."

As Kurt turned to walk away, Blaine could hear the beginning of his conversation. "What happened this time, 'Cedes?"

Kurt turned the corner, allowing Blaine to lean against the wall and finally let his disbelief show. Yes, Kurt didn't like Jeff _now_, but considering they were going to be alone somewhere, together.. well, things _happened_ when people were on dates. And Blaine had hoped that the only person Kurt would be experiencing that with was him.

Maybe he had left it too late.

* * *

Blaine was lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. Kurt was meant to have been back by ten and it was ten _fifteen_. Yes, maybe he was a little paranoid... or a lot. But Blaine couldn't stop imagining Kurt and Jeff, sitting in Jeff's car, Jeff's arm wrapping around Kurt, leaning together...

And then the sound of whispering came from outside the door and Blaine felt his heart hammer to a stop in his chest. _Please don't let them kiss outside the door!_

".. again sometime?" Jeff's voice came through, pitched low in an attempt to be quiet.

"Definitely. Thanks for telling me so much about you, I really enjoyed it."

There was a moment of silence, and Blaine had no idea what was going on and didn't _want _to know...

"Goodnight, Kurt."

Kurt whispered a goodnight back before turning the doorknob lightly, slipping into the room. Blaine heard the sound of Kurt's messenger bag dropping onto his chair and sat up, stretching his arms and pretending he had just woken. "Oh, Kurt, you're back."

Kurt turned, his face just visible in the moonlight. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Did - did you have fun?"

Luckily Kurt didn't notice the break in his voice. "Yeah, it was great. Turns out Jeff and I have a lot in common."

Blaine bit his lip for a second before replying. "That's good."

He heard the sound of Kurt gathering together his pyjamas and skincare products, preparing to make his way into the bathroom. "Yeah, it was. We're probably hanging out again soon."

_Hanging out? _"Wait, not going on another date, just hanging out?"

"Yeah," Kurt replied, pausing in front of the bathroom door. "We're not really interested in each other in that way. Which is a pity because he's _cute_."

Kurt began humming lightly under his breath as he slipped into the bathroom, closing the door. Blaine fell back against his pillow, feeling the air come wooshing out of his lungs in relief.

_Kurt doesn't like Jeff. I might still have a chance._

And he would have stayed up and dealt with the matter that night - because maybe it _was _time for Blaine to put his heart on the line - but he had forgotten that Kurt took a ridiculous amount of time in the bathroom.

By the time Kurt re-emerged, Blaine was fast asleep.

* * *

"Hey, hold up a second. I just need to ask Nick something."

Kurt stood from where he and Blaine were sitting on the front lawn, reading over their Literature books. Well, Kurt was reading, Blaine was trying to figure out how best to bring up the subject of his feelings.

"Okay," he murmured absently, watching Kurt cross the lawn and stop the dark-haired boy. There was a moment of conversation, then Nick was smiling hesitantly and nodding. Kurt turned away, his own smile firmly in place and returned, picking up his book and continuing to read. Blaine left it for a moment, then curiosity overwhelmed him. "So, what was that about?"

"Just asked him if he wanted to go out on Saturday night."

This time, Kurt was looking right at him and couldn't miss the look of surprise on Blaine's face. "Why is that such a shock?"

Blaine thought fast and came up with very little. "I just didn't expect it, I guess," he replied lamely.

Kurt shrugged. "Why shouldn't I date? There's gay guys here, I'm allowed to be with them without judgement from the entire student body, and I'm a teenager who's allowed to date around to find out what they're looking for. So I figured, might as well go for it."

With that, Kurt buried his head back in his book, leaving a shocked Blaine sitting there with only one question on his mind: _Why didn't he ask me?_

* * *

"Checkmate."

Blaine sighed, picking up his pieces and positioning them back on the board. "I'm not playing again," he informed a jubilant David. "I don't know why I agreed to play in the first place. I hate chess."

"You agreed because you're trying to pass the time and not think about Kurt and Nick on their date," David said casually as he stood and wandered off.

Blaine stared after him for a moment - he really needed to _stop _being so shocked by people nowadays - before standing and following hurriedly. "What do you mean by that?" he whispered as he caught up with his friend.

David rolled his eyes as the two walked out of the choir room and down the empty hallways. "Blaine, you looked like a kicked puppy when they left. Then you did your _Math homework. _Clearly you're pining."

"I don't pine." Blaine tried to make his voice assertive, but knew David knew him too well.

David sighed, sitting down on a bench and gesturing for Blaine to follow suit. "Yes, you do. Ever since you worked out you're interested in Kurt, all you do is watch him. You didn't actually make a move to ask him out so maybe you _have_ left it too late. I don't want to see you get hurt, Blaine, but I want to see Kurt happy too."

"I was trying to think of the best way to ask him, David." Blaine's voice had dropped and was flat. "He deserves the best and I wanted to give him that. But then Jeff asked him out and then Nick and ... and he hasn't even thought about me. He's clearly not interested."

David shook his head, putting a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "Have you considered that maybe he's waiting for you to get your act together, thinking you don't like him? And, more importantly, have you thought about maybe just _asking _him on a date?"

Blaine opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"No, you haven't. And you are now, and this is where I leave you in peace." David stood, turning to walk away and calling something over his shoulder. "Just, no serenading, okay? Keep it simple for once."

Blaine couldn't remember if he had replied or not. He was too lost in thought.

_I'm going to ask Kurt out. Not just on a date, either, but out out. Blaine Anderson is going to ask Kurt Hummel to be his boyfriend._

* * *

Blaine straightened his tie nervously, pacing in the hall. He knew that Kurt was in the student lounge - David had sent him a text at his insistence, letting him know the moment Kurt walked in - and Blaine was trying to gear himself up to go in there and _ask Kurt out._ The whole idea was surreal and scary and wonderful, and Blaine wasn't sure he could do it anymore.

"Okay," he murmured quietly, checking to make sure nobody else was walking by to hear him talking to himself. "Just go in there, sit down and say hi. Start with that."

Blaine took another deep breath before walking through the door, his eyes searching out Kurt. He spotted his friend almost instantly, sitting alone on a couch, and headed over to sit next to him.

"Hi," he said, staring down into his lap for a moment before looking up.

There was no reply, and Kurt's eyes were fixed across the room. A soft frown was on his face and he looked ... well, miserable. Blaine was about to ask what was wrong before following his line of sight to one of the couches on the other side of the room, where Jeff and Nick were curled up together, their hands linked. As he watched, Jeff leant over and pressed a kiss to Nick's forehead who smiled happily.

Blaine felt the lead weight settle back in his chest again. _Clearly Kurt's date with Nick invoked some feelings there... or he's actually more interested in Jeff than he thought..._

"Are you okay?" he asked, turning his attention back to Kurt who was looking at him, surprised. Clearly he hadn't heard Blaine's earlier greeting.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Kurt looked genuinely puzzled, but the traces of sadness were still lingering in his eyes. Blaine let his eyes flicker back across the room to the two boys, and Kurt caught the motion. "You thought I wouldn't be happy for them?"

Blaine shrugged. "You did go on a date with both of them. And you seemed really happy after you got home from your night with Nick and I thought..." he trailed off, gesturing helplessly.

But Kurt just laughed. "Jeff spent the whole time talking about how Nick never saw him as more than a friend, and it was bugging him. Nick, after a lot of convincing, finally opened up to me about how Jeff would be his first boyfriend and he was so scared to ruin things. So I sat the two down together and made them talk. And, well," Kurt gestured across the room, "there's the result."

"But... you said you and Jeff had a lot in common?"

Kurt sighed. "Yes, we do. We both had a friend who never seemed to see us as more, no matter how much we tried."

A small light was threatening to flicker on in Blaine's head, but he had to know one more thing. "So why are you watching them, looking miserable?"

"Because I don't have what they have."

It was only when Kurt turned to him with an expression so complex that Blaine couldn't _begin _to try and unravel it, that Blaine understood. Finally.

Kurt had been searching for someone, knowing full well that the only person he wanted to be with was right there. He had somehow thought that Blaine didn't feel the same - and Blaine was prepared to take full blame for that - and thought that he'd be able to find that happiness with someone else. But clearly the happiness of the other two boys was more important, and it seemed that Kurt's heart was truly fixed with Blaine.

How Blaine read all of that without a word being spoken, he had no idea. But the warm feeling in his heart just kept growing as he realized how well he must truly _know _Kurt to be able to understand him.

"You could."

And it seemed Kurt knew him just as well, if the smile crossing his face was anything to judge by. "I could," he agreed, all traces of sadness and hesitance gone. "Will I, though?"

"That depends. Will you go out with me tomorrow night?"

The smile that now graced Kurt's features was almost more than Blaine could take. "_Yes_," he whispered, as if he had been waiting forever to say it. Blaine wondered if he had.

But then Kurt's lips were pressed against his, and suddenly it didn't really matter. Blaine gasped lightly before pressing back, kissing Kurt with everything he had. His arms snaked around Kurt's waist, feeling Kurt's hands lightly brushing against his neck.

Blaine broke the kiss, pressing his forehead against Kurt's and sighing happily. He finally understood what it felt like to be drunk on happiness - the smell of Kurt's hair was only adding to his euphoria. "Glad you finally got your act together," Kurt murmured, and Blaine simply smiled, leaning in to kiss him again.

Forget all that petty jealousy, forget trying to find themselves in other people. This was really all that mattered now.

* * *

**I'm seriously become such a Nick/Jeff shipper. I blame Angela 100%**


	122. Gate

**For those who noticed that I forgot to put in _MusicalEscape's _alternate last night, that was due to uploading the wrong document the first time and being excessively tired. If anybody is desperate to find out what it was, message _MusicalEscape_ and I'm sure you'll find out.**

**I just feel the need to disclaim against something that's started cropping up again. I don't live in Ohio. I don't know where things are in Lima or Westerville unless I Google Maps it and with the amount of stories I produce, I just don't have the time for every single one. I don't even live in _America_, I'm a New Zealander who lives in Australia currently. So things will end up being wrong sometimes, but it's FanFiction, okay? So I will apologize for mistakes I make but I won't go back and fix everything up. **

**From **_**lollzie: Kurt and Blaine are walking along a glen path (maybe on a school trip or something?) when they come past a kissing gate and when they go through it [they] kiss.**_

**So, what is a kissing gate? Let's ask **_**lollzie**_**! "A kissing gates original purpose is to give easy passage to people walking through a glen or on a path, but at the same time act as a barrier to any animals that may be near by, so they can't escape. To pass through you step into the 'V' shape on the right allowing you to move the gate to the other post and so you can walk out the other side. The reason it's called a kissing gate is because the story is that a man who is out walking with his lady friend can pass through first and then hold the gate shut, the man then demands a kiss before allowing the lady to pass through"**

**Other than that, my understanding of a glen path is lacking. So once again, if I get anything wrong, I apologize. **

* * *

Gate

"Tell me something?"

"Something."

Kurt turned to face Blaine, an eyebrow raised. "Did you seriously just use that line? Because I haven't heard that one since fifth grade."

Blaine smirked, continuing to walk behind the group of blazer-clad students. "Sorry, babe. What did you want to know?"

Kurt sulked for a couple of seconds, then his curiosity won out. "Why exactly did Dalton decide to take a group of seventeen year old boys who really don't care about history to a _glen path_ with only two teachers to supervise?"

"Because they're optimistic that we'll turn out to be models of society." Blaine somehow managed to say that with a straight face and Kurt simply shook his head, pointing into the distance where Wes and David were attempting to make a human pyramid with Nick, Jeff, Cameron and Thad. "Yeah, I see your point."

Kurt chuckled, letting his hand slip back into Blaine's. "Was there a point to this trip?"

Blaine shrugged, watching as Jeff attempted to balance on Nick and Wes's shoulders before a teacher hurried over to break them up. "Dalton has too much money to blow?"

"Fair enough." Kurt swung their hands idly as they continued to walk down the path. He knew he was supposed to be taking in the things around him for some sort of report he was undoubtedly going to have to do, but right now he couldn't care less. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and he was walking down a path hand-in-hand with his boyfriend. His incredibly dapper, charming and good-looking to boot boyfriend.

Said boyfriend glanced over at him, smiling softly. "What's on your mind?"

"Just thinking about how good life is with you in it." Kurt found himself speaking his mind more and more around Blaine, which always seemed to work in his favour. Like now, when the smile on Blaine's face grew in intensity and Kurt couldn't help but let his own smile break through.

There was a comfortable silence after that, both boys wandering along and occasionally stealing glances at one another. They finally caught up with the rest of the group who were gathered around a gate. The teachers had disappeared, so Nick was standing out the front, explaining something.

"... called a kissing gate. The original purpose was for a man out walking with his 'lady friend'," Nick used quotation marks, causing a few sniggers from the group. "He could walk through first, like so -" Nick proceeded to demonstrate, "and hold the gate shut so she couldn't get through. Then he'd demand a kiss before letting her in."

Nick waited until Jeff stepped up before holding the gate shut, grinning cheekily. Jeff shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?" he asked, before kissing the other boy quickly. Kurt smiled at the two boys, watching as Nick let Jeff through and took his hand.

"So, any takers?"

The rest of the students began to joke amongst one another, making their way through the gate. Cameron held the gate shut for Wes who jokingly went in for a kiss, only to be met with air as Cameron all but bolted - which had, of course, been Wes's intention. As the last of the boys went through, Kurt released Blaine's hand and stepped forward.

"It's interesting, isn't it?" he asked, running his hand lightly along the railing.

Blaine stepped up beside him. "It's an excuse for polite dapper gentlemen to get a kiss in public out of their women," he responded laughingly. Kurt was about to reply in kind when his boyfriend's words penetrated. _Dapper...?_

"Kurt?"

Kurt nudged Blaine, causing him to take a step away from the gate. As he did, Kurt quickly stepped into the V shape and moved the gate around, grabbing the top and holding it in place. His heart was thudding crazily as he stared at Blaine who was looking slightly confused. "No entry, sorry."

_Are you really going to do this? _he thought to himself. So far, he and Blaine hadn't really taken their relationship to any sort of physical level, both perfectly happy with their hand holding and romantic dates. And up until now, Kurt hadn't thought that he _had_ wanted anything more than that.

But it had all come down to seeing Nick and Jeff kiss, Kurt realized. The two boys had never been overly open about their physical relationship - Kurt had only seen them kiss once before, back when he and Blaine were still in their friends-in-denial state. But seeing what passed between them as they kissed, it was something that Kurt could hardly put into words and could only bring down to _trust_. It was their natural way of taking their relationship further forward, of expressing their feelings for one another in a way that words couldn't quite capture.

That was what Kurt knew he wanted, with a sudden certainty that he didn't know he possessed.

Blaine was staring at him, bemused, but there was something sparking to life in his eyes that Kurt knew he wanted to see a whole lot more of. "Are you sure about this, Kurt?"

"Oh, you don't want to come through the gate?" Kurt allowed his smirk to play on his face, reassured when Blaine chuckled lightly.

"Believe me, I _do_."

The emphasis wasn't lost on Kurt, and his smirk disappeared slowly. "Well, why don't you then?"

"I think I'd better," Blaine murmured, taking the few necessary steps forward and closing the gap between them.

The first light touch was all it took to unlock a million new senses in Kurt and another million feelings he never knew he had. Things he couldn't put into words... but he could put into this. Leaning slightly over the gap, Kurt kissed his boyfriend back. He couldn't care less that they were in public, or that the other Dalton boys were probably watching them. All he cared about was Blaine, and connecting himself to Blaine in a brand new way.

Blaine pulled away slightly so that their lips were barely brushing together. "Can I come through yet?"

Despite himself, Kurt chuckled. "I suppose you've earned it." Pulling back fully, Kurt released the gate so Blaine could step through. The second Blaine was through the gate, he pulled Kurt into his arms, kissing him properly. Kurt immediately responded, wondering whether the light headed dizziness would ever disappear and hoping the answer was no.

This time, Kurt was the one to pull away, still staring into Blaine's eyes. "As much as I'd love to continue, I can almost guarantee we're going to turn around and the majority of the Dalton students will be watching us."

"Give it three seconds and someone's going to make some kind of comment." Kurt raised an eyebrow but waited the required three seconds, listening for -

"And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the proper demonstration of a kissing gate." Nick ended up being the one to break the silence and Kurt shook his head, turning to see that, sure enough, all of the Dalton students were watching them, smirking or grinning slyly.

"Yes, thank you." Kurt bowed slightly, not quite sure where his confidence had come from but never one to turn down attention. "So, Mr. Tour Guide, are you going to show us the rest of these marvelous attractions?"

Nick mock scowled, but obediently turned and led the group down the path. Kurt felt Blaine's hand slip into his before words were being whispered into his ear, bringing the smile back to his face.

"We're definitely going back that way."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**As Klaine kissed, Nick and Jeff were up a tree (how the telephone did they get up there so quickly?) filming the scene. And high fiving,as is the way with Niff.**_

_**Nick: Good job!**_

_**Jeff: *blushes* It was your plan!**_

_**Nick: *blushes* It was your brilliant acting!**_

_**Jeff: No, it was all-**_

_**Kurt: *looks up* I sense fluff...**_


	123. Beg

**Can everybody please read this? I just need to make it absolutely clear right now that I'm _not _taking any more prompts. I'm still getting a lot and they're mostly from anons who I can't reply to. I get a lot of emails and it takes me about twenty minutes every morning to sort my FanFiction emails so I'd really love to be able to not have to sift through prompts as well. If it continues and it's mainly anons, I will have to shut off anon reviews because my emails are starting to run my life. **

**For those who have asked, I haven't found a suitable couple name for Nick/Jeff yet. Even their last names - Sterling and Duval - don't mesh that well either, which is a real pity.**

**And in regards to my work, yes _Klaineforthewin_, I am absolutely part of a super-secret spy organization which is why I can't talk about it ;) I love that idea so much... **

**From _l_**_**ollzie: Set before the warbler meeting in Original songs, when Blaine asks to duet with Kurt. Before the meeting Blaine is begging Wes, David and Thad to agree to letting him duet with Kurt for Regionals. Goes on a big long rant about how he's realised his true feelings for Kurt, and 'seen the light' After this big long speech Wes, David and Thad are all smirking and looking behind him. Blaine turns around and sees Kurt in the doorway. Kurt asks if it is true and when Blaine confirms it is, Kurt runs to him and kisses him.**_

* * *

Beg

"Blaine. You wanted to see us?"

Blaine nodded, trying not to look nervous. The three Council Members were seated in their normal formation, Wes's hand poised over his gavel. If it weren't for the fact that he knew what these three were like outside of 'Council Mode', he wouldn't have even brought up the issue. "I wanted to discuss something with you. I would have brought it up in the meeting, but I thought it was best to put it by the Council before the rest of the Warblers voted on it."

David raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

_Breathe. _"I would like to request one of my solos to be changed to a duet."

There was a stunned silence for a moment, then Thad turned to Wes. "When was the last time we had a duet?"

"Four years ago, at Sectionals," Wes responded promptly. "We lost. They screwed up the harmony."

Blaine winced, knowing that was going to be a huge deciding factor. "With all due respect, that wasn't me. I've done duets before and I know how to harmonize with Ku-" He snapped his mouth shut, but the damage was done. Wes was still looking impassive, but David had begun to smirk.

"Oh, so you've chosen who you'd like your duet partner to be already, have you?" Thad leant forward, also trying to conceal his mirth. "What happened to the audition process?"

_Okay, play it cool. _Blaine took a deep breath and began to try and rationalize his decision. "Well, we haven't had a countertenor in so long, and Kurt and I have sung together before - we know how well our voices are suited."

"What about Warblers who have been here for much longer than Kurt? Shouldn't they get the chance to sing duets first, especially those who are closer to graduating than he is?"

David and Thad were both fighting back smiles as Wes spoke, and Blaine knew full well he was caught out. "Yes, but we all heard Kurt sing_ Blackbird _the other day. I saw the looks on your faces when he was finished - none of us had words. It was breathtaking." Blaine couldn't stop the torrent of words pouring out of his mouth. "I've heard Kurt sing before, yes, but never with that much _passion. _And that would add so much to our performances, to have someone up the front singing like that."

"Then why not offer him your solo?" David drummed his fingers on the table until Wes glared at him to stop.

Blaine bit his lip, trying to find the best way to put it, before deciding all he could do was tell the truth. "Because I want to spend more time with him. And I know, our personal emotions aren't meant to come into play when it comes to performances, but I can't help it." He fixed each of the Council Members with a penetrating glance. "You _all _heard him perform. And if you thought you were moved, you can't begin to imagine how I felt. It was like my whole world tipped up on its head, everything I thought I had known suddenly changed and ... everything was _Kurt."_

Blaine was vaguely aware that he was spilling his secrets to the entire Council, but it felt so _good _to finally talk about the thoughts that had been plaguing him the past few days. "I've honestly never felt the way I do about Kurt with anybody else. All that stuff with Jeremiah, that was ridiculous and you can tell that by my choice of song. I thought I knew what I wanted, but I was wrong..." He hesitated a moment, trying to pull his thoughts together and refusing to meet the eyes of anybody at the table.

"Kurt has been nothing but patient with me, no matter what's been happening, no matter how much of a fool I've made of myself. He's been my best friend through all of this and I don't know how it's taken me this long to realize I want more, but I do. I guess you could say I've seen the light." Blaine scuffed one foot across the floor, still not looking up. "I don't know what else I can say to convince you of how important this is to me. I just feel like if I could find the perfect song - and believe me, I've been looking - then maybe Kurt could see that I'm truly serious about this and about _him_. I've screwed up a lot, guys, and I just want to prove to Kurt how much I really do care about him."

There was silence, and after a few seconds Blaine looked up, trying to work out what everybody was thinking. Instead, he saw all of the Council Members staring over his head, smirking. Blaine felt a sinking feeling in his gut as he turned, already knowing what he was going to see.

Kurt was standing in the doorway, his face unreadable. "Blaine? Is that true?"

_Crap._

Blaine wanted to say something, anything, that would fix the situation, that could just get them back to friends without the awkwardness he was _sure _was going to follow. But there were no words, so he simply nodded.

And then Kurt's face broke in the most beautiful way. Blaine didn't even see him move, so caught up in the expression of _joy _on his face, but then there was a pair of lips pressed up against his and his brain shut down. When he finally became aware of what was going on again, he kissed Kurt back with everything he had. Blaine couldn't be entirely sure this wasn't a dream, but either way he was going to take full advantage of what was going on. Kurt's lips were just as perfect as Blaine had imagined... and then they were gone.

Opening his eyes, he saw Kurt staring back at him, a soft smile gracing his face. "One condition. I get to pick the song."

"I can handle that," Blaine murmured back, before pulling him back in for another kiss.

There was a cough from the table and Blaine pulled away, turning to glare at them. "We haven't actually said you can duet together," Wes informed them, his arms crossed.

Blaine simply stared at the three boys, his eyebrow raised. Wes shifted uncomfortably and glanced at David and Thad who were both also staring at him incredulously. "Really, Wes?" David asked.

"Okay, fine. We all know you're going to get the duet." Wes muttered something else about 'sickeningly sweet' but Blaine found himself attached to Kurt's lips again, and not in a position to care.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**My interpreting skills are lacking, so I'll make Kurt and Rachel point out each others flaws.**_

_**"Well, unlike her, I have something called a 'fashion sense.' Rachel, it's something that doesn't involve animal sweaters or knee socks. I don't think you'd understand."**_

_**"Well- you spend too much time on your appearance! You spend SO much time on your hair and face, when you could be practicing and exercising your voice! Then maybe it could be almost as fabulous as mine!"**_

_**"Well, I have a LIFE beyond Glee."**_

_**"I have a life beyond my closet!"**_

_**The video was censored after this due to an unflattering screaming match. (During this screaming match, they took a break to compliment each other's ranges, then conitnued)**_


	124. Rain

**Listening to _Touch-a Touch-a Touch-a Touch Me_... as much as the scene itself creeps me out/amuses the hell out of me, the song is incredible. Not the lyrics obviously, but Jayma's voice is incredible and Naya and Heather in the background is amazing. That episode was one of a few I'd missed in Season Two - all caught up now thankfully - and I can't believe I never saw it. Ah-mazing. I _love _Kurt in it. **

**Anyway, I should be sleeping right now because in 5 and a half hours, I have my first graveyard. But I'm not tired enough so I'll have to risk it - there's someone there with me for the first two nights so I don't think I'll fall asleep on the job. Plus, I'll have a lot to learn. **

**By the way, everybody who's been messaging me or sending reviews with questions, I have seen them, I promise! I'm just a bit busy with everything at the moment and I'll try to get to them really soon, okay? I'm sorry for neglecting you guys a bit but it's been a little frantic this week...**

**From **_**StAR GirL EmmZzzZz: In Sexy Kurt says he loves Romance and well, I want him to have the most romance and cheesy kiss of all time. A kiss with Blaine in the rain. :) Preferably after they have had a fight. :D**_

**Rain kiss wins. I wasn't going to do the fight, but then the idea sprung to mind... as they all seem to do. I'd consider this more of an argument than a fight though.**

* * *

Rain

Kurt's dreams - upon later recollection would turn out to have something to do with pink marshmallows and ducks - were interrupted by the steady pattering of rain falling on the window. He rolled onto his stomach, mumbling something about the weather interrupting his sleep patterns, before trying to remember what was going on. It clearly wasn't the middle of the night, which meant that Kurt had fallen asleep somewhere.

Then he remembered Blaine coming over to his house earlier that day, their plans to study together, how Kurt had tried valiantly to stay awake through mind-numbing Math homework before just 'shutting his eyes' for a moment...

_That means Blaine's still here._

Struggling to clear his sleep-filled mind, Kurt rolled back over and sat up. The dim light, speckled by rain, filtered through his window, illuminating the desk where Blaine was sitting. But instead of doing work, Blaine was facing him with his elbows propped on his knees, staring.

"Um, hi?"

Blaine blinked a couple of times before shaking his head and sitting up fully. "Oh, hey. I was just wondering how long you were going to sleep for, I wasn't sure whether to wake you up or -"

"Blaine, cut the crap."

Blaine froze mid-sentence, stunned. Kurt was shocked himself, but the combination of tiredness, having only just woken up and being completely _sick _of Blaine being oblivious clearly forced his mind to take decisive action.

This wasn't the first time Kurt had caught Blaine staring when he thought Kurt wasn't watching. The first few times, Kurt had brushed it off; after that, it had become a compliment and perhaps a hint that Blaine might be interested. But now it was just getting on Kurt's nerves. Yes, he liked Blaine. A lot. And yes, he definitely wouldn't be complaining if Blaine felt the same way - and by now it was pretty clear that he _did_. But ever since the Valentines Day debacle, it was as if Blaine was walking around on eggshells, not sure how to act or what to do. Kurt wasn't sure if Blaine even knew he felt the way he did, and hadn't wanted to call the other boy out on it in case he ended up pulling away as a result.

But this was beyond a joke.

"I know you were staring at me."

Blaine laughed, but it sounded fake to Kurt's ears. "I'm sorry? I've been studying most of the afternoon actually. I just wasn't sure when exactly you fell asleep so I thought you might want to be woken so you could do more study."

Kurt swung his legs over the side of the bed, facing Blaine more fully. "Look. You are allowed to like me, you know?"

"I - why do you think that I do?"

And that hurt more than Kurt would ever dare to let on. Not just that Blaine was trying to _deny_ his attraction to Kurt, but that he could honestly think that Kurt didn't notice. "Please, don't insult my intelligence. I get it, you're not good at relationships, you've never had one before, you don't know how to go about it. But when you so obviously like someone -"

"Who said it's obvious?" Blaine snapped back. "Just because _you_ think something doesn't make it _true_, Kurt."

Kurt was silenced instantly. Blaine had never _snapped _at him before, and he felt the tears begin to well up in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he forced his emotions back and tried to keep his voice level. "I did. And I know what it's like when someone likes someone else because I have been _crazy _about you for so long now." Blaine's jaw dropped and Kurt sighed. "And you _knew _that. I told you in the coffee shop, maybe not in those words but I did." Standing up, Kurt headed towards the door, still fighting to keep his voice from shaking. "Sometimes I don't know why I do, but I love you, Blaine. And I wish you could just admit that you feel the same."

Before Blaine could respond, Kurt was out the door and darting down the stairs. The fact that it was his own house made running away a bit more difficult, and there was only one place to go. Pulling open the front door, Kurt ran out into the rain without a second thought.

He was drenched instantly. Somewhere along the line, the steady drizzle of rain had erupted into heavy raindrops, thudding against his skin and soaking through his clothing. Kurt took a few steps across the grass before tilting his head back into the rain and finally letting his tears go. Totally ignoring that the ground was wet and muddy, he sank to his knees, letting the rain pour across his face.

"Why do you _do _this to me, Blaine?" he sobbed, pushing his wet hair back off his face angrily. "All I ever did was love you."

The door to the house slammed and Kurt jumped to his feet immediately, not wanting to be caught looking weak by Blaine, who was most likely storming off and driving away, never wanting anything to do with Kurt again...

And then the sound of hurried footsteps came up behind him, and Blaine's arms were around his waist. His breathing was harsh and ragged in Kurt's ear, mixed with the sound of badly concealed sobs.

"Kurt.. I'm so sorry, I didn't know, you have to believe me, if I'd known I would have done _something_. And I do, I do love you, I just never thought I'd have a _chance _with you or that, yes, I would screw it up..."

Kurt twisted around so he was facing Blaine, reaching out to cup the other boys face. "Blaine, shh." Blaine stopped his rambling, sniffing quietly. "You honestly didn't know?"

"I had no idea. I know, I'm oblivious and stupid, but I never _dreamed _that you'd feel the same. I fell for you too hard, too fast, and it scared me and I didn't know what to do with it -"

Kurt pulled Blaine's face towards him and kissed him. All of the emotions he had felt over the past few days, _weeks_ - it all erupted and he poured it into the kiss, willing Blaine to just _understand._ Blaine's lips were against his, kissing him back fiercely as the rain pounded down on top of them, and somehow he seemed to know. They both knew. This was it for them.

Kurt somehow managed to tear himself from Blaine's lips for a few moments. "You _are_ oblivious," he murmured quietly, "if you somehow missed the fact that I am head over _heels _for you."

Blaine shook his head, shaking water droplets around him, and pulled Kurt straight back in for another kiss. Kurt's hands were still holding Blaine's face, his thumbs brushing across the other boy's cheekbones as they kissed again, suddenly soft and sweet - as if they had just realized that they had all the time in the world to be together, to learn one another, to _live._

The rain still poured on around them, but everything in that moment was perfect.

* * *

**Mm, I'm a sucker for a good rain kiss too... so I hope I wrote a good one. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Deciding the duet song:**_

_**"Hey, we should try-"**_

_**"No, before you ask, no Katy Perry. And no, definitley not Hot 'n Cold."**_

_**"I wasn't even going to-"**_

_**"Ahem. Yes, you were."**_

_**"How did you-"**_

**"One, I know you way too well. Two, it's fun interupting all of your** _**sentences."**_

_**"Wait, wh-"**_

_***kisses***_


	125. Saved

**VERY IMPORTANT NOTE: PLEASE READ**

**I know a lot of people skip this anyway, but at least I can cover my back and say I've warned people. _I am switching anonymous reviews off. _**

**Guys, it's just too much of a hassle right now. Those of you who have accounts are fantastic with your reviewing and if you ask a question, I can reply which is great. But I'm getting anonymous reviewers who just keep sending me prompts or asking me questions and I can't do anything about it save posting the same authors notes every single day saying 'Prompts are closed' and so on. I think I'm pretty reasonable in what I ask and it does get irritating to have the same things being ignored every time. I get a lot of people don't like to read authors notes but please, for my sake, skim them at least. Yes, there'll be ramblings about my day and if you don't want to know, don't read that. But in cases like this, there are important notes that need to be read. So anons are off as of tomorrow night's chapter - guys, it's not hard to make an account and if you can't for whatever reason, I'm not going to tell you to get lost or anything, okay?**

**So on the other note that people have been asking about (and a more pleasant note) ****I had my first graveyard... this morning technically. And apart from the tiredness and zoning out around 5:30, it was actually pretty cool. I'll definitely need to get some more sleep before I go again tonight/tomorrow, I only got 5 hours when I got home. But I think my first shift alone is going to be interesting - I'll probably be singing at the top of my lungs to stay awake because the doors are locked and nobody can walk in and surprise me until I buzz them in =D**

_**.(Anon): Kurt, after hearing what Blaine is going to do at the GAP, conspires with the Warblers and before Blaine can start singing the second verse of "When I Get You Alone," Kurt turns the song around and starts singing it to Blaine. **_

**Sorry, no Warbler conspiring with this one because it's been planned in my head for far too long.**

* * *

Saved

_This is going to be a disaster_.

Kurt took his assigned position, waiting patiently for his cue to start making ukelele sounds. The group were standing around The Gap trying to blend in, apart from the part where they were all wearing the same school uniform on the weekend. Blaine stood in the middle of the roughly assembled semicircle, pretending to look at a rack of shirts while he waited for this 'Jeremiah' to finish ringing somebody up.

Kurt knew it was going to be a disaster for a few reasons. First, Jeremiah had seen Blaine walk in and hadn't so much as acknowledged him - if the boy had been interested, he would have at _least _waved or something, right? His disinterest was apparent, and Kurt could tell straight away that he wasn't so much out of the closet - even though the hair said otherwise - let alone willing to be serenaded by another guy in public.

But most importantly, Blaine had seemed off all morning and had even messed up a few notes in their final practice - highly unlike him. He had his confident mask on, that was for sure, but Kurt knew that could crack in a second if something went wrong. And he couldn't shake the feeling that this certainly was going to end badly.

Wes cleared his throat and the group began to harmonize as a whole. Kurt smiled apologetically at a lady who had dropped her purse in shock before moving closer to Blaine who had begun to sing.

"_Baby girl, where you at?_

_Got no strings, got none attached_

_Can't fight this feeling no more, no."_

Instead of watching Blaine like he normally did when his friend performed, Kurt let his eyes be drawn to Jeremiah and how he was reacting. At first he had looked confused, before realizing Blaine was staring straight at him. Then he frowned and turned to walk away. Blaine, of course, followed. But Kurt could see the frown lines marring his forehead and knew Blaine was doing the one thing a performer couldn't afford to do - overthink.

"_All these illusions just take us too long,_

_And I want it bad,_

_Because you walk pretty, because you talk pretty_

_Because you make me sick,"_

Blaine pointed straight at Jeremiah who ducked behind a display. By now a crowd had gathered and Blaine was looking confused as he tried to keep following Jeremiah.

"_And I'm not leaving until you're leaving!_

_Well I swear there's something when she's pumping,_

_Asking for a raise,_

_Does she want me to take her home now?_

_Does she want me to buy her things?"_

Kurt saw the instant it became clear to Blaine that his affections weren't returned. His face dropped and his eyes were glittering. He turned away from Jeremiah as he sang the chorus, fixing Wes with a pleading look.

"_When I get you alone, when I get you you'll know baby,_

_When I get you alone, when I get you alone!"_

Blaine's lip was quivering slightly and Kurt knew he was either about to break or run. But somehow the other Warblers hadn't picked up on this and were continuing their harmony. Kurt could see the indecision on Blaine's face - to stay and try to battle through the second verse for a boy who was completely uninterested and run the risk of breaking down? Or to run, but leave the rest of the Warblers in an awkward situation.

There was only one thing to do.

"_Baby girl, you the shh,_

_That makes you my equivalent,_

_You can keep your toys in the drawer tonight, alright!"_

Kurt cringed and knew he was blushing as he sang the line, but the look on Blaine's face was worth it. Blaine's eyes had lit up and his face was a mixture of grateful, amused and - what was that? Kurt couldn't quite tell.

Kurt stepped out from the formation and finally the Warblers realized what was going on, moving in to form a proper semicircle around the two boys. Blaine made as if to move back but Kurt shook his head.

"_All my dogs talking fast,_

_Aint you got some photographs?_

'_Cause you shook that room like a star now, yes you did!"_

He looked straight at Blaine, not entirely sure where his confidence had come from but loving every second of it. _Hey, if you can't confess properly, at least you can sing it. _

"_All these intrusions just take us too long,"_

Kurt gestured around The Gap, letting his hand linger in Jeremiah's direction for a few seconds. He knew he had just given himself away completely, but he was sick of standing back and waiting for Blaine to be the one to make the first move. It was time for Kurt Hummel to act. Besides, if this was the way Blaine made the first move, Kurt wanted none of it. _Why did the council even let him away with this song?_

Blaine's eyes were alight at this point and the emotion Kurt had seen before had broken across his face completely. Kurt still couldn't identify it, but he knew it was familiar from somewhere.

"_And I want you so bad,"_

Kurt stepped forward and pointed straight at Blaine,

"_Because you walk silly, because you talk silly,_

_And you make me sick, but I'm not leaving, _

_Until you're leaving!"_

Turning away from Blaine, Kurt looked at Wes who was smirking, knowing exactly what was going on. He directed the next few lines towards the council member, gesturing back in Blaine's direction in mock confusion.

"_So I pray there's something, he 'aint bluffing,_

_Rubbing up on me,_

_Well does he want me to make a vow, check it!_

_Well does he want me to make it now?"_

Kurt realized he had changed the pronoun but couldn't care less. Turning back to Blaine, he caught the expression on his face again and it suddenly clicked. It was the same expression he had seen on the staircase that day, when he had called out and Blaine had turned, simply staring at him for a moment. It was the expression he had worn when Kurt had looked up while singing _Don't Cry For Me Argentina_ and caught Blaine staring again. It was the same expression that had been flickering across his face when they sang _Baby It's Cold Outside_ and Blaine was chasing him around the room.

And it was the same expression Kurt caught on his own face in the mirror when he was thinking about Blaine.

Love.

"_On my house, on my job,_

_On my loot, shoes, my voice,_

_My crew, my mind,_

_My father's last name!"_

Kurt stepped closer to Blaine, letting the same expression flit across his own face. He saw the shock in Blaine's eyes, quickly replaced with delight as he recognized it for himself. As Kurt sang the final chorus, Blaine reached out and took his hands, singing along.

"_When I get you alone, when I get you you'll know, baby,_

_When I get you alone, when I get you alone!"_

Kurt winked - where did _that _come from? - before they launched into the final line, the Warblers harmony echoing around them.

"_When I get you alone!"_

As Kurt closed his mouth, he found Blaine's pressed up against it hungrily. After regaining the ability to breathe, Kurt kissed back, scarcely able to believe it was happening. After all this time, Blaine felt the same?

Blaine pulled away, his breathing ragged. "I'm such an idiot. I spent all this time thinking I could be happy if I just found someone, when he was in front of me the whole time."

Kurt shook his head but couldn't hide his smile. "You sap," he murmured before pulling Blaine in for another, gentler kiss, the Warblers cheering around them.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"...and I wish you could just admit you feel the same!"**_

_***tries door***_

_**"..." *jiggles doorknob again* "..." *tries again***_

_**"WE'RE NOT LETTING YOU TwO OUT UNTIL YOU SOLVE YOUR PROBLEM. I WANT TO HEAR MAKING OUT."**_

_**"I HATE YOU WESLEY! I SWEAR, I WILL-" *gets klissed***_

_***unlocks door* "AH! MY EYES!"**_

_***still making out***_


	126. Fool

**Reiterating what I said last night, anonymous reviews are now disabled. Sorry guys, but I hope you continue to read anyway :)**

**I'm a zombie and I've spent all day on the couch reading fanfics ;) some time tomorrow when I've woken up sufficiently and don't have another night shift to go to, I'm going to make a rec list on my Tumblr. So if you don't follow me there (and you totally should I posted a spoiler post a few nights ago), go to my profile to get your hands on that :)**

**Sorry it was a bit late, I was supposed to post it before my nap but I was too tired to fight with my internet. Then I didn't end up sleeping anyway so... yeah. **

**From **_**ShezzaMezza: For WKOF, Blaine should sing to Kurt about how he's been an idiot not to realize that he's in love with him too**_

**The idea for this first came to me when I was on a 2 hour car ride. I wrote most of it on a 3 hour plane ride. Ever the traveller.**

* * *

Fool

Blaine sighed as he once again climbed the staircase, walking slowly along the hallway towards the dorms. Ever since they had gotten back from The Gap, Blaine had been pacing around Dalton, trying to sort his head out. Wes had attempted to talk things through with him before giving up when Blaine got snappy. So now he was alone and on his fifth lap of Dalton.

The main thing on Blaine's mind wasn't his complete public humiliation, nor his rejection from Jeremiah. Both of those things had ceased to be important to him on about the third lap. Now, all he could think about was Kurt. The second they had arrived back, Kurt had disappeared off to his room, and Blaine hadn't seen him since. It wasn't as if Kurt didn't spend a lot of time alone - he had many long conversations with Mercedes in the privacy of his room and Blaine respected that - but the way Kurt had been acting on the way back to Dalton was certainly ringing alarm bells in Blaine's head.

Blaine wasn't vain enough to think that his performance had upset Kurt because Kurt harboured any secret feelings for him or anything of the sort. But as much as he had tried, he couldn't think of a suitable explanation for Kurt's behaviour.

"... don't know why I bother sometimes."

Blaine paused, realizing he had just arrived outside Kurt's door. The past four times he had walked by, there had been silence, but this time it sounded like Kurt was on the phone to someone. After a pause, Kurt spoke again. "Yes, but maybe I don't want to be in love with him any more."

_Kurt's in love with someone?_

Blaine's brain was trying to make the obvious connection, but his heart was refusing to accept it. _If you believe that and then find out he's in love with Jeff or someone, you'll only end up hurt. Don't go there._

"I know, 'Cedes. Just seeing him act like that, it hurt."

The evidence was becoming harder to deny, and confirmation arrived in the next sentence. "You didn't see the guy, Mercedes. Of course Blaine would prefer someone like that to someone like me."

_Kurt's in love with __you__._

Blaine knew he should be happy, but the momentary elation was immediately taken away as he realized that he was the cause of Kurt's current state of mind - he was the reason Kurt had locked himself away and wasn't talking to anybody at Dalton right now.

Blaine had known that singing to Jeremiah wasn't the right thing to do, but he had convinced himself that Kurt couldn't possibly feel the same way as he did. Reasoning that moving on to someone else would take his mind off Kurt - and knowing full well that it wouldn't happen - Blaine had decided that Jeremiah was the logical choice. Another gay guy, someone more experienced than him, and not bad looking either. So the plan had formed in his mind and Blaine had been determined to follow it through.

Except for the part where he spent the entire song wishing he was singing to Kurt instead. Oh, not the same song, of course. He wouldn't even consider _When I Get You Alone _to be the kind of song he would sing for Kurt. But to be able to sing to Kurt on Valentines Day would have been amazing.

And to find out that he _had _been able to, but went and screwed it up by singing to another guy, well it wasn't pleasant. And Blaine knew he had to fix it.

Moving away quietly, Blaine pulled out his phone and sent off a text to the Council, before going to his room to rifle through his sheet music. He was going to fix this in the only way he knew how.

* * *

"Okay, 'Cedes. I'm going to go for a walk, try to clear my head."

Kurt sat up, rolling his shoulders to work out the tension. He had been talking to Mercedes for the past few hours, and most of that time had been spent whinging about Blaine's performance earlier that day. Far too many tears had been shed over that boy, and it was time for Kurt to start moving on.

"Alright. Call me again if you need to talk. Love you, Kurt."

"Love you too." Kurt hung up, pocketing his phone and heading out the door. The halls were mostly empty and Kurt frowned, checking his watch. It was 4:15, their usual practice time, except Wes had said they weren't going to practice that afternoon... hadn't he?

Breaking into a jog, Kurt made his way down to the choir room. He was _sure _they weren't having practice, but he didn't want to risk getting the Council angry by not showing up if there was practice. As he turned down the hallway, two things made him stop in his tracks. First, he could see Jeff and Nick making their way around the corner at the other end of the hall, clearly indicating that there wasn't rehearsal on.

But more importantly, the door was ajar and Blaine's voice was floating out. "... really important to me."

Kurt flattened himself against the wall and edged closer to the door. The responsible side of his mind told him that spying was wrong, but that was drowned out quickly as Wes responded, sounding concerned. "Is this going to end up like todays performance though, Blaine?"

_Blaine wants to do another performance?_

"No, I don't believe so. The performance earlier was a mistake. I didn't talk to Jeremiah about it first and I didn't even think about him losing his job over it. But this time -" Blaine hesitated for a moment before speaking again, his words coming out more rushed. "This time it's not just an _I love you _song, it's an _I'm sorry _more than anything. And I think once I apologize, we can talk about things and sort this out. I didn't realize how much of a mistake I'd made."

Kurt had heard enough. Pushing away from the wall, he all but ran down the hall and towards the stairs. The tears were springing to his eyes as he made his way through the hallways, with no destination in mind but to be alone.

Pushing open a door, Kurt found himself in the study room he and Blaine had sung to each other in. That fact alone only made Kurt's tears fall faster, but at least the room was empty. He threw himself onto a couch and fumbled blindly for his phone, punching in the number he knew off by heart and waiting.

"Kurt?"

"I - 'Cedes, I need you here."

It was a testament to their friendship that Mercedes didn't press for details. "I'm on my way."

Kurt hung up, curled into a ball and let the tears fall.

* * *

"So everybody knows what we're doing?"

A chorus of yeses came back and Wes nodded. "Right. Blaine's going to go get Kurt now. Everybody to their places!"

As the Warblers set into formation, Blaine ducked out of the room, heading down towards Kurt's room. Calling in the rest of the Warblers had been easier than expected - once Blaine explained that this time the performance was for Kurt, they had all quickly agreed. Jeff explained that they had all thought that was Blaine's plan in the first place which is why they had agreed to the idea.

Stopping outside Kurt's door, Blaine knocked quickly and waited. A few seconds passed with no answer, and Blaine frowned. He knocked again, slightly louder. A minute went by, and Blaine tried the doorknob to find it locked. "Damn it," he muttered under his breath.

"Blaine."

Blaine turned to see Mercedes walking along the hall towards him, Kurt's key in her hand. "Mercedes, what are you doing here?"

"I'm looking after my boy, that's what." Brushing past him, Mercedes unlocked Kurt's door and stepped in, grabbing one of Kurt's jackets before locking the door again.

"Looking after him?"

Mercedes rolled her eyes. "That's what I said. I'm taking him back to Lima with me for a few hours, just in case anybody needs to be aware. I mean, you're the last person I'd normally tell but at least I don't have to track someone down."

"Wait, you can't!"

Mercedes turned and glared at him. Blaine took a step back, raising his hands. "You have no right to tell me what I can and can't do, and what _Kurt _can and can't do. Haven't you hurt him enough?"

Blaine ducked his head, knowing it was true. "I know, but I'm trying to make it up to him."

"By doing another performance for that Jeremiah guy? That isn't going to _help_, just in case you hadn't realized."

Mercedes moved to turn away but Blaine stopped her. "Performing for Jeremiah? Why would you think I was doing that?"

Apparently he was genuine enough, because Mercedes relaxed her death stare slightly in favor of confusion. "Kurt heard you talking to your council thing about wanting to do another performance."

"Yes, a performance for _Kurt_." Blaine ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "I wanted to tell him how sorry I am and how I lo-"

He cut himself off, but the damage was done. Mercedes's jaw dropped. "You _love _him?"

"I do." Blaine figured there was no point in trying to hide it anymore. "I've been stupid, I know, but Kurt means _everything _to me and now that I know he feels the same, I need to _tell _him."

Unbelievably, a smile crossed Mercedes face. "About time!" she exclaimed. Blaine knew his confusion was showing on his face as Mercedes sighed, shaking her head at him. "Nobody looks at someone the way you've been looking at Kurt and not want to be more than friends, Blaine. So, if you promise you're not going to hurt him this time, I'll help."

"I promise. Mercedes, I'd hurt myself first."

Mercedes nodded. "I expect nothing less. Right, I'll go get Kurt and drag him up to ... the choir room?"

"Yeah. Thanks, Mercedes."

"Make it worth it!" she called over her shoulder, darting down the stairs. Blaine stared after her for a few seconds before turning back to the choir room.

As he entered, the Warblers stared at him, a few looking over his shoulder for Kurt. "Did he not want to come?" Jeff asked, looking concerned.

"One of his McKinley friends is here. She was about to take him away, but I convinced her to help out. She's bringing him up here in a couple of minutes, but I want to change things a little bit." Blaine walked over to one of the couches and sat. "Can you all sit?"

The Warblers followed his instructions without question, Wes falling into the seat next to him. "You know what you're doing?"

Blaine nodded, before raising a finger to his lips. Everybody quietened obediently and the sound of Kurt's voice, growing louder, drifted into the room. "Why do you want to see my choir room? It's just a room?"

Mercedes appeared in the doorway, holding a finger to her lips unnecessarily. "Oh hey, it's pretty cool. Come and explain this to me?"

"It's just a room, I don't see what -" Kurt walked through the door and stopped immediately at the sight of the Warblers. "Crap, is it rehearsal?"

Blaine stood and Kurt's attention was drawn to him. As he looked his friend in the eye, Blaine saw the flicker of pain flash through before it was gone - clearly Kurt was wearing a mask. "Kurt. Mercedes. Have a seat."

Mercedes grabbed Kurt's hand and pulled him over to one of the couches. Blaine waited until they were seated - Kurt glancing at Mercedes suspiciously - before speaking again, keeping it simple. "Kurt, it's come to my attention that there's something I need to say to you."

Blaine gestured to the Warblers who immediately broke into harmony. Keeping his full attention on Kurt, Blaine took a step forward and began to sing.

"_There was a time when we were down and out,_

_There was a place when we were starting over,_

_We let the bough break, we let the heartache in,_

_Who's sorry now?"_

Blaine watched as Kurt fought with his emotions, clearly trying to keep the impassive mask up. But as much as Blaine didn't want to hurt Kurt more, the words needed to be said and Kurt needed to accept his emotions - and Blaine's.

"_There was a world when we were standing still,_

_And for a moment we were separated,"_

There was a tiny flinch, and Blaine tried to show his apology through his eyes, as he continued to sing, knowing the next words would be the worst. He had changed the song slightly to fit himself and Kurt, it being the best one he could find in the short amount of time he had.

"_And then I found him, I let the stranger in,_

_Who's sorry now?"_

As the Warblers repeated the line, Kurt bit his lip and Blaine stepped forward again.

"_What, what kind of fool,_

_Tears it apart, leaving you pain and sorrow?_

_Losing you now, wondering why -_

_Where will we be tomorrow?"_

And it truly was his biggest fear. Blaine knew he had screwed up, but the last thing he ever wanted was to lose Kurt's friendship over this. Yet, seeing the look in Kurt's eyes, he knew it was a possibility if he didn't fix things.

But there was something else in Kurt's eyes, and Blaine knew he was trying not to read further into the words, trying not to see the flickers of emotion that Blaine knew were running through his eyes. The ones that Blaine _needed _him to see, to understand.

"_There was a moment when I cut you down,_

_Played around, what have I done?_

_I only apologize for being, as they say,_

_The last to know."_

And there it was. Kurt's jaw dropped, and Blaine knew he had finally seen it. Because Blaine _had _been the last to know - everybody else seemed to have understood that he and Kurt were in love with each other, except him. And perhaps Kurt, who looked stunned to think that Blaine loved him _back_.

"_It has to show when someone is in your eyes."_

The Warblers continued to sing the final chorus as Blaine held the note, staring straight into Kurt's eyes which were filling with tears. Mercedes was grinning and Kurt appeared to be trying to hold back a smile.

"_What kind of fool."_

As the final notes echoed around the room, Blaine stepped towards Kurt again, offering him a hand. Kurt took it and allowed himself to be pulled to his feet.

"Kurt. I've been an fool. And all I can say is that I'm sorry, and I love you." Kurt gasped quietly, clearly having not wanted to believe it completely until now.

There was nothing else Blaine could say. Their hands were still linked, and Blaine could feel the trembling in Kurt's hand. All he could do was wait, and hope that it wasn't too late.

Kurt stared at him for a few seconds before shaking his head. Blaine's heart plummeted. _I left it too late... I ruined everything..._

"This must be a dream," Kurt whispered. "So if it is, I'm taking full advantage."

And then Kurt was leaning towards him, closing the gap between their lips and pressing them together. Now it was Blaine's turn to gasp at the contact before kissing back hungrily. He had _dreamt _of this for so long, and now that it was finally happening he couldn't be sure he was awake either. All he could do was rely on the sensations running through him that his dreams could never give.

Blaine broke away, breathless. Kurt was in a similar state, staring at him through slightly glazed eyes. "I really hope we're not dreaming," he breathed.

Kurt chuckled, and that seemed to be the cue the rest of the Warblers needed. Loud exclamations came from the other side of the room and then the two boys were engulfed in a Warbler hug, Mercedes joining in laughingly.

And throughout it all, Kurt and Blaine's hands were linked together. And nothing was going to pull them apart again.

* * *

**My endings kinda sucked at this point of my writing. My apologies.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"And I'm not leaving until you're-"**_

_**"HELL TO THE NO!"**_

_***storms up* "You are NOT singing that song to anyone that's not MY WHITE BOY! NOT that sorry white boy with horrible hair! Seriously, what nested up in there?"**_

_***sees the light* "Kurt..."**_

_**"Go. Now." *shoves into Kurt***_

_**"Ah-" *lips get smacked togther***_

_**"Mah job is done here." *walks out***_


	127. Fall

**I don't know what to say tonight. My first shift alone went pretty good and my manager seemed happy enough when she came in so that's a plus. Hopefully I can get back into normal sleep patterns until next Friday now.**

**Oh, right. My rec list is a work in progress right now. I should have it up fairly soon though :) **

**From **_**Total Eclipse of the Sun: When Kurt and Blaine first see each other, as Blaine grabs Kurt's hand Kurt trips a little and falls into Blaines arms and immediately his lips land on Blaines.**_

**Hello earliest kiss!**

* * *

Fall

Kurt walked slowly down the spiraling staircase, trying to take in everything around him. He had never seen anything quite like it. _This isn't a school, it's a museum!_

As he pulled off his sunglasses and tried to blend in, Kurt realized that everybody was rushing past him, clearly heading somewhere. He wasn't entirely sure what he was meant to be doing, or even doing here. All he had known was that there was no place for him with the guys at McKinley, so he might as well go check out this school. They knew nothing about their club, after all.

Kurt pushed back the feelings of guilt - he knew full well that it wasn't fair of him to spy - and focused on the task at hand. He wasn't even sure if he'd learn anything, after all he didn't know when Dalton Academy's choir had their practices. But even if he didn't, he at least got the chance to watch a lot of guys walk past.

And he had to admit, there were a lot of _good looking _guys here at Dalton. Kurt's eyes lingered momentarily on a blonde boy with very nice hair. Then he saw his hand linked with a dark-haired boy and blinked. _Wait, they're together? And... nobody's judging them?_

The students were still pushing past him, and Kurt really wanted to know what was going on in this school. So, as another boy passed him, Kurt pulled up his courage and called out, "Excuse me?"

The boy turned and Kurt had to stop his eyes from widening. This boy was ... well, _hot. _Too much gel, yes, but his eyes were stunning and his face was kind, as if he didn't mind being interrupted in the middle of a staircase by some guy he didn't even know. "Um, hi. Can I ask you a question? I'm - I'm new here."

The lie slipped out effortlessly, and the other boy didn't seem to notice anything being off. "My name's Blaine," he said, holding out a hand. Kurt looked at it for a second - _really? He really wants to shake my hand? _- before taking it.

"Kurt." He looked around for a second, before turning his attention back to Blaine. "So what exactly is going on?"

"The Warblers!" Kurt inwardly cheered. _Jackpot! _"Every now and then they throw an impromptu performance in the Senior Commons. Tends to shut the school down for awhile."

Blaine appeared to attempt some sort of wink before turning to watch the rest of the students file through the halls. Kurt smirked a little, before realizing what Blaine had said. "So, wait, the Glee club here is kind of cool?"

"The Warblers are like... rockstars."

Kurt knew his shock was written across his face. _Rockstars? _He wondered idly how it must feel to be in a club where talent is actually recognized, before Blaine was smiling at him again with those perfect teeth and gorgeous eyes...

"Come on, I know a shortcut."

Blaine grabbed his hand, tugging a little. Just as he did, however, a latecomer came rushing down the stairs, bumping into Kurt's shoulder. Kurt tipped, off balance and grabbed at the closest thing to keep him steady - which happened to be Blaine. And then Blaine's face was rushing towards his and somehow, inexplicably, their lips met.

Kurt stilled instantly, feeling Blaine freeze also. Neither moved to break the kiss, however, and after a few seconds Kurt found himself melting. He had only ever kissed Brittany before, and that was rather like getting ones mouth examined thoroughly. But _this_... this was _amazing._

Blaine pulled away a second later, and Kurt opened his eyes - _when did that happen? _- to see the stunned look on the other boys face, clearly matching his own. "Wow," he breathed out before he could stop himself.

"You could say that, yeah." Blaine blinked at him a couple of times. "I - uh, I guess this is a strange question after that... but are you gay?"

Kurt giggled before he could help himself, slightly hysterically. "I am, yes. You are?"

"Yeah. It would've been awkward if one of us wasn't, wouldn't it?" Blaine ran a hand over his hair absent-mindedly, clearly a whole world away.

There was another moment of silence then a muttered curse from Blaine. "Crap, I'm meant to be in the commons!"

"That Warbler thing? You're one of them?"

Blaine nodded. "Lead, actually. They're probably flipping out wondering where I am."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. This kept getting better and better. "Well, why don't you show me that shortcut you were talking about and - well, we can leave this until later?"

Blaine chuckled, ducking his head slightly. "I think that's an excellent idea. You can also explain the fact that you're clearly not a new kid and definitely had an ulterior motive coming here."

"Damn, you're good." A second later, Kurt realized how the words sounded considering what the two had just done. But Blaine laughed again, tugging at his hand which was still linked to Blaine's.

"I know." And there was _definitely _a double entendre there, and Blaine seemed perfectly aware of that face. "Come on, let's go."

And running through the halls, holding hands with another gay guy who he had just _kissed_ didn't seem as strange as it should have to Kurt. Something about Blaine's hand in his felt strangely reassuring.

Blaine burst in the doors and a group of boys jumped to their feet, shooting him annoyed looks. The dark-haired boy from the couple that Kurt had seen earlier glanced at Kurt before looking down at their linked hands and nudging his boyfriend. The blonde boy raised an eyebrow, smirking and Kurt couldn't help but smile back.

Blaine quickly released his hand, turning to face him. "Gosh, I stick out like a sore thumb."

"Well next time don't forget your blazer, _new kid_." Blaine winked again, reaching out to fiddle with Kurt's lapel. Kurt ignored the spike of heat that ran through the place that Blaine's hand was resting as the other boy backed away. The group of boys behind him - who Kurt realized must be the Warblers - began to sing a flawless harmony and Blaine broke in right on cue.

"_Before you met me, life was alright _

_but things were kind of heavy_

_You brought me to life,"_

And as Blaine stared straight at him, Kurt allowed himself to smile. After all, it wasn't every day that a hot guy who played for your team sang to you, and no matter what happened from here, Kurt was planning on taking full advantage of this moment.

The rest of the song went by in a blur, and Kurt knew that the boys would be furious when they realized he had gone to spy but found out nothing of value. Except, of course, that their lead singer's name was Blaine and he was pretty darn gorgeous and had an amazing voice and kissed him...

"_Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans,_

_Be your teenage dream tonight!"_

The Warblers finished their number to resounding applause and Kurt blinked, realizing a huge grin had split his face. He clapped politely, still staring straight at Blaine who was congratulating the other Warblers around him. He turned, catching Kurt's eye and smiling before crossing the room. "Let's talk."

Blaine led him into a classroom just down the hall, jumping up to sit on the edge of one of the desks. "So, now we work out what to do about this."

Feeling suddenly shy, Kurt shuffled awkwardly. "I - that was my first kiss." As soon as he said it, he felt like a complete idiot. _Why on earth would you tell him THAT?_

"Same."

Kurt's head shot up to see Blaine smiling at him gently. "It's alright, Kurt. We both know it was an accident, but it all depends what we want to do now."

_Come on, be brave. _"I have to tell you the truth first," he said quietly. "You were right when you said I had an ulterior motive; I'm here as a spy from McKinley High School. My Glee club sent me."

"I know." Blaine laughed at the expression on his face. "I mean, I didn't know you were from McKinley," he elaborated. "But you're clearly a spy. Your outfit of choice was just one warning bell."

Kurt smiled, ducking his head to examine his clothing. "A bit of a giveaway, yes." He looked back up, confused. "So wait, you don't care that I was spying?"

"The Warblers are the only a capella show choir in the competition. And there's still a few weeks until Sectionals - _Teenage Dream _is a contender, but knowing our esteemed Council, we'll probably change our mind at least four times before then. At least if anybody steals our songs, we know they can't perform them the way we do." Blaine nudged him lightly with his foot, his expression turning serious. "And I don't think you just came here to spy."

Kurt shook his head. He knew he would normally have been more upset talking about this sort of thing, but his mind was still working through the kiss he had shared with Blaine earlier. "I'm the only person out at my school," he murmured quietly.

"I know how you feel," Blaine said immediately. "I mean, not now, of course, but at my old school. And let me guess, they make your life hell?"

He nodded again, staring down at his feet. "The way I see it, you have a few options, Kurt. I mean, I'd tell you to come here, but tuition is steep and I know it's not an option for everyone. But your other option is to stand up for yourself. _Confront _them, show them they're wrong."

Kurt stared into his eyes, and knew that Blaine was talking from experience, unlike the rest of the people at McKinley who had no idea what he was up against. And he trusted Blaine. "Okay."

"Now..." Blaine hesitated for a second. "About that kiss." Kurt bit his lip, Blaine noticing instantly. "What are your thoughts?"

"I - I don't know." _Yes you do, and you can do this. _"I guess... well, it was nice. And it's nice to be able to sit here with someone who understands what it's like and just - just talk."

Blaine smiled and Kurt felt his heart sink in relief. "I completely agree. So, I'll tell you what. How about we swap numbers and we'll... I don't know, do you drink coffee?"

"Of course."

Blaine laughed. "Of course. Well, maybe we could go for coffee in a few days time? We can talk about how things are going for you and, well, just get to know each other?"

And despite everything that was going on at McKinley right now, despite the fact that Kurt knew Karofsky was going to snap _any day _now, despite knowing that a school like this existed and he couldn't go... Kurt suddenly felt as light as air. The only other time he could remember feeling this way was when he came out to his Dad. "I - I'd like that."

Blaine smiled back at him, and Kurt couldn't stop himself from grinning. _You know... he is pretty cute..._

* * *

**And so begins the crush! =D ****I can't see them getting together this early at all. That said, I've had friends who did it and they were together for a year. But I don't see that with two boys like Kurt and Blaine. This feels much more realistic.**

**Their speech after Teenage Dream changed, I know. But the timeline has changed, so the events of the future would be different.**

***coughs* Because I totally haven't been reading timetravel!Harry Potter fics or anything...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**The many threats Blaine Anderson recieved that day:**_

_**Mercedes: "If you hurt my boy, I WILL cut a bitch."**_

_**Puck: "Hurt my boy and I break your face." *flexes arms***_

_**Burt: *while cleaning shotgun* "Now, don't hurt my son or pressure him into anything. Got it?" *holds gun aloof***_

_**Brittany: *gives picture of squiggles* "Santanna told me to write you a note saying that if you hurt my dolphin I'll make Lord Tubbington attack you. Is this gay Hogwarts? Can you help me learn how to fly? I tried the way Mary Poppins told me, but she's a liar. Do you have any cookies?"**_


	128. Party

**So I posted the first chapter of _Straight Camp _tonight which is primarily a Nick/Jeff story. Please do check it out, it's completely different to anything I've ever written and I'd love some feedback :) it'll probably be slow posting but I wanted to get it started anyway.**

**A quick shout out to _Nani CW_ who Angela and I coincidentally met via Facebook. It was pretty awesome =D**

**And out of curiosity, what is everybody's name? I'm only asking for first names, obviously, and if you don't want to give me your name then don't. But I'm curious about names and which name is in the majority :) and I'd like to know for some of my regular reviewers who you actually are instead of your pen names - I'm looking at you _Klaineforthewin, Chasing Aspirations, Mrs. Malfoy-Goode, Wyny, darrenfreakingcriss _and so on ;)**

**From **_**SquirrelzAttack: Oh, what I wouldn't give for The Warblers to throw a party and **__**have all the council get drunk off of their faces...**_

**My beta is totally allowed to prompt... right? **

**TGTDOSBDK, AU from the last ten minutes of Original Song onwards. **

**You know, I don't know what would happen after that top ten list. I don't think any of us do. So Sarah is making it up.**

* * *

Party

They had done it.

After narrowly beating New Directions at Regionals, Kurt had spent a lot of time soul searching. He _missed_ his friends back at McKinley and he missed being an individual. Dalton had been his escape, but Kurt was a different person now. He was stronger, more confident in himself. He could go back if he wanted to, and he knew he'd survive. Especially when Karofsky had promised to behave himself and offered the chance for Kurt to return.

But the Warblers were going to _Nationals. _They were going to _New York_, the city that Kurt had only dreamt of visiting since forever. This was his chance to find himself in the place he wanted to spend the rest of his life in, to even make a name for himself. The Warblers had hinted at a repeat duet for their Nationals performance, and Kurt would be crazy to turn that down.

Plus, Dalton had one thing that McKinley didn't, and couldn't. Blaine.

So, after a lot of thinking, talking with Blaine, the Council, Mercedes, his Dad, Rachel and even Finn, and plenty more thinking, his decision had been made. Kurt was going to stay at Dalton until the end of the year and see what happened from there.

Of course the McKinley guys were upset - Santana in particular had worked hard to try and make sure Kurt could come back. Not that he knew her motivation, but he understood the feeling from all of them. So then Rachel had proposed something that Kurt never would have dreamt possible from the brunette. Showing up with all of New Directions in tow, they proceeded to teach the Warblers everything they knew. Including song writing.

And that was when it turned out that Blaine was an _amazing _song writer - a skill he had never brought up out of modesty. With a bit of input from Kurt, he had quickly written them a duet that had brought Nick to tears and made the rest of the Warblers a bit teary. For his solo, they had gone with Wes Carr's _You_, and the group had banded together with the assistance of New Directions to write a group number that actually showcased more than just Kurt and Blaine.

Finishing their performance to a standing ovation was one of the biggest highs that Kurt had ever experienced. And as they waited in the hall, Blaine gripping his hand tightly, Kurt found himself not caring whether they had made the top ten or not. He had an amazing experience - especially when he and Blaine had snuck away for breakfast at Tiffany's - and he wasn't sure he could handle any more happiness.

Of course, when the list was revealed and the Warblers was the first name on it, he knew he could. The entire group had gone crazy, Kurt and Blaine included. And in the midst of the celebration, between the huddle of hyperactive Warblers, Kurt and Blaine had found one another. Blaine had pulled Kurt into his arms immediately and the two had just held each other, their excitement threatening to burst into each other's arms.

Then Blaine had pulled away, staring into his eyes and Kurt had felt like his heart was about to beat out of his chest because this was _it_, Blaine was going to...

And then Nick was wrapping his arm around both of them, and the moment was broken. But that was all it had taken to make Kurt be entirely sure of two things. One, he was completely in love with one Blaine Anderson. And two, he absolutely wanted to kiss said Blaine Anderson, more than he had wanted anything in his life.

But, of course, life decided to go against him. After that moment, he and Blaine didn't get a moment alone. Between the whirlwind of packing, getting back on the plane (Kurt was seated next to Cameron who fell asleep ten minutes into the flight, trapping Kurt a few seats down from a disappointed looking Blaine) and collapsing when they returned to Dalton, absolutely exhausted... well, Kurt hadn't actually _seen _Blaine since the previous day.

Wes had declared rehearsal for the day after their arrival, to the groans of the others. After all, they had placed _first. _Kurt had figured they would deserve a break. But, not daring to argue with Wes, he made his way down to the choir room after his last class of the day. Entering the room, rubbing at his eyes tiredly, Kurt froze in the doorway.

"Kurt! Come on in!"

Kurt stared at the previously sombre Choir room which had been _transformed. _Balloons, banners, streamers, food and drinks, all had been assembled sometime within the last twenty-four hours. Various Warblers were hanging out, taking advantage of the carefree attitude and what looked suspiciously like alcohol. Skirting that table cautiously, Kurt made his way over to one of the empty couches and slumped into it gratefully.

A few minutes later, Nick and Jeff had joined him, the latter sitting on Kurt's armrest. "So, we did it!"

Kurt smirked. "What gave it away?" he asked, gesturing to the huge banner sporting the words CONGRATULATIONS DALTON ACADEMY WARBLERS - FIRST PLACE!

"Yeah yeah, smirk all you like. You and Blaine did awesome." Nick elbowed him lightly, grinning. "All we need to do now is get ready for that final competition - but we're not discussing that now," he added hastily as Jeff glared at him. "Right now, we're here to party!"

With that, Nick stood and grabbed Jeff's arm, pulling him away through the other Warblers towards the alcohol table. Kurt watched them go, shaking his head. He knew full well how this was going to end - he had survived the Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganza of 2011, after all - and didn't want to be a part of it. Casual bystander was always more amusing anyway.

And then Kurt's heart skipped a beat, because Blaine had just appeared in the doorway, searching around the room. Kurt raised his hand slightly and Blaine caught his eye, grinning. He weaved through the rest of the Warblers, stopping to talk to Wes quickly before sitting down next to Kurt. "Haven't seen you in awhile," he murmured lightly.

Kurt sighed, slumping into Blaine's side. "I'm still so tired. But I guess if they want to have a party, they can all go ahead and get wasted. At the very least, it'll be amusing for me to watch." He paused as a thought occurred to him. "Are you going to -"

"No way in hell." Kurt let out a sigh of relief and Blaine chuckled. "I learnt from last time, don't worry. I wouldn't put you through that again."

"I'm just surprised the council allowed it." Kurt sat up again, turning to look at Blaine. "Isn't Wes kind of ... strict?" Which, of course, was an understatement and a half. Kurt _knew _that Wes was strict.

Blaine laughed again, shaking his head fondly. "Wes is strict until David convinces him to have a few drinks. Then things get a little crazy. Luckily I got his gavel off him this time."

Kurt began to ask, then thought better of it. "So, how long will it take for them to go wild?"

"About fifteen minutes?" Blaine shrugged in response to Kurt's raised eyebrow. "Wes doesn't take long to get himself drunk, and once he's gone, everybody follows suit."

Kurt chuckled, settling himself back into Blaine's side and watching the rest of the Warblers swarm to the alcohol laden table. Sure enough, David could be seen coaxing Wes into taking a cup, but as soon as he had, the boy drank it in one gulp and headed for another. Kurt gave a low whistle, feeling Blaine laugh beside him. "Told you."

Kurt hummed in agreement, snuggling in closer to Blaine's side and resting his head on his boyfriend's chest. This was the first time he and Blaine had been able to just sit and relax together in the past few crazy weeks, and Kurt wanted to make the most of their alone time before the drunkenness kicked in and the rest of the boys began to bug them. There was a comfortable silence for awhile as Kurt watched the Warblers begin to intoxicate themselves, and listen to the steady thudding of his boyfriend's heartbeat. Then Blaine spoke, his voice vibrating through Kurt lightly. "Hey, I never told you how amazing you were at Nationals."

Kurt sat up, turning to smile at Blaine. "So were you," he murmured. "Your songs were incredible, Blaine."

Blaine's smile in response left Kurt feeling weak; his next words more so. "So, we should probably talk about what nearly happened when we were celebrating."

Kurt nodded, still staring into his boyfriend's eyes. There was a moment of silence as Blaine reached out to take his hands, and Kurt saw him swallow nervously. "Kurt... I -"

"CHUG, CHUG, CHUG!"

Blaine groaned, shaking his head roughly as the chant started up on the other side of the room. Sighing, Kurt turned to see Jeff being fed a glass of some toxic-looking substance, David pouring the drink into his mouth from where he was balancing precariously on a chair. Jeff finished his mouthful and raised a fist in the air before pulling Nick in to meet him in a messy kiss. "Well, that's something to remember," Blaine commented idly from beside him and Kurt nodded in agreement. Up to this point, Nick and Jeff had been too shy to admit their feelings to each other, and Kurt knew if they remembered the events tomorrow morning, there would be a fairly awkward conversation to be had. And if they didn't remember, Kurt was sure he could easily remind them.

And as the night went on, things only got worse. Somehow, one of the drunken boys got it into their head that Spin the Bottle was the _best _game to play at an all-guys school where the straight to gay ratio was firmly in the favour of the former. Kurt pulled out his iPhone at this point, taking videos while Blaine covered the photography. He knew Wes would cringe the next morning to find that he had managed to kiss David, Cameron, Trent and Nick all in one night - for that matter, so would Wes's girlfriend, Jessica.

Cameron voted for Seven Minutes in Heaven, something which Blaine quickly vetoed, making up some kind of elaborate excuse that none of the boys could follow, much less argue with. Andrew had already passed out in the corner and Richard and Ethan were drawing on his face with permanent marker, giggling to themselves as they did.

Slowly, the boys began to follow Andrew's lead. Nick and Jeff were slumped together on a couch, their legs tangled and arms around each other's waists. Kurt snapped a few photos of them for evidence - he was truly looking forward to the Facebook uploads once the boys were sober again. Wes was the last to pass out, stumbling over towards Kurt and Blaine and tripping over David in the process.

"Hey... hey guysh," he mumbled, sitting on the ground by Kurt's legs who looked down on him with amusement. "You're the reason we're th - throwing this party. You guys rooooock!"

Wes stared up at them for a few more seconds, grinning goofily, before slumping sideways and joining the rest of the drunken Warblers in oblivion.

"Well, thank goodness for that," Kurt remarked dryly. "I thought he was going to throw up on my shoes for a moment there and he _would_ have received the bill for dry cleaning."

"You can dry clean shoes?"

Kurt shook his head, turning to his boyfriend. "You have a lot to learn, Blaine Warbler."

Blaine frowned slightly. "I have to ask, why do you call me that?"

"Oh, right." Kurt ducked his head, blushing slightly. "It's silly, really. Just, when we met, we didn't do last names. I put mine into your phone, but you didn't. And I already had a Blaine in there - some second cousin or something - so after awhile I just put you in as 'Blaine Warbler.' And it stuck in my mind, even after I found out it was Anderson."

Blaine shook his head fondly. "I love you."

"I love you too." Even though Kurt had already heard and said the words quite a few times now - the first time being after their first run through of their duet, with tears running down both of their faces - they never stopped making him feel like he was the most important person in the world at that particular time, at least in Blaine's eyes.

Blaine smiled, reaching out to take his hands. Kurt ran his thumbs over the back of Blaine's hands, taking in the sight of how well they fit together, before looking up to see his boyfriend's eyes gazing back at him.

"About Nationals," Blaine began, and Kurt was amazed to hear that his voice actually _shook _a little. "I think you know what I wanted to do. And maybe it's a good thing I didn't, because now I can actually make sure that that's what you want too."

_Could he be any more perfect? _Kurt shook his head, trying to keep his face from splitting from the force of his smile. "It is."

Blaine stared at him for another few seconds, before slowly leaning in to close the gap. Kurt's mind immediately flew into a panic; _wait, you've never done this before, well, you have but not properly, what if you do it wrong, what if -_

And then Blaine's lips were against his, and Kurt's mind shut off from its frantic tirade, immediately overwhelmed by the sheer amount of sensations that were overcoming him. All he could do was respond, kissing back in a way he didn't know he even knew how to do, and pouring everything into the kiss, into Blaine, into them.

Blaine was the one to break away, gently pulling back but keeping their faces close. Kurt's eyes opened - _when did they even close? _- and he simply stared at his boyfriend, wondering how he had gotten so lucky. He kept the contact for a few seconds before something occurred to him, and he let out a snigger before he could help himself. Blaine frowned. "What's funny?"

"I just never imagined our first kiss would be surrounded by the rest of the Warblers who had gotten completely wasted and passed out on the floor."

Blaine's expression changed instantly. "Oh crap, I didn't even think of that. Did I ruin it?"

Kurt leant in, kissing him quickly before replying. "Blaine, _you _wouldn't have been the one to ruin it anyway. It was _you _I was kissing after all. But no, of course it didn't. It was still perfect." And of course that was ridiculously cliche, and Kurt ducked his head the second he had said it, blushing. But Blaine's hand was under his chin immediately, lifting Kurt's head to recapture his lips. As Kurt melted into the kiss, he couldn't help but feel that being a romantic worked in his favor sometimes.

Oh, and that the Warblers were going to have _hellish _hangovers the next morning. And he couldn't _wait _to see the outcome of the previous night. But all of those thoughts could wait, because right now everything was Blaine, and everything was perfect.

* * *

**... really? I'm waiting for the day I don't finish a story with some line about things being perfect or whatever. I think I need to start finishing my stories in Glee style; a romantic moment and then start randomly talking about someone doing something else in another school.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Agent 3, this is agent 6. Warbler Blaine is gazing at new boy with intense like. Operation Push, stat."**_

_**Later that day...**_

_**"YOU TOLD NICK TO SHOVE KURT INTO ME?"**_

_**"Maybe..."**_

_**Nick and Jeff were found crammed into the Drama Cabinet of Props. (Blaine was admired for being able to fit the two troublemakers into a cabinet)**_


	129. Deserted

**EDGE OF GLORY READERS: You know the chapter Angela and I posted yesterday that had an original song by 'Blaine' in it? Well as you'll know if you read the authors note at the bottom, Angela actually wrote that song and, after some coercion from both me and you guys, she's sung it and posted it to YouTube! So go to and check it out! **

**Today marks a momentous day. This chapter is the 100th chapter since my beta **_**SquirrelzAttack **_**started**** editing for me. That's pretty darn awesome! Angela, I love you :) **

**Names. Here we go. *deep breath* Abigail, Adam/Rachelle, Ailsa, Alex, Angela, Becca, Bethan, Brianna, Catherine, Claudia, Esther, Federica, Haley, Heather, India, Jordyn, Kaitlyn, Katie, Katt, Katy, Kylie, Laura, Lilli, Lisa, Maddie x2, Marie, Megan x3, Millicent, Nadja, Naomi, Roisin, Rosie, Sarah x4, Sasha, Sedivia, Sharlene, Shona, Tara and Zoe. Phew! It's lovely to meet you all and know who I'm actually talking to :) I think we can say the Sarah's are representing right now! ;)**

**From **_**BloodyAphrodite: I had an idea that Blaine could sing "Don't You" (you know by Darren Criss) to Kurt somewhere deserted, abandoned. Like a school ground on the weekend or a thin forest with no leaves, just slim trunks of tree on some autumn day. And Blaine could have a guitar while he sings. (You do not know how desperate I am for you to do this)And that verse where Darren sang "Let's pretend that both our lips are made of candy". How sexy is that?**_

**Let's say that it's one of those days near Original Song where Kurt and Blaine aren't fighting or being stupid... but we know Kurt's in love with Blaine and there's definitely something beginning to form on Blaine's side of things too. **

**Oh, and I did my research this time! According to Google Maps, Cleveland is approximately a 2.5 hour drive from Westerville. And my beta is a 54 day drive/kayak trip away from me. And I have to drive through Japan and Hawaii to get there. And kayak. Did I mention kayak? I mean, I'd do it, but there's tolls.**

* * *

Deserted

_This place is so boring._

Kurt sighed, pushing his hair out of his face as he attempted to focus on the words in front of him before finally giving it up as a lost cause. Usually he went home for the weekend, but Burt and Carole had gone to visit Carole's parents for the long weekend and he didn't really want to go home to an empty house. So he had opted to stay, figuring that at least one or two of the other boarders would stick around.

But, of course, his plans had failed. Wes and David were off camping, thoroughly raising Kurt's suspicions as to their sexuality. Nick, Jeff, Cameron and Trent had all gone home as usual, and the rest of the Warblers didn't board. Kurt hadn't been too bothered, figuring that Blaine would probably be sticking around - and of course, any opportunity for Kurt to spend alone with Blaine would be fine by him.

Except Blaine _hadn't _stuck around. He was doing a performance in Cleveland, therefore was currently a couple of hours from Westerville, and was planning to be gone until Monday afternoon. So Kurt found himself pretty much alone, with the exception of younger students who he didn't know at all.

Heaving another sigh, Kurt snapped his book shut and stood, walking over to rest his hands on the windowsill and look across the grounds. Naturally the Dalton grounds were impressive, spreading right across to a large group of trees at the back of the fields. _Odd, I never noticed those before. _Making up his mind, Kurt grabbed his phone and headed out of his room. It had been a long time since he had done any exploring, and since nobody was around to hang out with, he might as well.

It took Kurt a good ten minutes to actually get across the grounds to the cluster of trees, but since he managed to make it there without destroying his boots, he figured it wasn't too much of a sacrifice. Peering through the trees, he saw what looked like a clearing ahead and began to walk through gingerly, paying careful attention for any mud or other objects that would ruin his clothing. Finally he stepped over a log and found himself in a small clearing of trees. The sun filtered through in patches, drawing rough patterns on the ground. The grass was untainted, free of mud and looked soft and comfortable. Clearly nobody else had come here, or at least not in awhile.

Kurt gave himself a moment to properly examine the grass before deeming it acceptable. He then broke every preconceived rule about himself and fell straight back on his back into the grass. He knew Mercedes would be berating him for grass stains and Blaine would be trying not to laugh, but he really couldn't care.

... besides, his jacket was leather and his jeans were so dark that any grass stains wouldn't show. So it would be fine.

Throwing one arm over his eyes, Kurt allowed himself to settle into a state of half-asleep before growling angrily as his phone buzzed in his pocket. His frustration died when he saw Blaine's name pop up on the screen.

_You are at Dalton this weekend, right? - Blaine_

Kurt frowned at the text, wondering what it meant.

_Of course. Bored out of my brain because nobody's here - Kurt_

That said, he wasn't quite so bored anymore. Being at Dalton with the hard work load and the frequent Warbler meetings meant that Kurt had a lot less time to just be himself and relax. So to be able to spend some time out here on his own was almost therapeudic. Of course he wouldn't object to having someone else with him... perhaps a certain curly-haired-if-not-for-copious-amounts-of-gel Warbler...

Speaking of which...

_Sounds thrilling. For surveying purposes, where exactly in Dalton would you be right now? - Blaine_

_Surveying purposes? _Kurt stared at the text for a few seconds before shrugging. Blaine took his schoolwork very seriously and was probably doing an extra credit assignment on where lonely and bored students spent their time. Because that was just the kind of thing Blaine did.

_Out the back of the grounds. Found a clearing behind some trees - Kurt_

After no reply came for a few minutes, Kurt dropped his phone next to him and slung his arm back over his face, allowing himself to drift back to his sleepy relaxed state. Everything was still and quiet around him with the occasional chatter of birdsong and Kurt just lay there, basking in the small amounts of sunlight he was receiving and enjoying doing nothing.

His phone buzzed quietly in the grass and Kurt sighed, reaching over to pick it up and blinking blearily at the screen.

_Well, don't you look comfortable? ;) - Blaine_

After a few seconds of confusion, Kurt realized. "Stop stalking me then," he mumbled as he covered his eyes again, hearing a light laugh in response, followed by footsteps growing progressively louder. "Aren't you supposed to be in Cleveland?"

"Performance was cancelled," came Blaine's voice from just above him. There was a slight thud as Blaine fell down next to him. "Apparently the other lead has laryngitis, but of course they didn't tell me until I'd already driven the whole way there. Figured I'd stay the night then head back today. How'd you find this place?"

Kurt moved his arm and cracked open one eye, glancing over at Blaine. "Got bored. Came walking. Found it."

Blaine laughed again. "I've never heard you quite this illiterate."

"I'm tired, leave me alone." Kurt batted irritably at where he thought Blaine was sitting but only found air.

"Nice try," Blaine said. "And by the way, you're not the only person who comes here."

Kurt frowned, finally opening his eyes and focusing on his friend. "Who else?"

"Me." Blaine was still smiling like he didn't have a care in the world, and Kurt was beginning to wonder what had gotten into the other boy. "I usually write songs here."

"You write songs?" Kurt blurted out before he could stop himself. Blaine nodded, stretching his arms above his head lazily. "Why didn't I learn about this earlier? And why are we not doing original songs for Regionals if we have someone who can actually write?"

Blaine's constant laughter would be getting on his nerves if it weren't so damn attractive. "You assume I write well. And because it's one thing to write a song and play it on guitar, it's quite another to write everything in eight-part harmony."

"Touche." Kurt pulled himself into a sitting position and glanced down at his friend before noticing the object next to him. "Oh... you were planning on writing something today? I can leave if you want-"

Blaine shook his head immediately. "I came out because you said you were out here, remember? And when I realized where you were... I thought it would be a good chance to run a song by you. I've been working on it for awhile."

"Um... okay, sure." Kurt frowned as Blaine sat up, pulling his guitar onto his lap and fiddling with it for a few moments. There was _definitely _something going on that Blaine wasn't telling him about - as of ten minutes ago, Kurt didn't know that Blaine wrote songs and now he wanted to perform one for _him_. If Kurt didn't know better, he would think that Blaine had written it _for _him... _no, don't go there. Don't get your hopes up again. _"So, what's it called?" he asked hastily.

Blaine strummed at the guitar for a moment before looking up. "_Don't You_," he said simply, before beginning to play.

"_Say, wasn't that a funny day?_

_Gee, you had a funny way - a way about you_

_A kind of glow of something new._

_Sure - I'll admit that I'm the same,_

_Another sucker for a game kids like to play,_

_And the rules they like to use."_

Blaine was completely focused on his guitar for the first few lines, allowing Kurt the chance to stare unashamedly. He had never seen Blaine playing guitar before, and there was something about the combination of the masterful use of the instrument combined with his exquisite voice that sent chills through Kurt.

"_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel?_

_Don't you want the way I feel for you?_"

At those last two words Blaine glanced up, locking eyes with Kurt who felt his mouth run dry immediately. _Did he just - _

Blaine smiled, raising his eyebrows slightly like he did any time they shared a private joke. Except this wasn't a joke - if Kurt was right, this was Blaine saying...

"_Close your eyes - we'll make it dark again,_

_And kiss; there's a thought, so how 'bout this?_

_Let's pretend that both our lips are made of candy_

_After all, we need sweets every now and then."_

_Oh dear god, he is shamelessly flirting with me. _Kurt resisted the urge to hide his face which he knew was probably going bright red. But this was different to the flirting Blaine had done in the past - the disastrous Gap incident, the drunken duet with Rachel... this seemed to be from the heart. This was Blaine, singing a love song to Kurt.

_Is this even real?_

"_Here we are: two strangers in a very different place,_

_Who knows what could happen to us next?_

_Here we are with nothing but this little spark._

_It's too cold outside to lay this fire to rest."_

And then Kurt realized what the difference was. Instead of putting himself out there, Blaine was testing the waters, like he was coming back after a long time away... even like he was afraid that Kurt didn't feel the same and he might be rejected at any second.

This wasn't the overly confident Blaine Anderson that Kurt had fallen head over heels for. This was the sincere, rather insecure and broken Blaine Anderson that Kurt had fallen crazily in love with.

"_Oh, don't you want the way I feel,_

_Don't you want the way I feel,_

_Don't you want the way I feel for you?"_

Staring straight into his eyes, Blaine sang the last line quietly, almost inaudibly.

"_Don't you want the way that I feel for you?"_

"And if it wasn't clear, that was written for you," Blaine said quietly as the final notes echoed through the trees.

Kurt picked up his jaw from where it had fallen in the dirt. "Blaine," he said softly, not sure what else he could say to sum up how he was feeling right now.

"I know," Blaine said, his smile fading a little. "I've been a bit of an idiot lately. But I told you that I've only really got it together when I sing and - and when I wanted to talk to you about this, I wanted it to be as perfect as possible. Because... you deserve it."

Kurt blinked a couple of times, still staring at his friend. _You're still asleep_, his brain told him. _You're going to wake up any second and realize this was yet another dream where Blaine confesses -_

And then Blaine's hand was on his and Kurt blinked again. _Oh. It doesn't normally feel that way. This feels... well, real. _

_It is._

"I know you said you thought you were the one I was going to sing to... I just want to know whether you still wanted that, whether you still... feel that way about me. Because if you do, I do too. I mean, of course I feel that way even if you _don't_, but ... I just hope I'm not too late." Blaine finished his ramble and stared at Kurt, who frantically tried to force his brain to say something. But there were no words, so he did the only thing he could think to do, the thing that only his dream self had ever done.

He kissed him.

_This is a million times better than any dream..._

"Is that answer enough?" he asked breathlessly when they finally separated from the best kiss in Kurt's existence. Blaine simply nodded, slightly wide-eyed and Kurt grinned, pulling him back in. He paused with their lips a couple of inches apart, watching the confusion settle in Blaine's eyes.

"Do they taste like candy?"

Blaine simply groaned and crashed their lips together again. Kurt took that as a yes.

* * *

**I just can't resist it. I mean, I'd say the same thing!**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**The next morning...**_

_**"Ugh... my head..." *ring ring ring* "Hello?"**_

_**"WESLEY YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO!"**_

_***ring ring ring* "Hello?"**_

_**"WHAT THE HECK, DAVID!"**_

_**At this point Kurt and Blaine shoved every hungover boy (READ: all of 'em) into the courtyard, in broad sunlight. To their waiting girlfriends. Who, with the help of Kurt, shaved all of the Warblers' (sans the Klaine team) heads.**_

_**The headmaster was convinced there was a new fad going around...**_


	130. Surprises

**I'm so sorry about last night, everyone! I worked an afternoon shift and I couldn't get this uploaded before I left and then the internet refused to work when I got in at midnight and then hasn't worked for me all day. But it's finally stopped throwing tantrums so hopefully I can upload now! **

**And sorry about the video. The link was on there but the last save didn't work so of course it didn't upload. Here's the link to Angela's video: http : / www . youtube . com / watch ? v = L09CAuryVW4 (remove the spaces). Let her know your username in the comments, okay?**

**And yes, you will get two chapters tonight, assuming my internet cooperates. **

**Oh, and I'm about to hit a string of five consecutive night shifts starting tonight... so that means I'll get no writing done, I'll just come online to post and then crawl back to bed. So anybody waiting on chapters for my other stories, it won't be happening, sorry. **

**From **_**Ehmber: could you do one where Blaine surprises Kurt in NY after Nationals, and kisses him then? Bonus points if no one knows they are together, as well.**_

**I always take my bonus points!**

* * *

Surprises

Quinn, Sam and Mike finally pulled Santana away, dragging her into the other room. The sound of Quinn's voice, talking soothingly could be heard before Sam re-emerged, closing the door behind him. Kurt looked over at Rachel who was close to tears, then glanced around at the rest of the room's occupants who looked stunned.

Finn stood, grabbing Rachel's hand. "We might just..."

"Yeah. That's fine, guys," Kurt said, the rest of the teenagers nodding. Finn and Rachel ducked out of the room, clearly wanting some alone time to discuss the latest development in their relationship.

Mercedes spoke up from where she was sitting next to Sam. "So, what do we all think?"

Kurt shrugged. "Disappointed, yes, but we can't blame Finn and Rachel. They're cut up enough, and Jesse's going to have a go at Finn."

"I think Santana's reaction was a bit over the top," Tina chimed in. "In the end, we all worked hard on those songs, and we had fun."

There were nods all around. Brittany stood, heading into the room where Quinn and the boys still were, Artie following behind. Mike slipped out the door a moment later, cuddling up on the bed next to Tina. Kurt looked around, smiling softly. Puck and Lauren were in the corner, sitting closer than Kurt had ever seen them. And, if he wasn't mistaken, so were Sam and Mercedes - something he'd need to discuss with his friend later.

Sitting back in his seat, Kurt sighed quietly. Of course he had his own boyfriend, but Blaine was back in Westerville and he hadn't seen him in a few days. They'd had one last coffee date where they had tossed up the idea of Blaine seeing him off at the airport, but Kurt had eventually decided against it. After all, the New Directions group didn't actually _know _they were dating yet...

It wasn't that Kurt was ashamed of Blaine, nothing of the sort. He just knew what the drama was like with New Directions and he knew if he admitted he was in a relationship, he would almost certainly get Blaine caught up in it as well. The guys would take it upon themselves to interrogate and threaten him, the girls would constantly want to double date. Kurt wasn't adverse to the latter, but he enjoyed having his time with Blaine to himself. But it was just times like this that he really wanted to be able to curl up with his own boyfriend in a group like this. Kurt decided that once they were back in Lima and the whole thing had blown over, he would get Blaine out to McKinley and tell the group that they were dating. Preferably just before summer break, so there would still be plenty of time for him and Blaine to be alone together.

Just as he had made the decision, there was a knock at the door and the group looked around at each other.

"None of us would knock, and Mr. Schue isn't going to be back until 5... did someone order room service?"

Mercedes jumped to her feet, being the closest to the door. "If they did, I want it!" she exclaimed, pulling open the door.

There was absolute silence, then; "Blaine?"

Kurt was on his feet straight away as Mercedes stepped aside to reveal his boyfriend standing in the doorway. "Surprise?"

Kurt shook his head, closing the distance between then and pulling Blaine into a hug. "What are you doing here?"

Blaine pulled away, holding onto Kurt's arms gently. "Well I was hoping to come and congratulate you, but I heard that's not the case. I'm really sorry, guys." He directed his last sentence to the rest of the room who all nodded or mumbled their thanks.

Kurt was still not comprehending. "You... you _flew to New York_?"

"My parents have a lot of frequent flyer points. They didn't mind." Blaine was staring at him and Kurt could see the unspoken statement in his eyes. _And I wanted to be with you._

Kurt smiled, ducking his head. "It's really good to see you, Blaine." There were soft murmurings coming from the occupants of the room, and Kurt knew they were talking about them. Leaning in a little closer, Kurt whispered so only Blaine could hear him, "I think it's time they found out about us."

"I like that idea," Blaine breathed back. And their faces were _so close_ and if he wanted to, all Kurt needed to do was lean in -

"Um, Blaine?"

Kurt sighed, moving away from Blaine and turning to see the rest of the room's occupants staring at them. "Not to be rude, but why did you come to New York? I mean, I get that you and Kurt are friends but the rest of us don't exactly know you... and we beat you at Regionals."

Blaine nodded. "I know that... Mike, right?" The Asian boy nodded, and Blaine continued. "Anyway, I came for Kurt. I know he got pretty upset when the Warblers lost at Regionals and I wanted to make sure he was doing okay."

Mercedes was smiling knowingly, and Kurt caught her eye briefly before nodding. Her smile grew wider and she leant over to whisper something in Sam's ear. Kurt turned back to Blaine who was still watching him. "I'm glad you came," he said quietly.

Blaine took his hands again, and now the murmurs broke out again. "Me too."

And this time, nobody was going to interrupt them as Kurt leant in, gently pressing his lips against Blaine's. They ignored the gasps echoing around the room, the sound of the other door opening, Puck and Santana's suggestive exclamations - all of it became background noise as they lost themselves in the kiss.

Finally, Kurt broke away, staring into Blaine's eyes for a few seconds. "Wow," he murmured quietly.

"Yeah."

"That's what we were thinking!"

Kurt chuckled, keeping one hand linked with Blaine's as he turned to take in the occupants of the room. The three couples were all smiling at them from their original positions. Santana and Quinn were hanging out of the doorway with Artie having entered the room. Santana was winking suggestively while the other two just looked shocked. "When did this happen?" Quinn asked.

Blaine glanced at Kurt before replying. "We got together just before Regionals."

Mercedes's jaw dropped. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Kurt shrugged. "You're learning now." He felt Blaine's arm slip around his waist and leant into his boyfriend happily. "But since it seems to bother you - everybody, this is Blaine Anderson, lead soloist of the Warblers and my boyfriend."

The smile on Blaine's face was absolutely perfect.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**I just imagined a little Snow White moment.**_

_***walks into clearing, falls from drowsiness***_

_**"ZZZZ..."**_

_***walks into clearing***_

_**"KURT!" *tries shaking* "KUUURT!"**_

_***inspiration* *kisses***_

_***kisses back skightly* "Huh...? Blaine? OH MY GOD BLAINE!" *starts freaking out that REAL Blaine kissed him***_


	131. Rescued

**And here is tonight's chapter! I've already gotten some reviews saying some of you were worried when you didn't get last night's chapter - sorry about that! If I'm ever not posting, check my Twitter because I can usually get on using my iPod and I'll let you know if I can't post that night. If there's nothing on my Twitter, hunt down Angela and ask her if she knows where I am ;)**

**From **_**a very gleeky witch: Blaine is about to surprise Kurt by picking him up at school so they can hang out, but he's pretty sure he can hear Kurt shouting from the locker room, and it sounds like he's with a certain Neanderthal. Blaine stops Karofsky from stealing Kurt's first kiss.**_

**That episode showed last week here and it's heartbreaking. And I was watching parts of Furt today and that scene where Karofsky just walks up and gets in Kurt's face and he's _terrified_... I can't handle that. **

* * *

Rescued

_Breathe, Blaine. It's alright._

Hesitantly, Blaine stepped through the front doors of McKinley. The hallways were almost deserted, most of the students having headed out for the afternoon or gone to extra-curricular activities. Still, Blaine felt his heart pounding as he passed through the halls, avoiding eye contact with anybody. He knew Kurt got a lot of crap in these halls, and while Blaine didn't think he _looked _particularly gay today, the fact that he was an unknown might mean that he could get targeted anyway. But nobody wearing a letter jacket was nearby and Blaine breathed a sigh of relief.

Now to find Kurt.

Blaine had no idea where Kurt would be. He had planned to surprise his friend so they could go out for coffee, but of course Blaine didn't really know the school as well as he had thought. Which now led to his current predicament of wandering the halls, hoping to run into Kurt before somebody else ran into him.

A voice came floating across the corridor, faintly. Blaine focused on it and vaguely made out Kurt's voice, sounding shrill and frustrated. "... not my type!"

Blaine frowned. _I thought Kurt was the only one out?_

Then he realized that someone was replying in a low, tough sounding voice and Blaine suddenly knew that whatever was going on, it wasn't good. Forgetting all of his fear and self-preservation - because seriously, this was _Kurt_ - Blaine headed towards the door and pushed it open. And there was Kurt, face-to-face with a beefy jock with a red face. Kurt's fists were balled and Blaine could tell he was furious. But what really concerned Blaine was the look on this jock's face, like he was about to _snap..._

"You are nothing but a scared little boy who can't handle how extraordinarily ordinary you are!"

Blaine watched, almost in slow motion as the jock reached his hands out for Kurt's face and all he could think was _my god, he's going to strangle him, he's going to hit him, he..._

"Hey! Don't _touch _him!" The words burst out of his mouth before Blaine realized he had spoken. The jock's hands dropped instantly, panicked eyes rising to meet Blaine's. His mouth opened, but no words came out. With a strangled noise, he strode straight towards Blaine. Kurt yelled out something, and Blaine flinched, but the boy kept walking, elbowing Blaine out of the way harshly as he broke into a run out of the locker room.

Blaine turned to look after him, focusing on calming his breathing. The shove had hurt, yes, but Kurt was his priority. And when he turned back, Kurt had sunk onto one of the benches, a hand over his mouth.

"Kurt?" Blaine stepped towards him cautiously, kneeling in front of him. "Did he hurt you?"

Kurt shook his head, his eyes hazy. Blaine reached out, taking his hand and squeezing it. He wasn't sure what was going on in Kurt's mind, but his friend looked like he was going into shock and Blaine frantically thought back to his meagre first aid training, trying to work out what to do. Luckily, Kurt snapped out of it a moment later, his eyes meeting Blaine's. "Blaine," he murmured. "What are you doing here?"

"I came by to see how you were doing, and I'm glad I did. How did you manage to get in here alone with him, Kurt?"

Kurt ducked his head. "I followed him in," he admitted quietly. "He was saying things.. and I just snapped. Just - just like he was about to."

Blaine's heart was in his throat, knowing just how close Kurt had gotten to having the crap beaten out of him. "But he didn't hurt you? He looked like he was going to ... to hit you."

Kurt stared at him for a moment before barking out a laugh, surprising Blaine. "Hit me? Blaine, he tried to _kiss me_."

There were no words. Blaine dropped back onto his heels, staring into Kurt's face. "_Kurt,_" he whispered, shaking his head and simply staring into the other boys face.

"I know." Kurt shrugged, attempting to brush it off, but his hands were still shaking in Blaine's. "I guess there was a reason behind all of the bullying after all."

"So do you think he's actually gay?" Blaine released Kurt's hands, moving on to the bench next to him.

Kurt dragged a hand through his hair, looking worn out. "I think so. I think he's realized and doesn't know what to do with it. And because I'm here and everybody knows..." Kurt trailed off, staring at the floor. Blaine saw him blink rapidly and realized he was holding back tears.

"Hey, it's alright," Blaine murmured. All he wanted to do was hug Kurt, but he knew how the other boy reacted to being 'comforted' and trusted if Kurt wanted any physical comfort, he would initiate it. "It sucks, yes, but you're okay. That's what's important right now."

And Blaine realized just how important it really was to him that Kurt was alright. When he had seen that jock going towards his friend, Blaine's mind had immediately jumped to the worst case scenarios, and he realized just how much he _didn't _want to see anything like that happen to Kurt. He cared way too much about the boy - possibly a bit too much for someone he barely knew, he realized.

"He must be so confused right now."

Blaine turned back to see Kurt had dropped his head into his hands. Reaching out, Blaine took them again, forcing Kurt to lift his head and look at him. "And that's not your issue. This is the boy who's been assaulting and harassing you, Kurt. After that display, and especially because someone else _saw_ it, he's just going to close off again. If you could help him, that would be another story. But you need to look out for you."

Kurt's eyes met his fully and Blaine ignored the fluttering feeling he felt. "I - yeah. I know."

"How are you feeling?"

Kurt sighed, appearing to think about something for a second before whispering, "That would have been my first kiss."

_Oh, Kurt._

Blaine found himself lost for words again. "I know you don't do hugs well, but I don't know how else to make you feel better," he admitted, unable to remember the last time he had felt this _helpless. _

"I actually - yeah, I think I could go for a hug." Inexplicably, Kurt was blushing, but Blaine didn't allow himself to think into it too much. He simply held out his arms and Kurt moved in, wrapping his own arms around Blaine's back hesitantly. Blaine pulled him in tight, and after a few seconds Kurt relaxed fully, leaning his head on Blaine's shoulder.

Blaine idly traced small circles on Kurt's back before gathering up his courage and leaning in to whisper in Kurt's ear. "When you do get that first kiss, you're going to get it with someone that counts, someone who cares about you and who you care about."

"I hope so," Kurt replied, his voice also hushed even though they were the only two there. And there was something about the whole scene that was just so _intimate_ that had Blaine suddenly realizing that he wanted to share that moment with Kurt. _He _wanted to be Kurt's first kiss. But it wasn't up to him. Right now, he and Kurt were just friends, and Kurt had _just _been saved from a potential first kiss gone horridly wrong. Blaine wasn't going to force anything on the other boy.

Kurt pulled away slightly, turning his head so he was looking into Blaine's eyes. And now they were closer than they had ever been, and all the previous thoughts about kissing Kurt were magnified as the other boys lips were so close to his...

"Hey?" Kurt murmured quietly.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you." Kurt was giving him such a beautifully sweet smile, that Blaine couldn't stop himself from smiling back. "For saving me."

Blaine was all too aware that Kurt was still wrapped in his arms and unconsciously tightened his grip, not wanting to let the other boy go any time soon. "You're welcome." And then, simply because he couldn't help himself, Blaine continued. "You're worth it, Kurt. Heck, you'd've been worth it if he'd decided to beat the crap out of me."

"Really?" Kurt looked stunned - clearly nobody had ever told him anything like that before. Well, Blaine was about to fix that.

"Absolutely. You're amazing, Kurt, and nobody has the right to tell you otherwise. What he tried to steal from you today - that's a gift for you to give to someone when you think it's right. And that's for someone who deserves you, okay?"

Kurt's eyes were suddenly shining with an emotion Blaine had never seen directed at him. "I think I know who deserves it."

Before Blaine could comment, Kurt was closing the distance between them and kissing him. And this was nothing like the attempt that had been made only five minutes prior. This was soft, sweet and slightly hesitant, but growing in confidence as Blaine kissed him back.

Kurt broke away a moment later, and Blaine could see the confidence leaving him straight away. Shaking his head, Blaine pressed their foreheads together and stared him right in the eye. "I know how much that meant to you, and the fact that you chose to share it with me is ... I don't have the words, Kurt, and that doesn't happen to me often."

Kurt chuckled lightly, and Blaine could see the tinges of fear disappearing. "I know it's too early, we haven't known each other long enough and all that, but I'm falling for you, Blaine."

"Same," he murmured back, because what else _could _he say? "How about we just take it slow and see where things end up?"

"I'd like that." Their foreheads were still pressed together with their arms around each other, and Blaine wondered just what he'd done to deserve a moment as beautiful as this, and someone as beautiful as Kurt. "That was - well, I'd say better than I imagined, but I hadn't ever really imagined my first kiss. But I can't imagine it being any more perfect."

Blaine swallowed the lump in his throat. "Neither."

Surprise registered in Kurt's eyes. "Wait, that was _yours _too?"

"Yeah." Kurt looked shocked, and began to pull away. Blaine shook his head, tightening his grip. "Hey, I just told you it was perfect. Don't run away on me."

"I - I should have asked. I just assumed, because you're ... _you_ -"

Blaine laughed. "I've never had a boyfriend, Kurt. You'd be the first - assuming that's what you want of course." And now it was his turn to be hesitant, because they hadn't discussed it and Blaine shouldn't just _assume_ -

"Of course I do." Kurt shook his head, smiling again. "Isn't there usually only meant to be _one _hesitant person in any relationship?"

Blaine was grinning as well. "We're not exactly conventional. Besides, I like it this way. We'll learn together."

"I can handle that." And Kurt leant in to kiss him again, lightly less hesitant this time.

Blaine smiled as their lips met and he began to kiss Kurt back. _I love learning new things._

* * *

**While I'm not a fan of them getting together this early, I actually quite like this. **


	132. Graffiti

**To everybody on the East Coast, stay safe, alright? I hope it's over as quickly as possible!**

**Oh hey, I forgot to mention last night that I'm in Pottermore now =D I don't have much time to dedicate to it unfortunately but I can't wait to get to Hogwarts! I'm not sure how it works with adding friends but if anybody wants to add ChestnutSky16, go ahead :)**

**I made sushi plans with a friend for Friday which is depressing because I want it to be Friday now! I haven't been to a Sushi Train in so long... **

**From **_**EbonyRadford: what about Kurt and Blaine in the McKinley library in **__**NoN, and Blaine sees the Thunderclap, and what the other students have written **__**on his photos?**_

**TGTDOSBDK. Before they meet up with Brittany and Artie and the Karofsky encounter.**

* * *

Graffiti

"And this is my old cheerleading coach's office." Kurt gestured to a formidable looking room with a grimace. "Not a fun place. I hope we don't run into her tonight, I still haven't returned my uniform."

Blaine shook his head, trying not to laugh. "I still can't believe you were a cheerleader here."

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Kurt smirked at him as they continued to walk down the hall. "Mercedes and I would always meet up by her locker every morning to dish on Rachel's outfit for that day - there was perhaps two days of all of last year where she had something we could almost like, but most of the time it was making plans to burn her tights and socks. We never made a successful one."

This time Blaine couldn't keep his laugh back and judging by Kurt's smile, he hadn't wanted him to. "Which one was your locker?"

Kurt pointed down a hallway and they turned, walking down to the locker that had once belonged to Kurt. It was hanging open, empty. Kurt examined it for a moment but Blaine's attention was drawn to the door a few lockers down. "What's in there?"

"Library. Want to look?"

Blaine nodded and the two entered the library. Kurt's eyes were immediately drawn to a chair in the corner and Blaine was about to ask him the significance when he saw a shelf labelled YEARBOOKS. Curious, Blaine wandered over and pulled out last year's one.

"So yeah, just a library. I - wait, no!"

Blaine looked up from where he was flipping through the yearbook to see Kurt looking panicked. "Blaine, don't look in there!"

"Why not?" Blaine didn't want to upset Kurt, but there had to be some kind of reason for him to not look in a yearbook.

And then Kurt started looking shifty. "I - um, I was having a bad hair day?"

"Nice try." Blaine checked the contents page again before flicking through to the Glee club page. "I don't see what the - _oh."_

Because Blaine had found the page. A picture of the New Directions kids was smiling up at him with a few changes - Santana and Brittany were in Cheerio uniforms, Quinn was pregnant, Sam and Lauren were missing, and graffiti was covering the page. Blaine ran his hand across the photo, taking in the words. The title had been changed, oh so creatively, to 'Geek Club', just about everybody was sporting some kind of facial hair, Rachel had a big LAME arrow pointing at her and someone had scrawled NO DIRECTION just below Kurt.

"I didn't want you to see that." Kurt's voice had gone all quiet. "I'd actually forgotten they did it, there was a huge drama about whether we'd actually get the photo taken because they always did this, but Rachel convinced -"

"I want to see your photo."

Kurt was biting his lip. "Blaine, I don't think -"

"Kurt."

Kurt leant over and silently flipped through to his class. His hand rested over the page for a moment until Blaine reached over and took it in his, moving it off the page.

And there was a picture of his boyfriend, barely discernible underneath the glasses, mohawk and warts that had been drawn on him. But none of that even registered in Blaine's mind, his thoughts fully occupied with the word written straight across Kurt's face.

_FAG._

"Blaine, it doesn't matter, honestly."

Blaine's voice was measured as he stared at the yearbook. "You lived with this for _years_?"

"It's not important. I -"

"_Kurt._" His boyfriend fell silent and Blaine finally dragged his eyes from the photo. Kurt was staring back at him, looking determined to brush the whole thing off, but Blaine knew him well enough to see the glimmer of residual hurt at the back of his eyes. "This hurt more than you let on."

Kurt knew better than to argue. "Yeah," he admitted quietly, dropping into a seat. "I mean, I'm over it now, but at the time it really stung."

Blaine sat down next to him, taking his hand. "Hey, look at me." Kurt looked up and Blaine locked eyes with him. "I know what it's like, remember. I know the words stick with you, so I need you to know that those kids were idiots and _you_ are none of what they said." Kurt immediately tried to avoid the compliments but Blaine was having none of it. "Kurt, you're _amazing_. If the fact that I'm your boyfriend isn't enough to prove that, then I'll tell you every day until you start believing it or at least accepting the compliment."

"And what if I don't?" Kurt's voice began defiantly, but petered out, and by the end of the sentence Blaine could tell just how worried he was that he might _not _be able to accept compliments.

"Well, I'll need to find different ways to tell you and - and maybe _show_ you." Blaine knew he was going out on a limb, but Kurt needed to know. Blaine wouldn't be doing his job if he didn't make sure Kurt knew how _incredible _he was in Blaine's eyes.

Kurt looked confused before realization hit. "You'd _want _to do that?"

"You thought I wouldn't?" Blaine shook his head, staring at Kurt in disbelief. "_Seriously?_"

Kurt blushed, looking down. "Well, you hadn't yet, so I guess I thought you didn't..."

"Kurt, look at me." When he showed no signs of looking up, Blaine reached out and took his chin, gently lifting his head so he could look him in the eyes. "The only reason I haven't is because of everything you've gone through, I wanted to be sure _you_ were totally ready. But trust me, _I want to."_

He felt Kurt shiver at the intensity of his words before he spoke. "I'm ready, Blaine."

It took a moment for the words to register, but when they did, Blaine wasted no time. Keeping his hand on Kurt's chin, Blaine leant in and gently brushed their lips together. He had intended to keep it simple, but all that failed when Kurt gasped and pressed closer, seeking the contact.

Blaine's hand shifted, running across Kurt's cheek as they kissed. He forgot they were meant to be heading in to see the New Directions performance, or that they were in a situation where any of the jocks that made Kurt's life hell could potentially walk in. All that mattered, or even existed to him, was Kurt's lips.

Apparently Kurt had remembered though, because after a few seconds he pulled away reluctantly. "As much as I'd love to keep doing that, we need to go support my friends."

Blaine nodded, moving to close the Thunderclap before stopping as an idea struck. Grabbing his bag, he rummaged through it before pulling out a permanent marker.

"Blaine?" Kurt looked confused, but Blaine simply uncapped the pen, hovering above Kurt's image. He turned to his boyfriend, seeking permission silently. After a moment, Kurt nodded. Blaine turned back and pressed his pen to the yearbook, crossing out the word FAG before scrawling a couple of words of his own. He showed it to Kurt briefly, eliciting a smile out of the boy, before closing it and putting it away.

"Come on, let's go." He offered an arm to Kurt who stood, and they made their way down to the auditorium.

* * *

The next time someone opened the McKinley Thunderclap, flipping through idly to find someone's image to deface, they would pause, reading the words above Kurt's photo with stunned disbelief.

_Perfect. _

_- Blaine Anderson (boyfriend)_

* * *

**I deliberated a little over what Blaine could have written**_. _**I wanted to write 'Property of Blaine Anderson' but that's a little possessive and if they do break up, weird.**

**Ugh, on that note. We did one of those sharing things where you write your name on a piece of paper then pass it around and people write anonymous comments about you that you can read and feel happy about later. I got mine back and my boyfriend at the time had written "You are beautiful." So now I can't read that piece of paper anymore, after all the crap he put me through. I'm tempted to get rid of his line...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Mercedes Jones has uploaded 1 new photo to her album.**_

_**Burt Hummel: WHEN DID THIS HAPPEN?**_

_**Kurt Hummel: Um... today...**_

_**Brittany S. Pierce: How did I get on here?**_

_**Kurt Hummel: Boo, please stay out of this conversation.**_

_**Brittany S. Pierce: I don't know how to, Lord Tubbington won't let me off.**_

_**Kurt Hummel: ...what?**_

_**Lord Tubbington: Meow.**_


	133. Storm

**Thank you for all of the 5,000 review love! I actually didn't notice until you guys started telling me, but 5,000 is... wow. Yeah. Thank you to all of you who review faithfully and helped me get that number :) **

**My shift tonight got cancelled and moved to later this week so I get to sleep! **

**Oh, and there's this post going around on Tumblr that's been pulled of a fan thread site where people are talking about attractive celebrities. Ands someone put up a picture of Chris and all of these people were saying that he's not attractive and apparently only a small number of people find Chris Colfer physically attractive. Myself and many many other fans weren't exactly happy about this so we're reblogging to see how many people actually find him attractive. If you have Tumblr, go to my profile, click the link and reblog it.**

**If you're on the East Coast, stay safe and please evacuate if you're in danger. Please. We had floods here at the start of the year and so many didn't evacuate when they should have, I don't want anything to happen to any of you. (Add to that that Darren and Dianna are both in New York right now and it doesn't look like they're leaving...)**

**From **_**iWaldo: What if Kurt and Blaine get caught in a thunder storm and one of them begins to freak out about it and the other comforts them, and then they...**_

**I didn't really want them caught outside, so I'm going with the idea that Dalton isn't a boarding school for this one. I also presume they have lockers too, not that we see them.**

* * *

Storm

Kurt sat in his last class of the day, twirling a pencil idly between his fingers. French had always been a piece of cake for him, so paying attention wasn't exactly his highest priority. Instead, Kurt was watching the storm clouds gathering outside the window and mentally calculating how long he thought they had until the storm broke. Burt had seen far too many cars come into the shop from accidents to allow his son to drive through storms - which was fine with Kurt, he didn't exactly fancy driving home in bad weather anyway. But judging by how dark the clouds were, Kurt thought he might be trapped at Dalton for a little while. Warbler rehearsal was still on for that afternoon, after all, and by the time that got out the sky would almost certainly have broken open.

The bell rang and Kurt grabbed his stuff, one of the first to leave. Stopping by his locker, he put his books in, sorting through what he needed to take home. Blaine's classroom was right next to his locker, and Kurt watched the other students leave, frowning when his boyfriend didn't emerge. Shutting his locker, he poked his head into the classroom to see Blaine standing by the window, staring out into the sky. Kurt's footsteps echoing across the room didn't even break his concentration, and as Kurt got closer he noticed Blaine's knuckles gripping the windowsill and turning white.

"Blaine?"

Blaine jumped and turned to face him. Kurt's frown doubled as he saw his boyfriend's face was pale. "Hey, what's going on?"

Kurt moved closer as Blaine ducked his head, and he pulled his boyfriend into his arms. "What's wrong, Blaine?"

"I - the storm."

Blaine was shaking slightly and Kurt tightened his arms around him. "You're afraid of storms?"

"A bit."

Kurt chuckled quietly, releasing his boyfriend to look down at him. "More than a bit, clearly. Come on, we'll go to Warbler rehearsal and try and take your mind off it. And I won't be going anywhere until it clears, so I'll stay with you, okay?"

Blaine nodded, still looking worried. Kurt grabbed his hand as he packed up his books before they left the room and went down the hall to the choir room. As they entered, they saw nearly everybody else had already arrived, David stepping through the door a few seconds after they had.

Kurt pulled Blaine over to a couch and sat down with him, keeping their hands linked as Wes started the meeting. There were no performance rehearsals that day, so Kurt allowed himself to zone out while Wes talked about details he didn't care about. His thumb continued running over Blaine's hand soothingly and he felt his boyfriend's hand slowly relax in his.

That was, until the first crack of thunder rang out. Half the boys in the room jumped slightly, Kurt included. He hadn't even heard the rain start, but looking out the window he could see it was raining steadily. He then turned to Blaine who had also jumped, far more violently than anybody else. "You okay?" he whispered.

Blaine was staring straight ahead and nodded minutely. But his grip on Kurt's hand had tightened and he was shaking again.

"Jeff, you'd better go check with administration whether they're allowing us to drive out. We've only got five minutes left here."

Jeff stood, following Wes's orders and made his way out of the room. The rest of the boys were making their way over to the window, looking out and commenting on the storm outside. Kurt wrapped his arm around Blaine's, pulling his boyfriend closer to him. "We're not going to drive in it anyway," he murmured quietly. "We'll stay inside where it's safe, alright?"

Blaine turned to look at him, biting his lip. "Yeah," he whispered. Kurt shook his head, pulling him in for a quick hug before releasing him as Jeff returned. He knew Blaine didn't like showing his vulnerabilities around others and respected that, as much as he didn't like it. Blaine was human too, after all, and he should act that way.

"Admin says we can't go until it passes. They say there's worse to come, especially for anybody heading out towards Lima."

The eyes of the Council fell upon Kurt. "I know," he said, ignoring the next crack of thunder and squeezing Blaine's hand reassuringly. "I won't go until it's totally safe."

"Well, it looks like we're stuck here for a bit. So to continue with the meeting -"

A loud series of groans met this statement and Wes sat back, shaking his head. David spoke up instead. "We'll just hang out here then. Cameron, do you have marshmallows on you?"

The other Warbler nodded, reaching into his bag. For some reason, Cameron always had marshmallows. "Nick, if you could get the fire lit, we'll just hang out here for awhile."

The room broke into chatter, only broken as another crack of thunder rang out, louder than the last two. Blaine jumped again, before turning to Kurt with pleading eyes. "You want to get out of here?" Blaine nodded and Kurt stood, pulling Blaine with him. "We're going to have to pass, thanks guys." As he led Blaine out of the room, a couple of wolf whistles echoed after them and Kurt rolled his eyes. Ever since they had become a couple, the other boys had decided that their 'alone time' involved a lot of making out. Which it didn't - they hadn't even kissed yet - but Kurt wasn't exactly willing to talk about his relationship with the entire Warbler group.

As soon as they were out of the room, it was clear that a storm was in full force. The corridors were freezing and the pounding rain was echoing down on the roof. Blaine shivered, and Kurt wrapped his arm around him. "It's okay, we'll go down to the study room and get the fire lit if it's not already and everything will be fine." He kept murmuring quietly as he led his boyfriend down the hallway and into the familiar room.

Sitting Blaine on the couch, Kurt chucked a couple of logs on the already lit fire. Just as he turned to go back to the couch, the lights went out.

"Kurt!"

Kurt was across the room in a shot, wrapping his arms around his terrified boyfriend. "It's okay, it's okay," he murmured soothingly. "We've still got the fire."

Blaine's head was buried in his chest and Kurt stroked his back, staring into the fire. Every so often, a crack of thunder could be heard and Blaine would jump before trying to get closer to Kurt even though he was practically on top of him already. After a while, Blaine lifted his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just ... I can't stand it."

"Why?"

Kurt knew it was a risk. Like himself, Blaine was prone to closing off if pushed for too much information. But he continued to trace patterns into his boyfriend's back gently, and waited. After a few seconds, Blaine sighed, ducking his head again, and began to speak so quietly that Kurt had to crane his head to hear him.

"Part of it is just irrational. It's something that's bigger than me, something I have no control over." Kurt nodded, resting his cheek against Blaine's hair. "But when I was back at Westerville High, we had this huge storm one day. At that point, I was already a bit weird about them, and it seemed the guys picked up on that."

Kurt pulled Blaine tighter into him. "They did something?"

"They locked me out in the janitors shed. Metal."

Kurt gasped. "Are you serious? They can't do that!"

Blaine chuckled bitterly, flinching again as the thunder rolled out. "They did. Luckily I had my phone, and I called my parents and told them where I was. Dad came down and got me out, but just as we were going back inside, lightening struck a tree next to the shed and it fell..."

"Blaine," Kurt whispered, "Baby, I'm so sorry."

"It's alright. I'm here now and I'm safe, I know that." But that didn't stop Blaine from jumping again at the next clap of thunder. The storm was getting closer, and Kurt could tell Blaine was getting more worked up and terrified.

"Blaine, just breathe, alright. It'll be gone before we know it -" More thunder rang out, louder and a slightly muffled noise escaped Blaine. Kurt bit his lip, trying to work out what he could do to make things better. What Blaine needed was a complete distraction...

_Hey, that could work._

Kurt immediately pushed the thought aside. He and Blaine hadn't kissed yet, and even though others all said that you couldn't think of anything else when you were being kissed, he wasn't sure that now was the right time. But Blaine's breathing was growing ragged and harsh and Kurt knew he was only a few thunder claps away from a full-fledged panic attack.

"Baby, look at me."

Blaine looked up, his eyes wide and panicked. Kurt's heart couldn't quite handle the sight in front of him and he helplessly ran a hand down Blaine's cheek. "I can't make the storm go away, I'm sorry. But I might be able to take your mind off it... if you trust me."

"Of course I do," Blaine murmured quietly. "I -" he cut himself off at the next crack of thunder, whimpering quietly. His entire body was trembling and Kurt just couldn't bear it anymore.

"Okay," he murmured, before leaning in to hesitantly brush his lips against Blaine's. After a few seconds, he grew in confidence and began to press a little harder, kissing Blaine properly. And Blaine was responding after a few seconds of initial shock, kissing back, bringing his arms up around Kurt's neck to lightly tangle in his hair. Kurt loosened his grasp on Blaine slightly, bringing his hands around to run up and down Blaine's sides gently.

And when the next crack of thunder came, slightly further apart than the last two, neither boy noticed. In fact, it was a long time after they had broken apart, breathless but so _happy_, that they realized that the storm had stopped.

And even though Blaine might still be terrified of storms, Kurt knew he had developed a new appreciation for them from that day on.

* * *

**I was going through a string of bad endings while writing this section of chapters. I'm not sure what was going on :/ **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**The New Directions Spy Team:**_

_**"Okay, they're snuggled into the theatre. Find the Thunderclap!"**_

_**"This one?"**_

_***sigh* "No, Britt, that's a dictionary."**_

_**"Got it!"**_

_**"Gimme, Sam. Okay, Karofsky... I suggest we do one of those Warning! Ugly Ahead! symbols on top of his face. And how 'bout a princess outfit for Azimio?"**_

_**"I call dibs on scribbling out Jacob Ben Israel's."**_


	134. House

**I watched _I Adora You _today. The story was actually pretty incredible and I only went to watch it for Darren so that's really saying something that I followed the story ;) but Darren's acting was, as usual, amazing. **

**I don't know why I didn't do this last night. A VERY POTTER THREEQUEL! I'm so excited! Just as long as Darren doesn't overwork himself over it, I can't wait to see it! :)**

**From **_**Kat3418: At Blaine's house, interrupted by Blaine's dad (who is supportive of Blaine the building of the car was just to teach Blaine so he wasn't taken advantage of...no matter how we'd like for Kurt to take advantage of Blaine teehee)**_

**The main reason I wrote this is because I'm still not sure whether Blaine's a rich kid or not. So this is my richkid!Blaine story. Because I reallllly wanted to describe the house. And while the house may seem OTT, it's not actually all that unrealistic from what I've seen around. **

**I am unashamedly taking the idea of Blaine's father being a literature nerd from **_**Truth, Love and Evolution**_**, one of my all-time favourite stories (and I die waiting for updates, I really do). Partly because it's the best supportive!Dad I've seen for Blaine yet - mainly because I want to justify writing my dream house with a full-fledged library. **

**Also, I'm not good at describing colour schemes, design ideas and so on. I have my own ideas of what looks good, but I can't be sure that they actually **_**do **_**look good - I mean, I think the bedroom I'm currently writing from is gorgeous and I designed it myself, but that's just me. So basically, when I say a room is beautiful, just imagine how you'd design the house if you had all the money in the world to do so :)**

* * *

Home

"Kurt, before we get there, I have to tell you something."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, pausing between radio stations. "As long as this isn't the part where I find out that your family are serial killers, I think it'll be fine."

Blaine chuckled. "No, nothing like that. It's more... well, to be blunt, we're rich."

"Really?" Kurt frowned, turning his attention to his boyfriend who was tapping his fingers absently on the steering wheel. "You never come off that way though. I mean, I knew you were well-off, but ... rich? Really?"

"Yeah. I try not to let it show though. I don't like it when my family's wealth defines me. I just thought I should warn you though because the house is pretty big."

Kurt chuckled. "I do attend Dalton, I know what it's like to have big showy... buildings..." He trailed off, trying desperately to stop his jaw from dropping. Blaine had just pulled into a long winding driveway with a complete _mansion _at the top. There were at least four stories to the Victorian style house, the gardens were immaculate and the whole place practically _reeked _of money. "So... what do your parents do again?" he asked, trying to keep his voice casual.

Blaine chuckled. "Most of this is inherited. My Dad's a literature professor, but he also dabbles in law. Mom's a neurologist."

"Ah."

Blaine pulled the car to a stop and turned to Kurt, taking his hands. "Does it bother you?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Why would it bother me? It's a little overwhelming, but you're still you."

"Good." Blaine looked relieved, releasing his hands to get out of the car. Kurt followed suit, taking his hand again as they walked towards the house. "Anyway, my parents aren't snobs or anything."

"They're not going to have a problem with..."

"With us?" Blaine finished, Kurt nodding. "No, not at all. And they'll love you. After all, I do."

Kurt ducked his head to hide his blush. He still wasn't used to hearing the words, and they seemed to grow in meaning every time Blaine said them. Even though they hadn't kissed or anything yet - something the McKinley girls had been appalled to discover, Santana immediately recommending couples counseling - Kurt knew his and Blaine's relationship was something that not many people had nowadays. And he was willing to preserve that with everything he had.

Blaine pushed open the front door, gesturing for Kurt to enter. "So, welcome."

Kurt really couldn't stop his jaw from dropping this time. "Blaine..."

The house was _amazing_. Kurt immediately took note of the design schemes present and knew he _had _to interrogate Blaine's parents on who designed the interior - maybe once they were better acquainted, that was. The front foyer was classically tasteful with wooden floors and neutral tones. Kurt slipped his shoes off, peering into the adjacent room as Blaine put them into a small cupboard for him.

"Come on, I'll show you around." Blaine took his hand and led him into the next room. "This is the entertaining room. Usually where we sit when David's family come over and we have to play polite before we can escape to the music room."

Kurt chuckled, remembering the sob stories David and Blaine occasionally shared of their family's strange connections, before his mind caught up. "Wait. You have a _music room?_"

Blaine nodded, squeezing his hand lightly. "We'll get to that, I promise." He led Kurt through the entertaining room - tasteful decorations, but with a very formal air to it. Kurt was already worried about how well he would relax in a place like this when Blaine opened the next door. "Family room."

Kurt sighed happily as he spun in a circle, taking in the room. This was _exactly _how he wanted his house - or large apartment - to look when he was older. Decorated, yes, and beautiful. But clearly lived in and loved. "It's gorgeous."

"I thought you'd like it." Blaine was looking significantly more relaxed. Kurt took in the room for a few more minutes, committing a few ideas to memory for possible design schemes to experiment with, before Blaine gestured to another door. "It's just the kitchen through there, and the dining room. You'll see them tonight. Oh, and the laundry room, but I don't think you need to see that."

Kurt shook his head, and Blaine took him through a different door into a hallway. He kept up a running commentary as they walked. "Guest room there, guest bathroom, Dad's office, second guest room..."

"How many floors are there?" Kurt asked as they climbed the first flight of stairs.

"Three, and then the attic. I'm the only one that goes up there anymore though. Second floor holds all of our purpose rooms, then bedrooms on the third," Blaine rattled off. "There's another two guest bedrooms up there as well, usually where any of the Warblers crash if I invite them over."

They stopped at the first door on the second floor - there were only three for some reason. "First up, the theatre room." Blaine gave an oddly wicked smirk before opening the door and stepping in. "So this is where the Warblers usually like to hang out for obvious reasons. We always end up having our breakup parties here and - Kurt?"

Kurt knew he looked like an idiot, but he couldn't stop himself from gaping. "How - how many does this seat?"

"Sixteen?" Blaine took his hand, pulling him over to one of the leather couches. "Sit. You look like you're going to fall over."

Kurt sunk into the couch, sighing happily. "Can I live here?"

"I'd love that." Blaine raised an eyebrow suggestively and Kurt felt himself beginning to blush. Ducking his head, he quickly stood and glanced over at the plasma screen embedded in the wall. _I never dreamt Blaine would have a house like this..._

"Ready to keep moving? We can come and watch a movie here after dinner if you want."

Kurt nodded, turning to follow Blaine out of the room and down to the next door on this side. "You'll love this one."

Kurt knew what to expect before he entered, but the sight was still breathtaking. Sheet music, songbooks, various instruments and everything else a musician needed was all contained in this one room. Kurt walked over to the piano resting regally in the middle of the room, sitting down on the bench and lifting the lid. "It's beautiful," he murmured softly.

Blaine sat next to him, pressing their legs together lightly. "You should hear my mom play. _That's _beautiful."

Kurt allowed his fingers to dance along the keys lightly before he closed the lid again. Spinning on the bench, he took in the rest of the room, allowing his mind to drift away and think of Blaine spending his time in here, playing the instruments. "No wonder you're good at everything." Blaine blushed slightly, standing. Kurt grinned at him as he took the hand offered to him. "I've never made you _blush _before, Blaine Warbler."

"Don't get used to it," Blaine muttered, elbowing him playfully as they left the room. "Now, I told you my dad teaches literature. This next room is entirely his fault, but that's not to say I don't love it either."

Kurt frowned. "Huh?"

Blaine pushed the door on the other side of the hall lightly. "Library."

_I really need to get control over my jaw_, Kurt thought belatedly as he entered the cavernous room. But really, it was understandable, because there were shelves upon shelves of books, more than Kurt had ever imagined one house could contain. "This manages to put the _Dalton _library to shame, Blaine."

"It's definitely something, isn't it?" Blaine was smiling fondly at all the shelves. "I'm not a huge reader like Dad, but I find myself in here quite a bit too. And he has all of the books we need for school, so that's a plus."

Kurt ran his fingers lightly over the spines of a few books. He wasn't a huge reader either, but there was still something quite beautiful about the sight in front of him. "I'll have to borrow some from you some time."

"Please do." Blaine took his hand again and led him out of the room. "So now we've just got my room to go."

There was something about climbing the staircase and knowing he was about to walk into his boyfriend's room that sent a shiver down Kurt's spine. _Perhaps it's the fact that his parents aren't home and we could do whatever we wanted... not that we would... just the fact that we __could__... _And then he realized they were standing outside a doorway, Blaine glancing at him. Kurt smiled, shaking his head at his curious glance. Blaine simply shrugged, still smiling, and turned to the door.

"Welcome to my abode." Blaine opened the door with a flourish, gesturing for Kurt to enter. As Kurt walked in, he couldn't help but smile because it was just so _Blaine. _Musical instruments littered the room as well as multiple notebooks for songwriting. A giant corkboard was above the bed, plastered with photos of the Warblers, Blaine with various people, and Blaine and Kurt. Kurt grimaced as he saw a particularly bad photo of himself before glancing towards a window seat where Blaine had settled himself. "Join me?"

Kurt crossed the room, sitting on the other end of the seat and crossing his legs, resting his knees against Blaine's. "I love it."

"I'm glad." Blaine watched him for a few seconds, smiling softly, before glancing out the window. "This is where I come to write and think. And talk to you on the phone, of course."

Kurt reached out to take his hands, taking advantage of Blaine's distraction to stare at his boyfriend properly. There was something about seeing Blaine in his natural environment that tugged at Kurt's heart in a really good way. He could imagine Blaine sitting here, a guitar in his hands, the sun glowing softly on his face as he sang...

"Kurt?"

Kurt blinked a couple of times, realizing Blaine was staring at him. "I'm here," he managed.

Blaine laughed, squeezing his hands lightly. "I'm glad you are. I want you to feel welcome in my home as much as I feel welcome in yours."

"Well I haven't met your parents yet -"

"And they'll love you, like I said." Blaine was still smiling at him and Kurt was trying to decipher it. There was something more to it than usual - of course there was always something extra when Blaine smiled at him than when he smiled at others, but right now there was something else that Kurt couldn't quite grasp.

Blaine stood, releasing his hands and walked across his room before standing on his bed. Kurt watched as he pulled a photo off the corkboard, one that was resting right in the bottom corner. "I've been wanting to show you this."

"Yeah?" Blaine sat back down and passed over the photo. Kurt glanced at it nonchalantly before doing a double take. "What... when?"

"Last week. Remember, we were lying out there after Chemistry and thought we were alone?"

Kurt nodded absently, still staring at the picture. He and Blaine were sitting on the grass out the front of Dalton, facing towards each other with their hands loosely twined between them. Blaine had pressed their foreheads together and both boys were laughing - Kurt smiled as he remembered the carefree conversation they had been having. For someone who had never liked a photo he was in, Kurt could hardly believe it was him. "We look so... _happy_."

Blaine nodded, taking his hand again. "I know. It amazed me when I first saw it, but then I had to wonder why."

Kurt frowned, looking up at him. "Why?"

"Well, why should that surprise me when I _know _you make me that happy?"

Kurt wasn't sure how much more his heart could take, but he was certainly willing to try. "You - so do you," he replied, almost breathlessly. He knew it wasn't particularly eloquent, but Blaine had the ability to do something that almost nobody else in the world could do - take his words away. And now Blaine was giving him that smile again, and it was if someone had switched a light on in Kurt's head. "You can, you know?" he whispered before he could stop himself.

_Hold on, do you really want this?_

Blaine's eyes widened slightly, but his smile only grew bigger and Kurt knew.

_Yes. You do._

And then Blaine was leaning towards him, with only a moment of hesitation before he gently pressed their lips together. Kurt's eyes flickered shut, trying to deal with the overwhelming emotions and the fact that _he was kissing Blaine right now_, before he slowly began to kiss him back. His free hand rose to touch Blaine's face, pressing slightly harder as their kiss grew deeper. For his first proper kiss, Kurt would have been worried that they were moving too fast, but he knew he had nothing to fear. It was Blaine, after all.

Kurt was fairly sure they could have stayed there for most of the afternoon, just kissing and kissing, until a light cough came from the doorway. Blaine broke away instantly, turning towards the door looking slightly horrified. "Dad!"

Kurt groaned, burying his head in his hands. _Great, your first impression from your boyfriend's father is that you're physically involved with his son..._

"Kurt?"

Blaine's hands were lightly tugging at his, pulling them away from his face. Kurt looked up, glancing over at the door to see Blaine's father had left. "Does he think I'm some kind of... of _scarlet woman_ or something now?"

"Kurt, you're a _guy_. I don't think so. I think he sees you as his son's boyfriend who his son is rather in love with."

"So.. so he doesn't hate me?"

Blaine sighed, shaking his head, but he was inexplicably grinning. "Again, I don't think so. Especially since he mouthed to me 'Dinner's in fifteen,' and gave me the thumbs up before leaving."

Kurt's jaw dropped. "Really?"

"Really." Blaine leant in to kiss him again, Kurt feeling himself melting against Blaine's lips. Blaine pulled away slightly, looking disappointed. "I guess we'd better go downstairs so I can introduce you to Mom."Kurt frowned, but allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. Just as they were about to leave the room - Kurt would never admit it, but his heart was racing - Blaine paused and turned to him. "And after dinner, you and I can go exploring in some of the large _empty _rooms."

And suddenly, the prospect of spending the entire evening at Blaine's house didn't seem quite so daunting after all.

* * *

**This is totally one of my favourites, especially since I'm not used to writing Blaine's father as being supportive.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**...Meanwhile, down in the Warblers' meeting room:**_

_**"Thad, quick! The laptop!"**_

_**"Where did you put the camera this time, Jeff?"**_

_**"You know that place on the ceiling where instead of a tile, they have a panel for a lightbulb? There."**_

_**"But- the lightbulb?"**_

_**"Small contained fire using Blaine's gel and some old sticks."**_

_**"HOW does it turn off?"**_

_**"Honestly, I don't know..."**_


	135. Memories

_**MeeplesForTheWin: I was thinking Kurt could be struggling with how to organize the funeral and memories of his mother and feeling sorry for Sue Sylvester and such. And he complains (or just talks) to Blaine about it and he starts crying or something and then Blaine kisses him because he's so precious and vulnerable. :D**_

**He really is precious... and it's weird saying that about someone who's three years older than me, but he is! And if I ever met him, I would hug him like crazy.**

**I'm of the opinion that Dalton has a coffee shop. The one where Wes, David and Blaine first spoke to Kurt. That's just me, and I use it that way :) **

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Memories

Blaine took another sip of his coffee and frowned. "Kurt?"

Kurt looked up from where he was stirring his coffee idly. "Huh?"

"Come with me." Blaine stood, tugging on Kurt's arm who looked confused. He led his boyfriend out of the Dalton coffee shop and up to his dorm room. Kurt stayed silent the whole time, a clear indication that something was wrong - usually Kurt would be worrying about getting caught in Blaine's room. Not that this was something they did often and they never _did _anything when they were up there, but it was technically against the rules now that Kurt wasn't a student.

Kurt followed him into his room, but instead of sitting on the bed, Blaine tugged him to the floor. They sat cross-legged facing each other, and Blaine took both of his hands. "Now, tell me what's wrong?"

"It's just the funeral." Kurt ducked his head and Blaine murmured quietly. He knew Kurt had taken most of the funeral preparations into his own hands, and the rest of the club had accepted that because of his parent's wedding. But nobody seemed to be considering how well Kurt would be handling things - not just the workload, but the fact that he had his own mother's funeral memories that he was working though.

"I just don't know how to do it properly. I mean, I've got the main idea in mind but it's in _two days _and everybody else is focused on Nationals and dealing with Jesse and -" Kurt stuttered to a stop. "I guess it's just too much," he murmured a few seconds later.

Blaine frowned. He knew Kurt wasn't opening up completely, but knew he had to take what he could get until he did. "Finn's helping you, isn't he?"

"He is, but he's been more worried about Quinn and Rachel, as usual." Kurt sighed lightly. "And we're doing a Willy Wonka themed funeral, Blaine. Do you know how hard it is to get that kind of thing organized on short notice? And I was calling _party shops _talking about funeral arrangements, that's just awkward after awhile."

Blaine nodded, running his thumbs over Kurt's hands. "I mean, I know I'll get it done. It'll all be fine, it'll be just like the wedding and we'll hopefully help Coach Sylvester remember Jean in the right way." Kurt's face closed off and he looked down again. Blaine stayed silent, waiting.

"I guess nobody's really thought about... what a funeral means to me."

_There it was. _"I have," Blaine said quietly. "I just didn't want to put any pressure on you in case you didn't want to talk about it. I hoped you'd come to me eventually."

And now, for some reason, Kurt was looking ashamed. "I - I didn't want to burden you -"

"_Hey_. No way." Blaine tightened his hold on his boyfriend's hands. "I'm here for you, always. Talk to me?"

Kurt looked up into his eyes which were beginning to water slightly. "I just keep seeing hers," he whispered. "People seem to think I don't remember it, but I was _eight _and she was my _mom_. Of course I do."

Blaine nodded, still staring into Kurt's eyes and holding the contact, no matter how heartbreaking it was to watch his boyfriend tearing up like this. "It's not like I don't think about her every day already... but thinking about death always brings it back. The fact that you'll never see the person again, you'll never have another day with them by your side -" Kurt broke off, his words failing him. And even though Blaine had never lost anybody and could never _truly _understand the feeling, he knew.

He raised his hand, catching the first tear that fell down Kurt's cheek and wiping it away. Kurt let out a sigh that seemed to come from deep within, closing the gap between them to rest his forehead against Blaine's shoulder. Blaine stroked his hair soothingly, smiling softly despite everything at the fact that he and Kurt were comfortable enough together that Kurt would show his emotions in this way and rely on him. "I'm sorry, Kurt."

Blaine really didn't know what to say, especially since knew there wasn't anything that could be said to make things better. Kurt pulled away and Blaine quietly wiped the rest of the tears from his face. "It's okay. I'll be okay."

"You always are," Blaine agreed, smiling. Kurt gave him a tearful smile in return. "But you've got me to be okay with now."

And as stupid as it sounded, it seemed to work. Kurt's smile grew just that little bit more sincere. "I do," he said.

And of course, then it was only natural for Blaine to kiss him. So he did.

It was only when Kurt had pulled away softly, letting his hand fall from Blaine's cheek - and Blaine couldn't for the life of him remember when it had gotten there - that he wondered whether it had been the right time. After all, they had just been talking about funerals and Kurt's dead _mother_...

And then Kurt was staring at him with that beautiful smile, his eyes _glowing _with emotion, and Blaine couldn't bring himself to second-guess his actions any more. At the very least, Kurt knew, without a doubt, that he was loved and someone had his back. And Blaine would continue to be there for Kurt for as long as he could.

* * *

**There was really no natural progression after this. Short one! Plus, I'm totally writing Kurt's piece from experience and there's _nothing _you can say.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***sneaks away as Klaine continues making out***_

_***sets up video camera, films***_

_**"Kurt...DAD?"**_

_**"Hello!"**_

_**"What are you doing?" *slightly panicked***_

_**"Getting some blackmail material. Now, would you rather this up on Youtube, or get rid of your gel?"**_

_**"Gel."**_

_**"Kurt, you're a traitor."**_


	136. Twister

**I didn't Authors Note last night. What's up with that?**

**Anyway, I've had a lot of people ask about the validity of A Very Potter Threequel - something I was going to mention in yesterday's authors note but... yeah, we've been over this already. Anyway! There are 'official' websites that I can send you to, but u****nfortunately I was just going through the comments on one and it turns out that Matt Lang asked everybody at the event to keep it top secret, not to Tweet it or put it on Tumblr. So of course everybody knows now and apparently that's what they really didn't want because it's not 100% confirmed (which is understandable with Darren's schedule) and they didn't want to give false hope. I feel quite bad now so I'm not going to sit here and say 'Yes, there will be one!' because if there isn't then I'll feel like I helped to spread the story that shouldn't have been spread.**

**From _l_**_**ollzie **_**and similarly (sort of!) prompted by **_**Syaoran-Lover: A game of the well known and much loved Twister!**_

**I haven't used ND in awhile. Semi-drunken ND would probably work best for this. **_**Syaoran-Lover **_**prompted after I'd already started writing this wanting it to be with the Warblers but I already had this idea in mind. **

**I should just make it clear that I don't condone underage drinking, or drunkenness. The legal age over here is 18 and I know it's 21 in America. While it may be humorously presented in stories or TV shows, there is a huge danger to it and the risks far outweigh the rewards. **

**TGTDOSBDK. Which, for those who seem to have forgotten means: They Got Together During Original Song But Didn't Kiss.**

* * *

Twister

"LET'S PLAY SP-"

"_No_, Rachel!" Puck shoved a hand over the girl's mouth. "Seriously, not after last time."

Kurt nodded in agreement from where he was sitting with Finn, shooting an amused look over at Blaine who was cringing. They were the only two who weren't in some form of intoxicated state yet, with Rachel and Santana being the most drunk. Kurt was still wary of alcohol, and Blaine just didn't want a repeat of last time, especially since he was now dating Kurt. Kissing someone else would almost certainly screw that up, especially if he kissed that someone before he had even kissed his own _boyfriend_.

"Well, what can we do then?" Lauren spoke up, looking bored. "No, Puck," she added as the boy opened his mouth, a suggestive look on his face, "I've already told you, we are not 'finding a room together' or anything of the sort." Puck deflated, sitting down next to his ... girlfriend? Blaine wasn't sure what was going on there. Kurt had tried to explain the dynamic once but ended up confusing himself.

Rachel suddenly jumped to her feet and bolted out of the room. A couple of others watched her go with interest - Finn in particular was staring after her, looking concerned while pretending he wasn't - but nobody bothered to ask what was going on. Brittany and Santana started making out in the corner, drawing the attention of all of the straight guys, including Artie who was too drunk to realize that there was something wrong with his girlfriend making out with Santana. Kurt rolled his eyes and stood, moving over to where Blaine was sitting. "Having fun?" he asked, sitting on the couch next to him.

Blaine moved closer and wrapped his arm around his boyfriend's shoulders. "While it is mildly amusing to see who ends up drooling first, it is a bit boring. Why was it so much more fun last time?"

"Because you were drunk." Kurt rolled his eyes again, smirking. "Apparently everything's more fun when you're drunk. I wouldn't know, I threw up on someone the last time I got drunk and that is _never _fun."

There was the sound of pounding footsteps and then Rachel ran back in, carrying a box. "TWISTER!" she announced, looking far too proud of herself.

There was a few seconds of silence, then Puck grinned. "We can totally have fun with this. If you fall, you take a shot."

The rest of the group looked suitably interested and Puck jumped to his feet, grabbing various shot glasses from around the room and piling them up on the floor. Rachel was attempting to lay out the mat straight on the floor, Blaine taking pity on her after the third unsuccessful attempt and doing it for her. He then snagged the spinner and pulled up a chair. "I call first caller!" Kurt pouted, but joined the others around the mat anyway. Brittany was now sitting on Artie's lap, making out with him, and Santana was crying in the corner as a result. Tina and Mercedes were laughing too hard to stand up and Sam had passed out at some point, so it was only Kurt, Puck, Lauren, Finn, Quinn, Rachel and Mike who were playing the first round. Blaine smirked at Kurt before spinning the arrow. "Left foot blue!"

Needless to say, with the levels of intoxication and large number of people playing, the first round went pretty quickly. When Lauren fell on the third spin, she took out everybody but Mike and Kurt. The rest downed shots and sat around watching Mike and Kurt try to trip one another up. Quinn sat next to Blaine, smiling softly. "Dancer versus cheerleader," she murmured, Blaine turning to her in shock.

"I'm sorry, did you just say _cheerleader?_"

Quinn laughed. "He didn't tell you? He joined the squad for a little while, he and Mercedes did a pretty good rendition of _4 Minutes_."

Blaine's jaw dropped. "Why am I just learning this -"

"Blaine!"

"Right, sorry!" Blaine quickly spun the arrow. "Right hand green!"

He turned back to Quinn who was still smiling. "You'll have to ask Kurt, I'm afraid."

Blaine turned back just in time to see Mike fall, the alcohol he had consumed clearly having some effect on him. Kurt jumped to his feet, brushing imaginary dirt off his jeans as Mike took another shot. "Drunk people only!" Rachel announced, planting herself in the middle of the mat. Quinn sighed, marching over to pull her off. "That means no Kurt and Blaine!"

Kurt shrugged, taking a seat next to Blaine and stealing the spinner off him. "That's fine with me." Over to the side, Lauren drowned another shot then leant over and whispered something in Puck's ear. His eyes grew wide and he all but dragged her across the room.

"I don't want to know," Kurt muttered, Blaine cringing in agreement. "Okay... left foot red!"

"So," Blaine leant over, murmuring in Kurt's ear softly, "why did I not get informed that you were a cheerleader once?"

Kurt groaned, covering his face. "Quinn is in so much trouble."

Blaine reached over, spinning the arrow quickly before taking Kurt's hands from his face and holding them in his own. "Kurt, look at me. It's..." he searched for some appropriate and dapper words, before deciding to just go with it. "It's _hot._" Kurt's jaw dropped as Blaine leant over nonchalantly to look at the spinner. "Right hand yellow! Anyway, got any videos?"

"Have you been drinking?"

Blaine smirked. "No. Just flattering my boyfriend, is that too strange?"

There was a scream from the Twister mat as Rachel fell, knocking Quinn and Mike over with her. Finn pumped his fist in the air, somehow being the winner after two spins. Mike wandered over towards Tina after taking his shot, falling in between her and Mercedes and locking their lips. Mercedes looked slightly disgruntled for a moment before shrugging and rolling next to Sam's unconscious form, poking his face and giggling.

"Blaine, you playing?"

Kurt was tugging his arm lightly and Blaine sighed, getting to his feet. He hadn't played Twister in years - after watching the first Warbler Twister game, Blaine had refused to join them. But he knew he couldn't refuse Kurt.

Quinn danced over, taking their seat on the couch and grabbing the spinner. Blaine could see the alcohol beginning to get to her and hoped that her good mood would last, remembering that Quinn had been the 'angry drunk' last time. "Okay everybody, take your places!" Blaine stood across from Kurt, staring at his boyfriend who had a mischievous look in his eyes. _What are you planning, Kurt Hummel?_

The answer became clear as soon as Quinn made the first call. "Right hand, red!" As Rachel leant across the board, grabbing Finn's shoulder for support, Kurt nonchalantly knocked her hand out of the way as he reached for his own coloured dot. Rachel went down instantly, taking Finn with her. Blaine's eyes widened as he realized what Kurt had done. _Now it's just us two on the board..._

Rachel picked herself up looking annoyed before her eye caught on the microphone and she was off again. Finn sighed and stumbled over to take his shot before falling next to Quinn. "Blaine, are you playing or not?"

Blaine hurriedly placed his hand on the red dot next to Kurt's, glancing up at his boyfriend who was still smiling wickedly. "Left foot, yellow!"

As the game went on, Blaine began to find staying upright considerably more difficult. While he was still completely sober, he had never been particularly flexible - unlike his boyfriend who was currently twisted into a position that Blaine would have been dying in agony from, without batting an eyelid. "Doing alright there, Blaine?"

"Fine," Blaine puffed, willing his arms to stop shaking. Kurt smirked over at him, balancing easily. He nudged against Blaine's knee playfully and Blaine just about fell. "Stop that!"

"Right foot, red!" Quinn was smirking as well, even as she screwed her nose up at Finn snoring loudly on her shoulder. Blaine looked down at the board and groaned loudly. _How on earth am I meant to do that_. He attempted to move his foot and pull it to the other end of the board, just as Kurt lifted his own foot and overbalanced, grabbing Blaine for support. They went down, hard. Blaine collapsed onto his back, Kurt sprawled across his chest with Quinn laughing in delight from the couch. Kurt groaned, raising his head. "I swear you tripped me, you can't have beaten me at Twister... what?"

Kurt trailed off and Blaine knew he had been caught out. But considering Kurt was _lying on top of him_ with their heads so close, Blaine figured it was excusable. _I just hope this is too.._

"Hi," Blaine murmured softly before leaning up to capture Kurt's lips. Kurt gave a muffled squeak of shock before practically melting against Blaine, raising his hands to cup Blaine's face. Blaine felt his arms move to wrap around Kurt's waist as if his body was moving on autopilot. Which worked for him as long as he and Kurt could just keep kissing like this, because the wait had been _so worth it. _

Kurt broke away slightly, their lips still touching. "Quinn Fabray, put away that camera or I will hurt you," he murmured before leaning back in, kissing Blaine again. Blaine chuckled against his lips before losing himself in his boyfriend's wonderful mouth again. _That mouth is talented in more ways than one_...

"HUMMEL! GET SOME!"

"Oh for the love of -!" Kurt pulled away completely to Blaine's disappointment, rolling away and standing up. "Noah Puckerman! Will you just do me a favor and _get lost!_" There was a thudding noise and Kurt blinked a couple of times. "Or... or pass out. That works."

Blaine stood, wrapping an arm around Kurt's waist as they both looked down at the passed out figure of Puck. Glancing around the room, Blaine realized that Mercedes had fallen asleep next to Sam on the floor, Mike and Tina had disappeared (and he was _not _going to think much further into that) and Brittany and Artie were still making out. Santana was curled into a ball - Blaine couldn't tell whether she had cried herself to sleep or was seething quietly - and Lauren was crawling next to Puck, curling up to his chest in an oddly romantic gesture. Rachel had passed out on the stage, glittery microphone in hand and Finn... Blaine didn't know, or care. In fact, the only one who was still really awake or aware was Quinn who was still smiling at them.

"Well, I'm tired," she announced, grabbing a cushion and hugging it. "Might follow suit and sleep."

With that, the other girl closed her eyes and Blaine stifled a laugh as he turned to Kurt. "Well, now that we're pretty much _alone..._" His sentence was cut off as Kurt pushed him backwards into the couch, attaching their lips immediately. _It's official, _Blaine decided happily. _I love Rachel Berry House Party Train Wreck Extravaganzas. _

* * *

**And I want that shirt! I love the shirts... **

**("Admit it. You _love_ the blazer.")**


	137. Clumsy

**Looks like I'm going to have to say it again. Prompts are closed, guys. These ideas I'm getting sent are great but maybe they're things you guys can write? And I know the fact is that the people sending them are the people who don't read these notes for the most part but I'm going to keep saying it in the hope that someone will read it. **

**I got my first pay today. Suddenly my job seems more than worthwhile. **

**From **_**Cori-Ackles: you should do something about Kurt just having a really off day **__**and being super duper clumsy :P**_

**This is so me. I've never had a day quite as bad as I inflict on poor Kurt but I get days like these and it sucks. Usually I end up trying to drive and that just goes really badly. **

* * *

Clumsy

_I-don't-care-if-I-am-ridiculously-obnoxious-I-am-going-to-continue-to-make-this-noise-until-you-GET-UP_

Kurt groaned, rolling over and attempting to hit his alarm clock as it continued to mock him. There was a crash and he sighed, opening one eye to find that his alarm clock was in pieces on the floor. _At least it shut up. _

Sighing, he swung his feet out of bed, managing to forget about the alarm clock in the space of two seconds and standing on one of the pieces of plastic. "Damn it!" he muttered, lifting his foot and wincing at the small gash he had created. Limping into the bathroom, Kurt banged his shoulder into the edge of the wall before redirecting through the actual door itself. He rummaged in the cupboard, managing to find a bandage and covering his bleeding foot without any further injuries.

"Okay," he told his reflection in the mirror, attempting to straighten his hair. "This isn't a sign of things to come. You're just tired. So move nice and slowly and you'll be -"

Kurt grabbed a bottle of hairspray, knocking over three others at the same time and sighed. No matter how much he argued, it was definitely going to be one of _those _days. His hair was still sticking up, and Kurt began to spray it into place, or attempt to. For whatever reason - probably just to annoy him - his hair refused to go into its normal style, deciding to stick up in random places over his head. Heaving another big sigh, he reached into his cupboard (only knocking over _two _other bottles this time, what a miracle!) and pulled out the one container he had only kept there because everybody at Dalton had to. Gel.

Kurt took good care of his hair and hated plastering it down. In fact, he got on Blaine's case at least once a day for drowning his hair in 'that noxious chemical you call a hair product.' He knew he would probably never live down the teasing from his friend, but it was better than looking like he had just rolled out of bed after all. Wincing, Kurt scooped the gel out of the container and quickly plastered down his hair. "I look like Blaine," he whined to his reflection, before promptly dropping the entire pot of gel. On his feet. Muttering words that weren't entirely appropriate for a conservative boarding school, Kurt quickly cleaned the gel up before deciding that the bathroom was a war zone in his current state and leaving promptly was probably the best idea.

Finally out of the bathroom, Kurt pulled open his wardrobe and grabbed his uniform for the day. It took him a good ten minutes to put it on - Kurt knew how much it would cost to replace the uniform if he managed to tear it in his clumsiness - but he managed without any incidents except for tying his tie too tight and nearly choking himself.

Kurt attempted one last pep talk before he headed out the door. "Alright, I can see that this is going to be a clumsy day. I get that. I accept it. Just _not in front of Blaine."_

And with that, Kurt pulled open the door and tripped over his shoelace, colliding hard with the floor in the hallway.

"Kurt!" The sound of hurried footsteps came closer, and then someone was kneeling beside him. "Are you okay?"

Kurt groaned, pulling himself up and rubbing at his chest. "Fine." _No, not really. Not since you just saw that..._

"What happened?" Blaine took his arm, turning it over to reveal the carpet burn on Kurt's hand. "That looks painful."

"Just a bit. I'm fine, really." Kurt stood, taking care not to trip over the offending shoelace again. He ignored the pain stabbing through his chest and smiled at his friend, trying to stop the blush from crossing his face.

Blaine stood as well, looking skeptical. "If you're sure. Going to breakfast?"

Kurt nodded and turned to walk down before realizing Blaine wasn't with him. As he turned back, he saw Blaine quickly snapping his jaw shut and sighed. "Yes, Blaine. My hair is gelled. We are not going to talk about why my hair is gelled. We are going to go to breakfast and any teasing you may choose to do will wait until _tomorrow_, understood?" Kurt turned back around, heading towards the stairs. As he began his descent, he was vaguely aware of the feeling that something was about to go wrong, before his foot missed a step and he was falling, straight towards the bottom...

And then a pair of arms were around his waist, pulling him back up. Shaking, Kurt turned blindly and clutched at the person who he knew must be Blaine. He knew he was having an off day, but to come that close to possibly being seriously injured was a bit much for him.

"Hey, hey it's alright, you're safe." Blaine held him tightly until Kurt pulled away, staring down at the floor. "You're really not having a good day so far are you?"

Kurt shook his head before beginning to laugh. "I've never been this clumsy in my life," he admitted. His laughter died as he looked up to see Blaine staring at him, smiling but with an intensity in his eyes that Kurt had never seen before. He swallowed and pulled away hastily. "Well, hopefully I make it the rest of the way down without dismembering myself or something," he joked.

Catching Blaine's eye, Kurt found that the look was gone - and wasn't sure whether he was relieved or disappointed with that - and Blaine was smiling at him like nothing had happened. "Well I'm holding on to you anyway, I know it'd be on my head if you fell and I didn't catch you again." And as Blaine took his arm, a pulse of heat ran through it, almost enough to make Kurt fall again. He steadied himself, grabbing the banister with his other hand and beginning to descend the stairs. As he did, Kurt couldn't get that look out of his mind. _It was almost as if he ... no, he doesn't like you. You were imagining things, okay?_

By the time he made it through his last period of the day, Kurt had managed to stub his toe on a doorframe, drop his bag four times, knock heads with Jeff (which was partly the blonde Warbler's fault, but still counted) and give himself a paper cut on his Math book. At that point, he had admitted defeat and decided to skip out on Warbler rehearsal in favor of going to bed for some more clearly needed sleep.

Making his way slowly up the stairs - Blaine wasn't around to catch him this time if he fell - Kurt headed along the hallway towards his room. It took four tries to get his door unlocked and, as he finally got through the door, he managed to drop his overly heavy bag on his foot. For the fifth time that day. That was the last straw. "Damn it!" Kurt cursed, falling back on his bed and somehow miraculously not hitting his head on something. "What is _wrong _with me today?"

"Still not going well then?"

Kurt closed his eyes. _Come on, really? _"No," he admitted, sitting back up. "It's just gotten worse and I don't know _why_." He knew his voice had turned whiny on the last word, but Kurt really couldn't bring himself to care anymore.

Blaine crossed the room, seating himself next to Kurt on the bed. "Did you get enough sleep?"

Kurt nodded. "At least I think so. It's just one of those days, I guess."

Blaine frowned sympathetically. "Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

Kurt's mind was immediately filled with thoughts that were _definitely _not right to think about someone who was only his friend. He simply shook his head, but Blaine seemed to have thoughts of his own as he continued talking. "Kurt, I don't know if this is the time, but there's something I need to tell you. And maybe it is the time if you've had a crap day because it might cheer you up.. but then again, if you don't want to hear it then it might be the _worst _time and -"

"_Blaine," _Kurt said firmly. "Just tell me."

Blaine took a deep breath, then the words rushed out that Kurt had only ever dreamt of hearing. "I think I've fallen for you."

Kurt's jaw dropped. He knew on any other day, he would have had far more control over his reactions, but today was... well, yeah. Blaine immediately looked worried. "I knew I shouldn't have told you," he muttered.

"No, no! I mean, I'm really glad you did because I'm kind of crazy about you too, it was just unexpected, you know?"

Blaine's face broke into a smile. "You're crazy about me?"

Kurt knew his face was a mirror. "Only a little," he murmured, ducking his head slightly.

And then there were a set of fingers lifting his chin gently. "Good," Blaine murmured before closing the gap and softly kissing Kurt on the lips.

After the first few seconds of _wait is this really happening oh yes it is well then KISS HIM BACK, _Kurt quickly began to reciprocate the kiss, letting his hand drift up to rest lightly against Blaine's cheek. Suddenly his day from hell didn't seem so bad after all. But, of course, everything had to come back to bite him. And this time, it was literal. Because just as Kurt had really gotten into the kiss, he had somehow managed to practically _bite _Blaine's bottom lip, and the other boy had frozen mid-kiss.

Kurt pulled away immediately. "Oh crap, I'm so sorry! I had no idea what I was doing and - and _today_, and -"

"Wait." Blaine held up a hand, frowning. "You didn't do that on purpose?"

"No?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow and it was only then that Kurt noticed the slightly glazed look in his eyes. "Oh," he said simply.

"_Oh?_" Kurt raised an identical eyebrow. "So I _should _have done that on purpose?"

He never thought he would see the day that Kurt Hummel could make Blaine Anderson blush, but there was certainly a first time for everything. "Well, possibly. I mean, yeah, it felt .. _good_." Blaine shook his head, looking embarrassed. "You made me lose all of my words!"

Kurt grinned, leaning in so their lips were barely touching. "Maybe my clumsiness does have some good uses then," he whispered devilishly before connecting their lips again.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**If the games had continued:**_

_**"Left foot, red!"**_

_**"Ah!"**_

_**"PUCK! Get the heck off of my boyfriend." *holds protectively***_

_**"Blaine, I'm not a child. If you treat me like one I will deprive you of coffee for a month."**_

_**"Um...I love you?"**_

_***sigh* "Love you too. Now, if you don't release me, I will steal your Harry Potter DVDs and chuck them into the Lima landfill."**_


	138. Sludge

**So I saw the latest Glee promo. I'd love to say I sat calmly and watched it and smiled at my favourite characters and took note of the new plot developments. ****Instead, I flailed like a tween and had to bite my lip to stop from squealing, then sent off a very incoherent email to my beta, then helped everybody else blow up Tumblr. THEN I sat down calmly and smiled at my favourites and took note of the new plot developments. Eventually. **

**Promos suck though. I just want to see the episode! Now I'm sitting here wondering why certain things happened and dying to see my Klaine boys again...**

**Oh, hey, forgot to mention it. You know that chapter where Blaine broke his arm? Yeah, a lot of people asked for the continuation of that to see what Blaine was like when he was loopy on painkillers. Well, I wrote it and put it up a few days ago and I'd love you to check it out :) It's called _Loopy_, surprise surprise. And loopy!Blaine is my new drunk!Blaine ;)**

**From **_**Kat3418: Its mid/late January-early February Kurt is trudging into school (the courtyard perhaps?) replaying all the couple-y things he and Blaine have done and curses Mr. Shue for the BICO interruption he works himself up into a good tiff (already angry because of the snow...maybe it ruined some shoes? so now he's got ruined shoes, is trudging across dalton for school even though mckinley is closed and angry at blaine) when blaine calls him Kurt just loses it and starts yelling at him why he hasnt kissed him and if he's interested at all because if not he really needs to tell kurt so he can just get over it and why does it have to snow so freaking much in ohio? So please just make up his mind because (kurt) cant just do this subtle thing they've got going on anymore because he just -needs to know- before he gets too invested in something that may never happen and... Kurt see's Blaine in the courtyard headed to him and before he can ask again in person Blaine is kissing him.**_

***blinks* ... okay, I think I've got it. So basically just take all of that and put a little dialogue in and we're set? ;)**

**Oh, and I know it wouldn't really be snowing in February... I don't think. Presume it's a late snowfall. **

* * *

Sludge

_It's official. The world hates me. _

Kurt growled under his breath as he stomped through the courtyard of Dalton, far too early for a Tuesday morning. He had woken up this morning to find his room freezing and his phone ringing with Finn on the other end, informing him that school was closed for the day. Normally this was something that Kurt would be equally as thrilled about - who wouldn't rather stay at home in bed reading _Vogue_ and watching movies while it snowed outside? - except for the part where Finn had forgotten one very important thing.

Dalton was a boarding school. And while not every student boarded, those who did were still expected to attend classes in extreme weather conditions. Besides that, Dalton wasn't actually closed, only schools in the Lima area. So, while the rest of his friends were still in bed or over at each other's houses, Kurt was trying to avoid the slush coating the ground as he made his way over to the cafeteria for breakfast. Or, at least Dalton's attempt at breakfast. Which was _pitiful_ by his standards.

"Stupid snow," he muttered to himself, not really caring how crazy he sounded. "Stupid snow and stupid McKinley for closing and stupid Dalton for being so ... _stupid_." Sighing, Kurt took another step then froze. Ever so slowly, he glanced down to see his shoe in a puddle of ice and growled again. "Stupid _shoes!"_

It wasn't so much that Kurt was frustrated by the weather - though he did have a particular _hated _for winter. No, Kurt was more frustrated by the particular events of his life at the moment. And, in particular (since he was overusing the word after all), one boy named Blaine Anderson.

_Blaine freaking Anderson!_

Kurt sighed heavily. It wasn't so much Blaine - who was only being his charming self, after all - but the way he was reading into _everything _Blaine did. Every look, every time he took his hand so nonchalantly, their _freaking _little flirty duets... _who sings Baby, It's Cold Outside _AND_ Silly Love Songs with someone if they're not interested? _But Blaine still insisted that they were just friends. Or, at least Kurt _thought _so. Blaine had said he cared about him a lot... but then had done nothing about it. And Kurt spent every day wondering how to act around Blaine, whether the way he hugged him in greeting was _slightly _longer than the way he hugged anybody else.. and whether Kurt really had a chance or Blaine had just been polite back in that coffee shop.

As Kurt avoided another pile of sludge, his phone began to ring, the shrill tone of _Baby It's Cold Outside _only annoying him further. _Why on earth did I choose that as my ringtone?_

Pulling out his phone, Kurt checked his caller ID. _Well speak of the freaking devil._

"Blaine."

"Hey, Kurt! Just checking whether you were coming down for breakfast or not?"

Kurt resisted the urge to growl again. "What, did you think I'd stay in my room and _starve _instead? The food is terrible, but at least it's halfway edible."

There was a moment of silence. "Um.. Kurt? You okay?"

And that was it.

"No, I'm _not_ freaking okay? Why the hell should I be _okay_, Blaine? I'm walking through the courtyard and it's full of snow and you're here being all dapper and _freaking _charming all the time and confusing the hell out of me with your freaking mixed signals and I have no idea what to believe anymore! And then you tell me you care about me and then we go back to being friends again and, what, is it that you don't _want _to be in a relationship like that with me, you don't want to _kiss_ me or something?"

Kurt paused for breath, ignoring Blaine's attempt to get a word in. "So if you're not interested, you need to just _tell _me so I can at least _pretend _to get over you and then things can get back to normal and -" Kurt stood in another pile of slush and groaned. "And why does it have to snow so much in Ohio anyway? This is just ridiculous, and _you're _ridiculous and I need to stop getting so invested in you if you don't feel the same, and of course you don't feel the same and - what are you doing?"

Kurt lowered his phone, frowning. Across the courtyard, Blaine had appeared out of the cafeteria, running towards him. His own phone was hanging limply from his hand as he skidded - literally - to a stop in front of Kurt, panting slightly. "What?" he asked, putting a hand on his hip. His bad mood was, of course, fading at the sight of his friend, but he needed to stick by what he had just rambled otherwise he was going to second guess himself.

"You.. you meant all of that?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "No, I said it because I _could_. Yes, Blaine, and you already knew that."

"No I didn't." Blaine honestly looked confused and Kurt felt his temper rising, only to be put out instantly by his next sentence. "Kurt, you said you thought I was the one who was going to ask you out, you didn't say you _wanted _me to."

Kurt had no words. "W- what?" he managed to stammer out. But now that he thought about it, he suddenly realized Blaine was right. But he had thought it was obvious...

"I told you I'm clueless, Kurt." But for some reason, Blaine had begun to smile. "I told you I didn't want to screw things up - I meant our _friendship. _That's why I didn't ask _you_ out on Valentine's Day, because I honestly didn't think you felt the same."

"T-The same?" Kurt winced, knowing he sounded like a blithering idiot. But _really_, who could blame him?

Blaine's smile grew wider. "The same," he agreed. "And, because I've apparently been sending mixed signals, I'd better make it _completely _clear."

And... oh, was that Blaine's lips pressed ever so gently up against his?

_Oh, yes it was. _

Kurt was kissing him back before everything had registered properly. But the feeling of Blaine's hands against his face, their bodies pressed together, everything helped Kurt to fully realize what was going on. _Blaine likes me too..._

Blaine pulled away, staring into his eyes. "Okay now?"

Kurt couldn't stop the smile from crossing his face - the first one he had emitted all day. "Okay," he agreed. Because no matter how depressing the weather, how _ruined _his shoes... he had just kissed Blaine. Nothing could really _quite _top that.

* * *

**I will never apologize for my overuse of the word 'freaking'. Oh, and hit me up, Starkids! I know you all saw it ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**You're Invited!**_

_**To: A Gel Bonfire, complete with marshmallows and whatever you want to bring.**_

_**Date: September 2nd, 2011 to Septmber 3rh, 2011**_

_**Time: 8 Pm to 6 AM**_

_**Place: The clearing in the woods behind Dalton**_

_**Bring: Gel, food to roast, skewers, blankets, anything else you want to set on fire.**_


	139. Sacrifice

**Okay, I need to discuss this. Angela sent me a link this afternoon to a photo shoot that Heather Morris did recently with the words 'That's _sickening' _underneath. The second I opened the link, I saw why. I don't know what she was thinking but Heather has done a photo shoot domestic violence style. As in, with a painted on black eye and an iron. It's _horrifying_. Why on earth would she link herself to something like that? If you haven't seen it, I don't suggest you go looking. I just wish we could boycott it somehow and get it removed.**

**To those who didn't pick up on the Starkid reference last chapter it was when Kurt was sulking about Blaine and thought to himself _Blaine freaking Anderson! _Which, you know, links in to 'Harry Freaking Potter' ;) oh, and in regards to the snow, thanks for letting me know. And for those who couldn't understand why I didn't already know, once again, I don't live in America so I have no idea when the snow seasons are. **

**From **_**Kat3418: The prom one was basically...they dont go, Blaine knows how much Kurt wanted to go and is just i dunno amazed at this boy who would do something like this for him and just.. spends the whole movie thinking about Kurt and he just kisses him as Kurt babbles about the movie.**_

**The first time I got this prompt it had literally about ten questions in it and I sat there going... huh, I could probably write a chapter story around this. Which, although it is slightly appealing, I won't do because I've got enough to write right now. So I asked for just one prompt and I got this which I love :) **

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Sacrifice

"_But I have to say, Blaine, that if it makes you feel uncomfortable at all, we'll just forget about Prom. We'll go to a movie instead."_

_Blaine glanced up at him again, sheer relief written across his face. "You're okay with that?"_

"_Of course." Kurt took his hand again, smiling. "I'll admit I did have the perfect outfit planned, but it can wait until next year. I don't think I'll grow any more."_

_Blaine smiled, shaking his head and wondering whether his boyfriend could get any more amazing._

* * *

Blaine stared at his reflection in the mirror, wrinkling his nose. Because it was Kurt's night, Blaine had made sure that Kurt had everything run exactly the way he wanted it to. And Kurt's first rule and the reason behind Blaine's current distaste; _no gel_.

Checking the time, Blaine hurriedly grabbed his bag and left his dorm room. Since it was Kurt's prom that they were missing and he would have been Kurt's date, it had been decided that Kurt would be the one to pick him up. Blaine had no idea where they were even going, but he trusted his boyfriend. As he made his way down the stairs, Blaine's smile widened as he saw his boyfriend leaning against the banister at the bottom, fiddling with the strap on his bag. Blaine jumped the last few stairs, landing lightly next to Kurt. "Hey there," he murmured quietly.

Kurt simply shook his head, but the smile on his face said it all. "Hi," he responded simply. "Ready to go?"

Blaine held out a hand which Kurt took immediately, twining their fingers together. "Where to?" he asked, hoping Kurt would at least give him a hint. He knew Kurt had mentioned a movie, but apart from the horrific _Twilight _movies, nothing good was out at the moment.

Kurt gave a little half-shrug with his free arm. "You'll have to wait and see. And thank you for ditching the gel."

"I feel ridiculously self conscious. So you're welcome."

Kurt smirked. "You look good, so don't even worry about it."

As Kurt led him through the doors, Blaine tried to find a witty response but couldn't think of a thing. "Thank you," he finally managed. "So do you."

"I should hope so with the amount of work I put into this outfit." Kurt unlocked the doors to his Navigator, unlinking arms with Blaine and moving around to the drivers side. Blaine shook his head as he hopped in. _Seriously, how come __he__ knows exactly what to say while I'm left almost speechless?_

"So, how are things at McKinley?" he asked instead as Kurt pulled out of the parking lot.

Kurt shrugged. "They're all going crazy about Prom of course. I had told the girls I was inviting you, so showing up the next day to say that I wasn't coming at all was... well, a bit of a shock." Blaine winced but Kurt had clearly already anticipated his reaction. "Once I explained a little - without sharing details - they understood. Rachel was not-so-secretly pleased, more chances for her to hog the microphone. I think she was afraid that you'd want to sing with us if you did come."

"I probably would have," Blaine said, mulling over the idea. "I've always wanted the chance to sing a song like... _I'm Not Going To Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You."_

Kurt turned to stare at him briefly. "And you think the _McKinley _Prom would be a good place for that number?"

"Probably not, but it would've been fun anyway!" Kurt laughed, turning the corner down a street Blaine hadn't seen before. Which was saying something because they were only just out of Westerville after all. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going yet?"

"Nope." Kurt made another turn, smirking. Blaine decided his boyfriend was having far too much fun holding him in suspense but didn't call him out on it. It was Kurt's night after all. "You'll find out in a minute anyway."

Blaine tapped his hands on the dash for the next few seconds until a sighing Kurt turned again and Blaine's eyes lit up. "I had no idea this was even here!"

Kurt pulled up to the ticket booth and wound down his window. "Popcorn?" he asked, smirking as Blaine nodded a little too enthusiastically. He talked to the man in the booth quickly before turning back to Blaine. "And I didn't either, but I did some research for the closest one. And when I saw what was playing -" he cut himself off, turning to grab the two buckets of popcorn and handing them to Blaine.

"What's playing?"

Kurt shook his head, driving into an abandoned spot. Looking around, Blaine noticed that most of the spots were abandoned with only one other car in the entire place. "You'll see. But at least we'll have the place to ourselves." And with that, Kurt reached into the backseat, pulled out a blanket and hopped out of the car. Blaine stared at him for a minute as Kurt waited expectantly before sighing. "Get out here."

Blaine obediently climbed out, still confused. "It's a drive in movie theatre, why aren't we sitting in - oh."

Kurt had climbed on the bonnet of the car and was spreading out the blanket, smirking. All the heat was taken out of it by the sparkle in his eyes as he looked over at Blaine. "Answer your questions?"

The sparkle was contagious. Blaine felt the smile cross his face that Kurt had dubbed as his 'Teenage Dream look'. The obligatory blush formed on Kurt's face as Blaine crawled over beside him, resting back against the windscreen and linking their hands together. "Except for the all important 'what are we watching?' one," he teased.

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly. "I'm sure you can be patient another five or so minutes."

Blaine sighed, before looking at Kurt closer. "So how are you feeling about being here instead of... there?"

The smile dimmed a little, but it didn't fade completely to Blaine's relief. "I mean, I'll always wonder what it would have been like, but I couldn't put it past the jocks to do something to potentially humiliate me. And I wouldn't have been completely comfortable bringing along a boyfriend, to be honest. Nothing about you," he added hastily, "I just -"

"I know." Blaine took his other hand, squeezing lightly before releasing it. "But I do have something to ask you. How about a Prom with no judgement?"

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Dalton's Prom is in two weeks. Go with me?"

Blaine wasn't sure what to think when Kurt simply stared at him. He hadn't expected Kurt to turn him down... and his suspicions were correct when Kurt squealed in delight. "Oh my gosh, yes! Now I can wear that outfit, and we have to talk about color co-ordination, did you have any plans on what you were going to wear? I know it's your Prom and you should decide but I did have things all planned and -"

"Kurt, breathe!" Blaine finally managed to override Kurt, laughing as he did so. "I'll leave it all up to you, you know what I'm like with fashion. Besides, don't you want to watch - we're watching _RENT?_"

"You like it?"

Blaine's eyes were immediately fixed on the screen. "You know I love it."

Kurt laughed, light and melodious. "Good." He squeezed his hand lightly again before turning his own attention to the screen. "Let's watch then."

Blaine was thankful that he had seen the movie many times before and didn't have to focus on the plot. He wouldn't have been able to anyway with Kurt singing along next to him, their hands still clasped together. And that in itself was distracting - Blaine could almost feel the heat spreading through that single point of contact. He knew they could easily move closer, but it wasn't even necessary. They were still completely together, no matter how little contact they had. And Blaine loved that too.

As the credits rolled, Blaine watched the other car head out of the lot. Now it was just him and Kurt, lying together in an abandoned drive in lot. It really shouldn't have been as romantic as Blaine found it... or perhaps it should. Either way, as he glanced over with Kurt who was still watching the credits roll with a blissful smile on his face, he knew he wouldn't want to be anywhere but here right now. Sighing happily, Blaine stared up into the night sky and prayed for this moment to never end.

"So, what did you think?"

Blaine stared up at the stars for a moment longer before rolling on his side to face his boyfriend again. "Of?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, smiling. "The movie, dummy. What else?"

"I don't know, you?"

Kurt ducked his head, blushing. "Well I enjoyed it anyway. I mean, for a movie that's nowhere near as wonderful as the Broadway version - and did you know Wes looks a _lot _like one of the actors in a version I saw? Anyway, the movie still managed to be wonderful. And the singing was sublime..."

As Kurt continued to talk, his eyes alight, Blaine simply stared at him. _Is it possible to keep falling for someone every single day of your life? _he wondered to himself, hoping it was. _I never want to stop falling in love with you, Kurt Hummel._

And he knew he couldn't wait any longer.

"... and then when they -"

"Kurt?"

As Kurt stopped talking, looking at him quizzically, Blaine leant in and kissed him. Their lips melded together instantly as if this was what they were made to do. Blaine liked to think it was, as he continued to gently kiss his boyfriend who was slowly responding. It seemed that Kurt was on the same page as him... _but just to make sure... _

Blaine reluctantly broke the kiss, feeling slightly breathless. As he pulled away, Kurt's eyes fluttered open gently and he raised a trembling hand to his mouth, pressing his fingers to his lips. Blaine simply waited, hoping it was a positive reaction. _Please tell me you liked that too because that was quite easily the best moment of my life and I just want to keep doing that..._

And then Kurt lowered his hand, revealing a hesitantly beautiful smile. Blaine only had time to smile in response, before making a muffled noise of surprise as Kurt kissed him again, rolling him onto his back and pressing their bodies closer together.

* * *

"_I am crazy about you," Blaine murmured, squeezing Kurt's hand tightly across the table. "And I promise we'll make it a good night. Better than a McKinley Prom could ever be for us."_

_And Kurt's smile in response, although a little disappointed, was brilliant._

* * *

Blaine broke away slightly, keeping Kurt's face clasped gently between his hands. "Still regret not going to Prom?"

"Not a chance," Kurt whispered back before gently pushing him back into the windscreen, kissing him soundly.

* * *

**So, did they have a better night than they would have at Prom?**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**The other thing that went wrong with Kurt's day:**_

_**Wes and David got into a loud verbal fight about whether imaginary elephants were pink or pink with purple polka dots.**_

_**"I'm telling you, they're polka dotted!"**_

_**"Nuh-uh!"**_

_**"If the two of you don't shut up, I will shave your heads and force you to eat it, while it's covered in Blaine's hair gel, and I will get Santana and Mercedes to CUT YOU."**_

_**Needless to say, Wes and David avoided Kurt for a week after that.**_


	140. Spilled

**I just need to make a note in regards to last night's authors note about Heather Morris's photos. I'm not calling anybody out or saying that people can't have their opinions about the shoot, but I want to make it clear that I would have reacted the same way had it been any actress/model. I think the idea of the shoot is horrifying unless it's done for the right reasons as an anti-promotion sort of thing. **

**Anyway, I filled a shift for another store today and my goodness, I have never been happier to work at the store I work at. My store is tiny and we have regulars who already know me - this store was big and scary and people were grumpy and Sarah wasn't happy. **

**From **_**shushyou: I want to clarify before I prompt this that I HAVEN'T seen New York - so this isn't even slightly spoilery, although the prompt is related to New York - basically I want Kurt and Blaine (as just friends) to be talking on the phone while Kurt's in New York for Nationals, and then somewhere in the phone conversation Blaine sort of accidentally lets slip that he is in love with Kurt, and then when Kurt gets back there are airport!Klisses, complete with a New Directions audience.**_

**I tweaked it just a little so Blaine isn't the one letting slip.**

* * *

Spilled

"Okay, I think that's a wrap!"

Puck and Artie exchanged high-fives as Quinn finished writing the final lines. Behind them, Brittany and Mike had just collapsed onto the bed, having completed the choreography for their group number. "We'll teach you tomorrow," Mike mumbled into the pillow. "Too tired now."

As Tina sat next to him, running her hands through his hair, Kurt took the opportunity to slip out into the hall. Finn was in the guys bedroom working on his and Rachel's duet, so he couldn't go there. Instead, he walked down to the end of the hallway where there were a few seats set up. Sinking into one of those, he pulled out his phone and found Blaine's number, hitting _Call. _

_You're just calling, as a friend, because he wanted to know when you'd decided on a setlist. It's his choice -_

"Hello?"

Kurt's mouth immediately ran dry. "Hi," he squeaked out, immediately feeling like an idiot.

Somehow Blaine hadn't noticed. "Hey, Kurt! How's New York going?"

"Yeah, great. It's - well, it's New York." _Seriously, Kurt? _

Blaine laughed, thankfully not patronizingly. "I'm sure it is. So, how's the songwriting?"

At least Kurt knew he could talk about this without stumbling over his words too much. "We've got the group number written, it's called _Light Up The World_. Brittany and Artie have the most vocals, and I didn't get a solo -"

"Really? But you auditioned for one?"

"I did. Santana, Rachel, Finn, Tina, Artie and Brittany got them. But in the end, it's a group number, so it doesn't matter." Kurt stretched his feet out in front of him, feeling an unconscious smile curve across his face as it did any time he spoke to Blaine. "And Finn's working on his and Rachel's duet. I think he's got a lot to work with since she apparently knocked him back completely."

Blaine sucked in a breath. "Harsh. Though from what you've told me, they'll get back together at the most inconvenient time anyway."

Kurt laughed, feeling all of his remaining tension ease. "That's Finn and Rachel," he agreed, leaning back and making himself comfortable. "So we're pretty excited, of course, and nobody's going to sleep a wink tonight. Anyway, what are the Warblers up to?"

"We're actually done for the year, unfortunately." Kurt heard what sounded like Blaine falling back onto his bed. "So we're just gearing up for next year, working on some possibilities for people singing that aren't me."

Kurt mock-gasped, even though his surprise was pretty real. "Why didn't they do that when I was there?" he complained lightly.

"I wouldn't have a clue, sorry." Blaine's voice was still light and almost musical, something Kurt had missed greatly in the drama of New Directions. Even in New York the group had still managed to bring their fighting along, and Kurt was over it. All he wanted to do was get on stage, then go back to Ohio and spend the summer doing more productive things. Like hanging out with Blaine. "So, what kinds of things have you seen?"

"Oh, you wouldn't believe it!" Kurt began to gush instantly about his experience in the _Wicked _theatre and having breakfast at Tiffany's. He knew these were stories he would be telling for a long time, and his excitement completely caught up with him. "You would have loved it!" he finished enthusiastically.

Kurt could hear the smile in Blaine's voice as he replied. "I'm sure I would have."

He didn't know what it was. Maybe it was the overwhelming excitement and happiness that some day he would be _living here_. Maybe it was hearing Blaine's voice for the first time since arriving in New York. Maybe something in him knew it was time to stop beating around the bush. Whatever it was, it just slipped out.

"I love you."

One second of absolute silence, then Kurt was pulling his phone from his ear, hitting the end button with enough force to almost crack the screen. The phone dropped into his lap, his head into his hands. "Please, _please _tell me I didn't just say that."

"Say what?"

Kurt's head jerked up to see Finn walking down the hall towards him, a notebook in hand. Kurt deliberated with himself for a second before deciding that Finn had pretty much dealt with all of his homophobia, and even though he wasn't exactly a role model when it came to relationships, he had certainly experienced his fair share of issues. "I - I just told Blaine I love him."

Finn froze. "You _love _him?"

Kurt nodded and Finn dropped into the chair next to him, still staring. "Wow. How long?"

"A few months now. I mean, he sort of knew I was interested around Valentines Day, but we never spoke of it after that... and now I've just blurted that out in conversation and I don't even know how he feels -"

"What did he say in response?"

Kurt grimaced. "Well, he didn't get the chance to. I kind of hung up the second I realized what I had said."

Finn looked like he was about to say something but paused as the opening refrains of _For Good_ echoed through the hallway - after the experience in the theatre, Kurt couldn't _not _put it as his ringtone - and Blaine's picture came up on Kurt's phone. "Are you going to -"

"No," Kurt said immediately, shaking his head. "I can't."

There was silence between the two boys until Blaine's picture disappeared and Kurt's phone alerted him to a missed call. "Kurt, you've seen what's been going on with me and Rachel," Finn began slowly. "You know it's messing me up. I put my heart on the line, and I pretty much got kicked back."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I fail to see how this is supposed to make me feel _better_," he said sardonically, "or make me want to talk to Blaine -"

"I don't regret it," Finn blurted out quickly. "Even if her and I never end up being together again, I don't regret telling her how I feel. Because maybe someday she'll realize that we can be together, and then she'll know. And because love isn't meant to be hidden."

Kurt stared at his step-brother. "That's very astute, Finn." Then he sighed, slumping back in his chair. "I can't, not by phone anyway. Maybe when we get back I can talk to him, but right now I need to get focused on Nationals."

Finn leant over, putting a hand on his shoulder briefly before standing. "Just don't let your opportunity pass," he said simply before walking back down the hall. Kurt watched him enter the room, probably to show the others his song, and sighed again. The next second, his phone began ringing and Blaine's picture flashed up again. _Well, there's no chance that he didn't hear me or something._

When the ringing finally stopped, his phone registering a voice message, Kurt switched off his phone before heading back down to the room. He couldn't take his mind off Blaine, he knew that, but he needed to at least share his focus. Nationals was calling.

* * *

"Flight 183 from New York has now landed."

_This is it._

Blaine stood, moving towards the exit. He didn't exactly want to accost Kurt the second he came out of the gate, but he didn't want to miss the boy either. His hand danced across the phone in his pocket which he knew would have the same thing as before; no texts, no missed calls, despite the numerous times he had tried to contact Kurt over the past few days.

The second Kurt had hung up on him, Blaine realized what had happened. Kurt had clearly not meant to say the words and was obviously terrified that Blaine was going to reject him. No doubt if Kurt had been left to his own devices, he would have taken as long as possible for the two of them to catch up again. But Blaine wasn't having any of that. The words had stunned him, yes, but not in the way Kurt thought. Because instead of wanting to reject Kurt or wondering why he had said it, Blaine felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

_He loves me too. _

Ever since Kurt had announced he was moving back to McKinley, Blaine had been telling himself to do something, to say something, to just let Kurt know how much he cared about him. But the words had evaded him every time - after all, the last time they had talked about feelings, Blaine had practically blown Kurt off. He regretted it now, of course, but the sentiments still stood. He really didn't want to screw this up. But now he knew for sure. And no matter how much it seemed that Kurt didn't want to talk to him, Blaine couldn't _not _come. He couldn't give up the chance to have the boy he had been wanting for the past few months, whether he had realized it or not.

As people began to make their way out of the gate, Blaine kept his eyes peeled for the New Directions group. He knew already that they had lost and just hoped that their wasn't too big of a rift between them all.

But it seemed that, of course, there was going to be. Rachel and Finn were first through, followed a short time later by Tina and Mike, then Puck and Lauren. Santana and Quinn both looked annoyed - Blaine noticing that the latter had chopped off half her hair - and were glaring in Finn and Rachel's direction. And then the rest of the group came through in one big huddle, Blaine craning his neck, trying to look through them all to see...

_Kurt._

There he was, walking slightly apart from everybody else and pulling two suitcases behind him. Blaine couldn't help but smile fondly - Kurt had managed to pack more than anybody else, including the girls. His heart had skipped a beat the second he had seen his friend, and he knew without a doubt that what he was doing was right. Will Schuester had called the group together who formed reluctantly, their backs to Blaine. Now was his chance.

Moving quickly, Blaine walked up behind the group and waited, overhearing the end of their teacher's speel. "... come back to school tomorrow and put all this behind us. No matter what, we're a family and we need to remember that it wasn't about winning, it was about getting there and having the exp - Blaine?"

As one, the entire group turned. Most looked confused to see him, but Mercedes and Finn were both giving him relieved looks - Blaine figured they had both been informed of what was going on. Kurt, on the other hand, looked terrified and like he wanted to run. Mercedes quickly put an end to that by pushing Kurt forwards, the boy stumbling forward before ending up a few steps from Blaine. "What are you doing here?" he whispered, his face turning bright red.

Blaine knew words weren't enough. The rest of the group were blocking them out of the view of anybody else in the airport, so Blaine simply gave in to his urges and did what he knew he should have done a long time ago; grabbing one Kurt Hummel, pulling him into his arms and kissing him soundly on the lips.

Kurt froze for all of two seconds before beginning to kiss back, practically melting into Blaine's arms. Blaine pulled him in tighter, reveling in the feeling of Kurt in his arms before remembering where they were and reluctantly breaking away. "I love you too," he murmured, staring into Kurt's eyes.

Every last doubt had faded from Kurt's eyes, to be replaced with the most beautiful hope. "Well, that was the best 'welcome back' I could ever have hoped for," he said quietly, only jumping slightly when the entire New Directions group broke into applause, various members calling out innuendos that Blaine knew would probably haunt them for their entire relationship. But he really couldn't bring himself to care. As they turned back to the group, hand in hand, Blaine saw Finn smiling at him and knew he had definitely done the right thing. Except... there was one more thing he needed to do.

"Oh, and I should probably actually _ask _if you wanted to be my boyfriend."

Kurt rolled his eyes, elbowing him lightly, but his grin said it all. "I had to ask," Blaine said, holding up one hand in mock-surrender, his own grin threatening to split his face in two. He grabbed one of Kurt's suitcases for him before he could argue and joined the group as they left the airport. Just as they walked out the doors, Kurt pulled out his phone and switched it on before blinking in surprise as it seemed to come to live, vibrating like crazy.

Blaine smirked. "Hey, just a quick note for the future? The next time I call you _eighteen times_, pick up." He elbowed Kurt lightly who simply shook his head. "It might be important, after all."

* * *

**_"Welcome to your message bank. You have six new voice messages."_**

_"Kurt... I, um, I heard what you said. I know you didn't pick up when I called and that probably means you don't want to talk to me but I just want you to know that I really want to talk to you. Like, really really. So if you hear this, please call me back."_

_"Hey, it's me again. Just wanted to make it clear that when I said I wanted to talk, I meant it in a good way. I promise. I just... I don't want to say it in a message. I want you to be the first to know that I - uh, yeah. You know. I hope you know. Call me back."_

_"So, it's morning, I've called you seven times so far and your phone is still off. I was planning to call you anyway to wish you luck, so... good luck. I don't think you're listening to these messages so it's probably pointless to leave it but I still wanted to. And, of course, if you do get this, give me a call?"_

_"I heard about the competition. I'm sorry. I... please call me."_

_"God, Kurt. I love you, alright? I've loved you for ages now, I just didn't have the courage to tell you which is so stupid because I preach courage but I just couldn't because I didn't think you felt the same way. And now I know you do and you think I don't and you won't answer my calls or pick up your phone and it's driving me crazy because I don't know what to do and I wish I could get out to New York now and just tell you and make you know that you can love me and I'd love it if you loved me and you do love me and -"_

_"So my last message got cut off. That's probably good. I meant it all though. If you don't call me, I'll be dealing with it the minute you get back, and that's a promise. You've had fair warning. I ... I love you."_

* * *

**This might be one of my favourites. I added that last section literally minutes before posting it too.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Not related to Prom whatsoever, but I like this idea:**_

_**Oh, hi Kurt! Me and the ND girls just got back.**_

_**"From what?"**_

_**Breaking into Karkfaky's room while he slept, stealing all of his shoes and socks, then completely covering the floor by super gluing Legos down.**_

_***in the distance* "AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"**_


	141. Flashmob

**Situations are tense in my house at the moment. So I'm losing myself in the FanFiction world and not coming back out until people stop fighting and start talking again. On a positive note, my family is watching Season 2 from the start as it replays and they're turning into fans, I can tell. I showed Mum _Baby It's Cold Outside _(we're not up to that episode just yet) and she loved it. She's such a shipper ;) **

**Pretty sure I need to do a new poll. Any ideas for me?**

**From **_**Panda Slippers **_**and similarly prompted by**_** Mimi77 and Faeyero Potter: I couldn't help but wish Blaine was watching Kurt in the flash mob. Kurt's confident, sexy and a hell of a dancer in that - how would Blaine be able to help himself?**_

**When I first got this, I really didn't want to write it. But I had quite a few prompts for it (probably some that I've lost too) so I felt a little obliged. And then Angela asked if I had any other prompts that I didn't want to write myself, and I realized that this was perfect for her. She's the one who wrote the ****Tangled**** chapter which received such positive feedback, so I hope you all like it :)**

**And if you do, check her out at **_**SquirrelzAttack**_**. She writes some gorgeous Nick/Jeff stuff that I love, as well as Klaine and various Warbler shenanigans =D**

* * *

Flashmob

"You can still get in on it if you want." Kurt's musical voice said from the other end of the phone call. "There's still time."

Blaine rolled his eyes, grinning affectionately even if he knew Kurt couldn't see it. "I still have to say no, babe. I'm sure you guys will do great, though. You got Puck to agree and everything?"

"Oh yes, he was easy. The tough part was convincing Finn to participate in the dancing portion of it." Kurt laughed. "But you'll still come, right? Even if you're not in it?"

"Of course I will. Wouldn't miss it." Blaine said.

"You're sweet. See you on Friday?"

"Friday."

As they hung up, Blaine let out a sigh he'd been holding in, running a tired hand through his ungelled locks. What he'd neglected to tell Kurt was the _real_ reason he didn't want to get in on the flashmob. As much fun as it sounded, Blaine thought the whole thing was rather pointless. It seemed like a really big thing to put a lot of hard work in to over a _nose job_. He just didn't see what the issue was. A lot of girls got plastic surgery, and although he didn't approve of it in any way, if she wanted to get her nose done, that was her decision, and her decision alone. It really wasn't anyone else's business.

But he couldn't tell that to Kurt. When the porcelain-skinned countertenor spoke of the upcoming flashmob, he sounded so excited about it. He was having a blast putting it together and choreographing everything. Blaine didn't have the heart to spoil his boyfriend's good fun, even if he personally thought the whole thing was completely stupid. Still, he was going to go and support Kurt like a good boyfriend. Plus, it was an opportunity to see his Kurt dance.

A smile turned up the corner of Blaine's mouth. The New Directions girls had told him about Kurt's alleged dancing skills, and they painted a very lucrative picture – somehow the conversation always ended with them swooning over how amazing his hips were and how it was unfair that he was gay. In any case, Blaine had decided from that moment forth that Kurt's dancing was something he just _had_ to see. And, since a perfect opportunity has presented itself, he wasn't about to pass it up.

* * *

"Okay, Puck's going to be here any minute." Kurt raised his eyes to a large clock on the wall. "I better head up."

Blaine smiled, hiding the fact that he was _still_ convinced of the sheer stupidity of this whole thing. "You'll convince her, I know it. She _has_ to listen to you. And then we can go to the Lima Bean and you can criticize her wardrobe choice."

"Aw, thanks honey." Kurt pulled Blaine into a brief hug. "Gotta go! They'll be here any second!" He turned and hopped onto the nearest escalator, feverishly looking around for Rachel and Puck.

Blaine had to hide a sigh. He was, of course, delighted to see Kurt again. How could he not be? Ever since they'd gotten together officially (much to the delight of the Warblers and New Directions) they'd just been growing closer and closer. And, although they hadn't kissed yet, Blaine knew he was completely smitten. _Still_, his mind kept wandering to many of the other activities they could currently be doing. Besides participating in a flashmob aimed towards diverting a girl from getting rhinoplasty, that is. They could be at the movies, or cuddling, or getting coffee, or just _talking_. _Anything_.

Blaine knew he was being selfish. No matter how unfathomable the reason, Rachel was Kurt's friend, and he needed to just suck it up, stop internally whining, and enjoy the show.

_Barbara Streisand._

_What?_ Blaine turned around and realized with a jolt that Kurt was already pulling Rachel off of the escalator and into a wide open space where the flashmob group had already started gathering. This, Kurt had informed Blaine numerous times, was Stage Three of Kurt Hummel's Ingenious Anti-Plastic Surgery Barbaravention: Get Rachel into flashmob range (whatever that meant).

And, as Kurt released Rachel and actually started _dancing_…well, Blaine temporarily lost the ability to form entirely rational thoughts. Oh man, the girls hadn't been kidding. Those _hips_. Blaine had originally thought that's Kurt's red-white-and-blue outfit was very patriotic and adorable, as always. Now, however, those red skinny jeans were seriously affecting his brain power. They were just…unnnn.

_Bad Blaine!_ He thought, vigorously shaking his head. _Undapper thoughts! You. Are. DAPPER. THOSE ARE NOT DAPPER THOUGHTS, BLAINE! Quit thinking like that! You haven't even kissed yet! What is your problem?_

Forcefully snapping himself back into the present day, Blaine tried to actually pay attention to things besides Kurt. Finn was terrible at dancing, even when he tried. Brittany was wearing a really cute shirt. Instead of looking like the wanted to kill each other, every member of New Directions seemed to be genuinely enjoying themselves. From what Kurt had told Blaine about the big, incestuous family, he hadn't even expected half of them to show up. Unfortunately, the aforementioned incestuous family wasn't _quite_ enough to fully distract Blaine from his appallingly sexy boyfriend. It was those dang _hips_. Blaine internally cursed the ND girls for making his brain even go there.

_Alright, Blaine. Pull yourself together!_

Putting on his usual hundred-watt smile, Blaine swayed to the lively beat and bobbed his head appreciatively, successfully looking like he was in to the flashmob itself and not just Kurt. But really, all that was going through his mind was _Kurt hot Kurt jeans Kurt undapper Kurt sexy Kurt_.

He only just managed to remember to clap and cheer supportively when the music faded out and the flashmob broke up. Everyone was looking upbeat and happy, and Blaine legitimately hoped that they'd at least conveyed the message to Rachel. Otherwise this would've been a completely pointless outing, and, with all the planning that had gone into it, that would kind of suck.

Blaine watched in amusement as the mob dissipated into the crowd and Kurt started to bounce his way, his cheeks flushed and his eyes bright. He was just so…adorable. And yet hot and sexy at the same time.

"WELL, that was a waste of time," Kurt said as he approached, shaking his head, slightly breathless. "But Kurt Elizabeth Hummel _never_ does things halfway, and this was no exception."

Kurt preened for a moment, obviously pleased with himself, before glancing over at Blaine, who had the dopiest of grins plastered on his face.

"Blaine...?"

And then Blaine pulled him into a fierce kiss, and their lips were moving against each other, and all Blaine could think was, _Why didn't I try this before? Maybe that flashmob was good for something after all…_

Breaking away, Blaine gently leaned his forehead against Kurt's, smiling slightly. "I agree that it was a complete waste of time. But that was the _hottest_ waste of time I've ever seen. Ever."

Kurt blushed adorably, and for a few moments they just stood together in that position, smiling.

Blaine broke the silence. "Coffee?"

"Of course."

* * *

**Because we were all totally thinking that when we watched the Flashmob.**

**So, feedback for Angela? She'll stalk the reviews so you can either say it here like normal or let her know when you all go and madly read and review her other stories ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_"Hey, Kurt, it's Wes-"_**

**_"-and David-"_**

**_"And we called to tell you that you should really answer your phone. Blaine's been moping around all day, he won't say anything and he looks like a puppy that was just kicked."_**

**_"He even saw me eating his Redvines and didn't do anything!"_**

**_"That too. So, Kurt, if you value your sanity, and Blaine's sanity, please call back. If not, we're taking David's dad's private jet up to New York, we will kidnap you in the dead of night (David: "I know lockpicking!") and we will bring you back here to see Blaine for youself. Pleasant dreams!"_**

**_*beeeeep*_**


	142. Frustration

**Sigh. Prompts are CLOSED. I hate getting annoyed but they are, guys. Those of you who already know are probably rolling their eyes and going 'we get the picture' but I'm still getting prompts every couple of days and guys, it's just irritating. I'm sorry but it is. Hopefully people will read this and realize. **

**So... uhm... I have Tumblr, as you all probably know. Last night I messaged someone on Tumblr who turned out to be a fan and got a flailing response. This isn't the first time this has happened either. So out of sheer curiosity (and to try and prove the point that I'm _not _a celebrity) I made a post saying ' like this post if you'd freak out if I messaged you/talked to you.' I got eight likes in the first five minutes and its currently sitting on 26 likes. Guys, what is this? I'm just a person...**

**Oh, and to those of you waiting on _Edge of Glory_, funny story. Angela and I had an entire day free for us to work on it today so we sat down, nailed out all the details and I set to work writing my piece which, until it's done, means Angela can't write hers. I got two paragraphs in and work called, sending me off to a different store for seven hours. Naturally when I got home, Angela was asleep and she's at school tomorrow BUT because of the time difference, I should be waking up when she's getting home so we should have a few hours tomorrow to get it all sorted out. I really really hope. I'm so sorry, guys, but I can't turn down work. But we're both dying to get this chapter written because this chapter has been in our minds since we sat down the very first time to talk about this collab. **

**From **_**Botherer 1337: After getting frustrated with all of the jokes the warblers make about Kurt and Blaine not getting together, they kiss, meaning it as a joke. Of course, it doesn't end that way...**_

**Not so much a joke... but they're certainly frustrated! **

**So I have a guilty pleasure. I **_**love **_**'Five and One' fics. So much. If they're done well, I adore them to shreds. In fact, I read one called **_**Furt Hudmel almost killed Klaine Anummel**_** and I loved it way too much for a concept I usually hate. Go read it, please! So I thought I'd start incorporating a few into prompts where I can make them work. There's two more coming up in the next few days as well, so apologies if you don't like them...**

* * *

Frustration

**Five Times Kurt And Blaine Denied The Rumors, And The One Time They Started Their Own**

**1.**

"... I just think you should consider giving the solo to somebody else."

Blaine waited for a few seconds, then sighed. He leant across the table and pushed Wes's jaw back into place. "Seriously, it's not that big an ask is it?"

Wes shook his head as if trying to work out what was going on. "This is the first time we've _ever _had a Warbler tell us he didn't _want _a solo." He narrowed his eyebrows. "What's this about, Blaine?"

"I just think it's not fair that all the other talented singers in the group don't get a chance to sing up front." Blaine shrugged. It was the truth after all, there was at least one other Warbler who he thought was due his fair share of solos. Speaking of which...

"Sorry to interrupt, guys." Kurt walked up looking apologetic and Blaine smiled reassuringly. "Blaine, we're still going for coffee this afternoon?"

"If that's still okay with you?"

Kurt nodded. "Of course. I'll meet you after our last class outside." The boy waved and turned to walk away. Blaine watched him go for a moment, then turned back to Wes who was smirking.

"You're whipped."

Blaine frowned. "We're not dating, Wes. How can I be whipped?"

Wes rolled his eyes. "You can stop pretending, Blaine. I know you're both private people but we all know -"

"No, I'm serious. Kurt and I are just friends." _As much as I might want to be more, _he added silently.

Wes just laughed. "That's what you two think. The rest of us know you're dating, we're just waiting for you two to realize." He stood, grabbing his bag. "I'll talk about solos with the rest of the council, but there will still be an audition process if we do decide to open it up. We aren't just going to give Kurt solos, no matter how much it might help you two get your acts together."

Blaine shook his head as his friend walked away. _We don't act like we're dating, do we?_

* * *

**2.**

"Same time next week?"

Kurt smiled, fiddling with the strap of his bag. "Absolutely. See you tomorrow."

Blaine gave a half-wave before turning to walk down towards his dorm room. Kurt allowed himself a moment to watch his friend - _strictly 'friend', we're just friends _- walk away before opening the door to his room, smiling.

"So."

Kurt jumped, clutching at his chest. "Jeff, don't _do _that! I thought you and Nick were going out tonight."

Jeff smirked, resting back on his elbows languidly. "We _did_. Meaning we've already been and gotten back. You and Blaine are the only ones who manage to make your dates last for _five hours_."

"We went to see a movie, that takes longer than a normal - we're not dating!"

"Uhuh." Jeff pulled himself up, heading towards the bathroom. "Suuuure you're not."

Kurt began to retort, but Jeff shut the door on him. He huffed, falling back on his bed and dropping his bag beside it. _Blaine and I aren't dating. That's something I'd know about. _When Jeff appeared back out of the bathroom a few minutes later, Kurt immediately picked back up where they had left off. "Blaine and I are not dating."

"Alright, Kurt. That's what you two think." Jeff flicked the light switch off, yawning as he made his way to his bed. "Can't wait for the day you two get your acts together though."

Kurt sighed. _Yeah... like that's going to happen. Blaine totally doesn't see me that way._

* * *

**3.**

"... so then she literally had to ask _him_ out!"

The group of boys laughed as David finished his story. Blaine shook his head, smiling slightly as he copied notes from Kurt's history book that he had missed when he was out sick last week. Kurt's back was leaning against his shoulder, his legs kicked over the edge of the couch.

"I mean, they're almost as bad as Kurt and Blaine."

Blaine paused, lifting his pen off the page and looking up. Kurt sighed wearily. "For the last time, David, we're not dating."

"Wait, they do that to you too?"

Kurt turned to look at him, nodding. "Oh, don't tell me they've been pulling this one on you as well? I mean, seriously, how far can you take a joke?"

"I know, it's like they don't have a life of their own!" Blaine put down the pen, turning fully towards Kurt. "Have they gotten on your case about us always going for coffee as well?"

"Yes! It's ridiculous isn't it?"

David groaned loudly, effectively interrupting their conversation. "Are you serious? We've given them _another _thing to bond over."

As the Warblers began to complain, Blaine shook his head and smiled at Kurt. _At least we can bond... even if it's over the fact that he'll never feel the way about me that I feel about him._

* * *

**4.**

"For our next point of business, we're wanting to incorporate duets into our usual practice performances."

Kurt grinned, clapping his hands together. "I love the sound of this," he whispered to Blaine who was also smiling.

"So, first up we want Kurt and Blaine to work on _All I Know Of Love_, and we'll go from -"

"Wait."

Blaine stood, holding up a hand. "Why _that_ song, Wes?"

Kurt suddenly realized what he was getting at and stood as well. "Yes. It is an interesting choice, care to enlighten us why we're singing in a style we've never done before, as well as incorporating duets for the first time?"

Wes coughed, suddenly looking very interested in his papers. Kurt swapped an exasperated glance with Blaine. "Look, we're happy to do duets - I presume. Sorry, are you happy with that?" Kurt nodded, ignoring the chuckling around the room and murmurs about 'old married couple already.' "So we're happy with that, just not with duets that are clearly chosen with the sole purpose of making us get together."

"You're already together," David muttered.

"Oh, would you stop it?" Kurt sighed, sitting back down. "I'm pulling out of this duet."

He ignored the fresh murmurs echoing around the room, but didn't quite ignore the way Blaine sat down next to him, putting a hand on his knee. After all, it wasn't that he didn't _want _to sing duets with Blaine, or even that he didn't want _romantic _duets. He just didn't want to delude himself into thinking that there could ever be more between himself and Blaine.

* * *

**5.**

Blaine slammed the door open, staring at his roommate angrily. "Are you serious right now?"

Thad looked up from his textbook, clearly hiding a smile. "I'm always serious, Blaine. What's wrong with that?"

"How many students? That's all I ask, how many?"

Thad pretended to count on his fingers, smirking. Blaine picked up a textbook and threw it at him. "Ow! Okay, okay. Probably about thirty myself, then I got them to spread the word."

Blaine shook his head, sitting down on his bed. "Yes, you did. I got asked probably about _fifty_ times, Thad. By people I don't even _know _mostly."

Thad began to laugh and Blaine raised another textbook threateningly. "Sorry, man. I just didn't think that would work! I wonder how many Kurt got..." Thad picked up his phone, hitting a speed dial number. "Hey man, Blaine's just stormed in - oh, he has too? Great, how many?" After a moment of silence, Thad lost it again. "That's _brilliant_!" he choked out. "Blaine only got fifty!"

"How many did Kurt get?"

Thad glanced up. "Closer to eighty."

Blaine shook his head before feeling his phone buzz.

_I assume you had the same ordeal judging by the phone call I'm pretending I can't hear David having with Thad? - Kurt_

_I did, apparently you had it worse though. I can't believe they tried to tell every student in the school to ask us whether we're dating or not! - Blaine_

_They clearly have too much time on their hands. Coffee this afternoon? - Kurt_

_I'd love to. Meet you downstairs in ten. - Blaine_

* * *

**1.**

"So, Kurt, Blaine."

Kurt sighed as he and Blaine walked through the front doors, only to be met with the smirking faces of Wes and David. "How can we help you _this _time," he muttered through gritted teeth.

"No need for the attitude." David raised his hands innocently. "We just wanted to see how tonight's date was. Did we make it to first base yet?"

"David, quit it," Blaine all but growled at the boy. "We've told you a million times already, they're _not dates_. We're _friends_." Kurt nodded his agreement. Yes, as much as he wanted to be _more _than just friends, right now they weren't and it really did get on their nerves, especially when the two boys _wouldn't stop smirking._

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Come on, guys. Will you just wake up already? Admit it to each other and yourselves, if you're not already dating then you _really _do want to be."

"And I don't know how you're _not _dating since you seem to do everything but make out. And even if you did that you'd probably manage to make it platonic." David folded his arms as Wes nodded. "Seriously, if there's a way you can convince us that you're not dating, you might want to -"

"Oh, for goodness sake!"

Kurt whirled around, grabbed Blaine and kissed him. He broke away a second later and turned back to Wes. "See, we can do that and we're n-"

Kurt froze. A second later, he turned back to Blaine who was staring at him, mouth open. And then they were closing the gap again, kissing furiously, not even caring about the two boys who were whooping and exchanging high fives. They couldn't bring themselves to care that all of the Warblers were going to give them _hell _for this, that bets had probably been made on them, that they would be the source for all teasing for the next few _months_. All that mattered was each other.

Blaine pulled away just long enough to whisper, "Why have we not been doing this _forever_?" before connecting their lips like it was oxygen. Kurt felt the same, his arms snaking around Blaine's neck to try and tug the boy closer, even if it wasn't physically possible. All of their denial about dating, and _this _was what they had been missing out on?

"If I'd known, I would have given up my pride long ago," Kurt murmured against his lips before finally pulling away. Blaine made a little murmur of disappointment as he did. "But seriously, all that stuff about being friends? You didn't want to be either?"

"I never honestly thought you felt the same. And when you were so determined that people not get the wrong idea about us -"

"Only because I didn't want _you _to think I had some ulterior motive to being your friend."

Kurt and Blaine stared at each other for a moment before both cracking up in laughter. "We're ridiculous," Kurt whispered when he had finally gotten himself under control. "We're ridiculous and naive and _blind_."

"But we have each other now." At those words, Kurt leaned down to kiss Blaine again, trying to work out how on earth they had gone this long without doing this.

A cough pulled them apart, turning to face the staircase with identical glares. "Yes, yes, we get it. You two have made your point. Leave us alone now."

Wes turned to David, smirking. "Shouldn't we regale them with our victory song first?"

Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and ran, tugging the other boy up the stairs with him to the laughter of their friends. As they reached the top, Wes called after them, "Seriously though, we're really happy to see you two together."

"Yeah, and any thank you gifts can come in the form of chocolate. I love chocolate!"

* * *

**Hands up if you want to hear Wavid's victory song! *raises both hands***

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**A group of fangirls made a poll:**_

_**Hottest thing at the mall that day:**_

_**Guys dancing: 3 votes**_

_**That tall guy: 2 votes**_

_**Mohawk guy: 4 votes**_

_**The Klaine kissing: 749 votes**_

_**The third step from the top of the staircase: 1 person (Brittany S. Pierce)**_


	143. Reason

**So by the end of this week, I'll have worked 69.25 hours for the fortnight at three different stores. My previous experiences with jobs was getting one or two four hours shifts a week. This is a bit... wow. **

**Oh, I told my Tumblr followers once I get to 250 followers, I'm going to release a spoiler post. This post will have spoilers on pretty much every story I have in progress at the moment (possibly excluding _Edge of Glory_, I'll have to talk to Angela about that) and it's just because I can't quite believe that 250 people actually _like _me spamming up their newsfeed every day. So if you don't already follow me on Tumblr, you might want to check my page over the next couple of days for that post. That is, unless you're completely spoiler opposed. In which case, stay far away ;)**

**And if you do come on my Tumblr, hit up my ask box. I love answering random questions =D**

_**(Anonymous): How about Kurt wants to leave Dalton after losing Regionals because he's so upset, but Blaine doesn't think it's time yet because of Karofsky, so he gives him a reason to stay? :)**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Reason

"I'm so sorry Kurt."

Blaine shoveled the dirt onto the grave, patting it down gently. "I know this is really upsetting for you. Reminds you of your mom's funeral, doesn't it?"

Kurt sniffed quietly. "The casket was bigger. But yes."

Blaine stood, placing the shovel down and staring down at the tiny tombstone. "It's not just that though," Kurt continued. "Honestly I'm upset that we lost at Regionals."

Blaine knew from the second it was announced that Kurt would take the loss hard, especially watching all of his friends continue on to Nationals without him. "The competition season's over, but we'll still get to perform. We do nursing home shows all the time. And do you know how many Gaps there are in Ohio? Tons." He glanced over at Kurt, hoping to lighten the mood a little. Of course nothing would beat the chance to perform in New York, but hopefully Kurt would see that it wasn't the end of the world.

"Yeah, I just really... really, wanted to win."

Kurt gently tossed the rose onto the grave, and Blaine knew he was still feeling down about it all. But Blaine couldn't bring himself to be upset, because he knew there were more important things. "You did win," he said, looking over at Kurt who glanced up with red rimmed eyes, blinking quickly. "So did I. We got each other out of all this." Kurt finally smiled, looking at him almost shyly. "That beats a lousy trophy, don't you think?" The smile grew a little more as Blaine held out a hand, which Kurt took.

But as they walked away, Blaine knew it wasn't over. He might have appeased Kurt for now, but it was going to come up again.

* * *

It ended up being later that night. Wes had called his usual post-performance meeting to congratulate everybody on a performance well done, give a little feedback and decide on their next course of action. Blaine sat by Kurt the whole time, their hands linked on the couch between them, and watched his boyfriend carefully out the corner of his eye. Kurt looked fine but Blaine was pretty sure it was for appearances sake.

As the rest of the Warblers left, Blaine remained seated. Kurt glanced at him curiously but stayed with him. When the last Warbler walked out, Blaine immediately turned to face Kurt. "So, are you okay?"

"I don't know how much longer I can stay here," Kurt blurted out. A second later, he seemed to realize what he had said, covering his mouth immediately. "I can't even take it back because it's true, but I didn't want to just _say _it like that -"

"You want to go back to McKinley." It wasn't a question. As Kurt nodded, Blaine sighed, trying to figure out how to word it as gently as possible. "Kurt, you know I'm all for you being happy, but McKinley isn't safe for you yet, not while Karofsky's still a student."

Blaine could see in Kurt's eyes that he knew the words were true, but his boyfriend clearly wasn't happy about it. "I survived there with him before, Blaine. I can do it again."

"He wasn't threatening to kill you before." Kurt flinched minutely and Blaine squeezed his hand in apology. "I'm not saying you can't stand up for yourself, but if there's a chance of him hurting you, I don't want you to take it."

Kurt sighed. "Blaine, I'm gay. That means I'll have to deal with people like Karofsky my whole life. If I can't stand up to a bully at high school, how am I meant to stand up for myself when I'm living in New York?"

"New York?"

"It's the dream." The first genuine smile crossed Kurt's face. "I've always wanted to live there. Is it really that surprising?"

Blaine shook his head. "It's just kind of where I want to go too." He allowed the moment of silent understanding to pass between them, but decided that was a subject to discuss later. "But the thing is, if someone threatens to kill you there, you call the police. You don't go _back_ to where the person is and give them the opportunity to hurt you or - or go through with their threat."

He couldn't hold back a shiver of apprehension at the thought of it, and Kurt grabbed his other hand. "Hey, don't. I'm safe, nobody's going to hurt me. Don't let yourself think about it, okay? I could think the same thing about you and it would honestly tear me to pieces. We need to focus on the positive. You and me."

Blaine couldn't help but smile at the light that shone in Kurt's eyes when he talked about their relationship, and suddenly realized something important that might very well be the heart of Kurt's problem. "You've been given a lot of reasons not to go back to McKinley, but you haven't been given a reason to stay at Dalton, have you?" He could see Kurt was hesitant to reply, and understood. "Hey, I won't be offended. I know if you did go, we could continue our relationship as it is now."

Kurt nodded. "I mean, I love seeing you ever day, and the other guys are nice and all, but it's ... it's not McKinley. It's not New Directions. And no matter how crazy they are, I miss them. And they're going to _New York_, Blaine. Ever since the start of the year, we've all been talking about going to New York together as a group. And now the opportunity is here... how can I be happy knowing they're going and I'm here?"

"I know." Blaine watched Kurt for a moment, trying to work out what to do next. All he knew was that Kurt needed a reason to stay, and he was probably the only one who give it right now. _But can I give what I really want to?_

Another glance at Kurt, and his answer was clear.

"Kurt?" Kurt hummed in reply, turning his attention from his uniform back to Blaine. "I can think of one good reason for you to stay at Dalton, at least for now."

"What's that?"

Blaine leant in, cupping Kurt's cheek gently and kissing him on the lips. It was only quick, but it said everything he needed to hear. "Because if you stay, we can do that whenever we like."

Kurt reached up to cover Blaine's hand, still resting on his face. "Well," he said, after a moment of thought, "no, I don't think I could get that at McKinley."

"You don't _think_?" Blaine teased lightly.

Kurt smirked. "Well, not until Sam comes out of the closet." His smirk widened at Blaine's raised eyebrow. "Do I detect a hint of jealousy?"

"Oh, you detect a _lot_ of jealousy," Blaine murmured, completely addicted to the sparkle in Kurt's eyes. "I think I'd better stake my claim."

_Maybe it's not just that sparkle I'm addicted to_, Blaine mused as they began to kiss again, Kurt's hand coming to rest at the back of his neck. _His lips are pretty enticing too._

* * *

**Short, I know.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**And one time Wevid accepted a challenge to turn making out platonic.**_

_***starts making out***_

_**"...don't they have girlfriends?"**_

_**"Yeah, they're coming to visit right about-"**_

_**"DAVID!"**_

_**"WES!"**_

_**"...now."**_


	144. Moments

**If you want spoilers on every single WIP I have going right now which includes oneshots you've never heard of before, go and check out my Tumblr. Link is on my profile, you'll have to scroll down a bit because I've done some more reblogging since then, but it's a massive post, you can't miss it :)**

**Posting early because I'm working a 3:30 to midnight tonight. Joy. I've also picked up extra shifts next week so I'll be a colossal zombie by Tuesday. Ugh. **

**From **_**keariel: So; what if, like, Kurt and Blaine kept having moments when they could kiss, and it would be perfect (for example, the BICO moment, or a moment in another fiction I read where they're playing twister) but they keep getting interupted? And then, at one point, Kurt gets frustrated and just...goes for it.**_

**It's a good thing I love Five and One's…**

**Just to clarify, number five happens a couple of days after **_**Blackbird **_**but before the little Warbler argument where Blaine proposes a duet. Time frames are never clear on that show and yes, I know Blaine says "Watching you do **_**Blackbird **_**this week," a few scenes later… but it's FanFiction. And if you haven't seen Deathly Hallows Part One and don't want spoilers, skip three.**

* * *

Moments

**Five Times Kurt And Blaine Missed The Opportunity, And The One Time Kurt Made It.**

**one.**

"Well, for the record, you are much better than that girl is going to be."

Kurt couldn't hide the blush that crossed his cheeks, not only at Blaine's words but at what they had just done. _Baby It's Cold Outside_ had always been a secret romantic thrill of Kurt's, and singing it as a duet with someone was like a dream come true. Add in the fact that said someone was his attractive, wonderful, near-perfect and very _gay_ friend... well, Kurt could die happy.

Blaine looked as if he was about to get up, then paused. "Kurt," he said quietly, and something had changed in his voice.

Kurt tried to get his vocal chords working, failed. So he simply nodded, staring into Blaine's eyes which had also changed. They were almost _glowing _with something new that Kurt had never seen before, as if Blaine had just come to a very sudden and very important realization. And with the way Blaine was staring at _him_, Kurt knew it was to do with him.

_Could he...?_

And then it was like a dream. Because Blaine was oh-so-slowly leaning in, closing the gap between them and his lips were so close that Kurt could almost -

The doorknob turned and Blaine shot back as if he had been scalded. _And this is the part of the dream where the alarm clock rings to tell you that you have to go to school_, he realized mournfully as Blaine stood, mumbling something under his breath before grabbing his music player and all but running out of the room. Kurt sighed and turned to see who had caused the interruption to what would have been a _perfect_ moment. "Mr Schuester!"

As he stood to greet his old Glee teacher, Kurt couldn't bring himself to be angry at the man. Besides, he and Blaine had almost _kissed_. Surely they would talk about it later?

"Someone special?" Will jerked his head towards the closed door, smiling playfully. Kurt stared at the now-closed door mournfully. _Nearly, until you arrived..._

"No, just a friend."

* * *

**two.**

"I can't believe how many editions you have!"

Blaine was standing in front of his bookcase in awe, fingers running lightly across the many volumes of _Vogue_. Kurt smiled proudly from his spot on the edge of his bed. "I've been a collector for a long time."

Blaine shot him an appreciative glance over his shoulder, making Kurt rather glad he was sitting down. "I mean, there's some here from before we were _born_. How did you get these?"

"They belonged to my mom."

The hand that had been ghosting across the older volumes suddenly dropped, and then Blaine was crossing the room to sit next to him. "I'm sorry," he murmured quietly. "I mean, sometimes I forget and - oh, wow, that sounded _really _insensitive -"

"It's fine," Kurt cut him off quickly. "I know I don't talk about her much." And it was true - the only time Kurt's mom had really come up in conversation was when Blaine had mistakenly referred to Carole as Kurt's mom and Kurt had quickly set him straight.

"Can - can I ask why? Why you don't talk about her much?" he added quickly.

Kurt nodded absently, trying to find the words. "It's not like I don't miss her. It's just - well, she's always going to be a part of me anyway. And nobody else really knew her, so it's not like I have memories to share with them about her. Plus, I don't like the pity."

Blaine was watching him, wearing what Kurt liked to call his 'mentor face.' "Did you get a lot of that at McKinley?"

"Not all the time. The kids who didn't know me as gay knew me as 'that kid with the dead mom,' but that really wasn't the issue. It was when her anniversary came around and everybody thought I needed to _talk _about my feelings.." Kurt trailed off, remembering the last anniversary where Mercedes and the other girls had practically pulled him out of class, thinking he needed to be comforted. "Yes, I get sad on that day, but I don't need mollycoddling."

Blaine nodded, and Kurt knew he wasn't pretending to understand the feeling behind Kurt's words, simply understanding where Kurt was coming from. "When is her anniversary?"

"In a couple of months." Kurt paused. "I - I'll let you know. If you like."

And that in itself was a huge deal. To everybody else, Kurt went around pretending that his mom's anniversary pretty much didn't exist, and he knew they saw it that way. To let someone else in on that day and acknowledge how he was feeling... well, Kurt knew he could only really trust one person like that, and that was Blaine.

Blaine seemed to understand the significance. "I'd like that," he murmured quietly, reaching out to take Kurt's hand. "I kind of want to ask if you have any photos of her, but I don't think I need to see one. You've got this - this beauty about you that I think could only really come from her."

Kurt's breath caught in his throat. The words were beautiful, but it was the first time someone other than his dad had compared him to his mom. Finally, someone else saw the remnant of her that was left on this earth.

And that Blaine was the one to see that beauty in him just made Kurt fall more in love.

Their proximity suddenly became apparent. Somehow during their conversation they had moved closer, their knees touching. Blaine's face was a lot closer than Kurt could remember it being earlier, and that was when Kurt realized with a jolt that his head was moving _closer_...

_It's actually going to happen this time!_

"Kurt!"

The sound of footsteps could be heard and once again, Blaine was pulling away as fast as he could. A second later, Finn's head poked around the door. "Time for dinner, Carole wants you both to come down."

Blaine was immediately moving towards Finn, talking about something to do with football. As Kurt followed them down, he couldn't help but sigh. _Maybe it's not meant to be..._

* * *

**three.**

"I can't believe you never told me you were a Harry Potter fan!"

Kurt laughed and Mercedes snorted from the back seat. "Kurt's the one that got me hooked - he wouldn't shut up about these books and was _scandalized _when he found out I hadn't read them." Leaning forward, Kurt heard her whisper in Blaine's ear, "Don't tell him, but I still haven't read them."

"What?" Kurt resisted the urge to turn around and glare at the girl. "You told me you had!"

David chuckled. "She just watched the movies and asked me questions. Why do you think I'm being dragged along?" Kurt caught Blaine's eye and received a knowing look in response - of course neither of them believed that story but were just patiently waiting for Mercedes to admit her crush and David to realize he could do much better than Melanie and that the long distance thing wouldn't matter at all. Of course Kurt knew he was a bit of a hypocrite considering he _still _hadn't talked about whatever was going on with himself and Blaine, but that was a topic for another time. Right now they had the midnight screening of Harry Potter to look forward to.

Pulling into the parking lot, Kurt raised an eyebrow at the teenagers walking past in costume, hoping Blaine wouldn't notice. But of course he did, an elbow to Kurt's ribs a second later making that clear. "You told me I'd stand out if I dressed up!"

"Same!" David frowned at him, then turned to Blaine. "Who would you have been?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and quickly left the car, taking Mercedes's arm and dragging her on ahead as the two boys eagerly began talking costumes. "Are you sure this was a good idea?" Mercedes whispered to him before they swapped a fond smile. Of course they both knew that neither of them would change their boys for anything, even if neither of them were technically _theirs _yet.

They had pre-booked so David and Blaine volunteered to get the candy while Kurt and Mercedes went and got their seats. Kurt was slightly hesitant about that, knowing Blaine would probably try to get him to eat popcorn covered in grease, but was pleasantly surprised and a little touched when the two appeared with Blaine carrying a bag of gummy bears - Kurt's guilty pleasure when it came to confectionary. "Thank you," he whispered over the sound of the previews, his fingers brushing lightly against Blaine's as he sat down and handed it over.

"You're welcome," Blaine murmured back. On Kurt's other side, Mercedes was accepting popcorn from David, smiling almost shyly and Kurt couldn't get over how perfect it was. No, it wasn't a date, but Kurt could easily see this same scenario happening someday with the four of them being two couples instead. He was so distracted by this thought that he almost missed the start of the movie.

It didn't take long until Kurt found himself beginning to tear up. Of course it was irrational to cry over an owl, but Hedwig was gorgeous and had been there ever since the first movie. He tried to keep anybody from noticing but Blaine seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to Kurt and crying and looked over at him immediately. "You okay?" Kurt nodded and then Blaine's hand was resting on his arm, squeezing gently, and Kurt had to hide a smile. _Maybe my crying thing won't be such an issue after all._

By the time Dobby had rescued everybody from the manor, Kurt was tense with anticipation and Blaine's arm was around his shoulders. And when Harry saw the knife sticking out of Dobby, Kurt couldn't bear to watch anymore and ducked his head. The next thing he knew, Blaine was tugging him in closer, allowing Kurt to bury his head in his shoulder with one eye peeking out to see what happened. He could hear the sound of sniffing in the theatre and knew he wasn't the only one crying - and, come to think of it, Blaine's grip was a little bit shaky…

Pulling back, Kurt lifted his head to see Blaine's eyes looking slightly damp with a tear threatening to escape. Before he thought about it, Kurt reached out to wipe it away, his thumb lingering for a few seconds longer than normal. As he moved his hand away, Blaine caught it and Kurt felt his breath hitch. Even in the darkness of the theatre he could see the way Blaine was staring at him, his gaze somehow soft and fierce at the same time. And this time Kurt found that he was the one moving in, searching Blaine's eyes to be sure this was what he wanted and not finding any hints of uncertainty. _I'm going to do it this time._

"Kurt?"

_Oh for the love of Gucci!_

Sighing, Kurt turned to Mercedes who was tugging on his arm, gesturing down to where David was leaning against her shoulder, clearly upset about the movie as well. _What do I do_? she mouthed to him frantically, one arm hesitantly wrapped around his back. Kurt mimed stroking his arm and after a second of apprehension, Mercedes copied the gesture, David leaning into it gratefully. Kurt gave Mercedes a teasing glance before turning back to Blaine who was… _watching the movie? _Yes, Blaine was fully engrossed again, their hands still linked together but clearly not Blaine's priority anymore.

Suppressing a sigh, Kurt turned back and resumed watching the movie. But if he had been able to see Blaine properly, he would have noticed the way he was biting his lip and the slightly glazed look in his eyes that meant he was miles away.

* * *

**four.**

"_I love you,"_

Kurt glanced across at Mercedes for a moment before turning to the rest of the Warblers and suddenly realizing that Blaine was staring right at him. _What?_

And then they were dispersing through the restaurant, as planned. Kurt watched out the corner of his eye as Blaine sang to an unimpressed Santana and couldn't hide a smile, but his mind was still completely focused on what he thought he had seen earlier.

After everything they had gone through recently with the whole Jeremiah thing, Kurt had begun to realize just how much of a teenage boy Blaine really was. For a while there, Kurt had been almost worried that Blaine _was _perfect, and Kurt would never be enough for him. But now he realized that Blaine had no idea what he was doing, except when he was singing. His songs were his mask. And instead of turning Kurt away from Blaine, that just made him love him even more.

So, if Blaine had been madly in love with Jeremiah just a few days ago, why did he just sing his love to Kurt? Kurt shrugged it off as he joined formation again, deciding he had probably just imagined it.

"_Love isn't silly at all, no not at all!"_

And there it was again! There was no denying it this time, Kurt decided. That time, Blaine had _definitely _been singing it to Kurt.

_So what does it mean?_

Making his way across the restaurant, Kurt leaned across the booth to sing to Rachel and Mercedes. As he received a hug from Rachel, he noticed Santana wrapping her arms around Wes and winced, hoping nothing came of it. Wes was a nice guy and probably wouldn't quite be able to handle Santana's advances.

"_I love you_,"

Kurt mouthed the words to the girls, making a heart with his hands as he joined the rest of the Warblers on the stage. And he really did love them, no matter how annoying Rachel could get. They were in the same boat as him, and they deserved their happiness, no matter whether they were single or not.

As they finished the song, the restaurant broke into applause and Kurt smiled. _At least we did something good today, _he told himself. He was so sick of Valentines Day being all about people in love - Valentines Day was just about love itself, and right now there was plenty of that spreading around the room.

The Warblers held their pose for a few seconds before breaking into their usual group hug. As they did, Blaine turned to Kurt, nodding to him. It was clear that Blaine thought they had done a good job as well. And then the group all pulled together, and suddenly Blaine was right in front of him.

"Best performance ever, I think," he said quietly.

Kurt swallowed the nervous lump in his throat. "Yes, you sang very well."

Blaine shook his head. "No, not the singing, what it stood for." He paused for a second. "_Love_."

And that _look _was back in Blaine's eyes, stronger than ever. It only took a second for Kurt to realize something very important; when Blaine had sung to Jeremiah, he hadn't looked at him like that. Not once.

Kurt took another step forward, scarcely daring to breathe. _This time? Could it be -_

And then Wes's arms were around his neck. "Kurt, very important question. Who is the girl who leeched me mid-performance?"

Suppressing a sigh, Kurt turned to his friend. "Santana. Don't do it, she's bad news." He turned back immediately, only to see Blaine in conversation with Nick about something. And once again, Kurt was left not knowing what to think.

Letting the sigh out slowly, Kurt left the group and made his way over to Rachel and Mercedes. At least he knew they would understand.

* * *

**five.**

Kurt shook his head as Blaine held the door open for him but stepped through anyway, secretly flattered. It was just one of their usual coffee 'not-dates', but Kurt relished every one. It was an opportunity to be alone with Blaine after all, and this one was especially important because Blaine was going home for his sister's wedding, which meant Kurt wouldn't see him for a few days. Not that Kurt would ever admit how much he was going to miss Blaine, of course. Because they were just friends, and friends didn't do that sort of stuff.

Kurt's mind helpfully tried to bring up the previous occasions where it had seemed like he and Blaine _were _more than just friends, which he pushed away. Just because Blaine was the flirty type didn't mean that there was more going on there. After all, he and Blaine had never discussed any of the events after they had happened, which made it clear to Kurt that he had just been imagining it. After all, if Blaine wanted to kiss him, he would have done so by now. _Right?_

"Well, I guess I'll see you on Friday." Blaine stopped by Kurt's car and Kurt pulled himself out of thought, nodding.

"Yeah. Have fun with your family."

Blaine pulled a face. "Wouldn't count on that. I might be texting you incessantly for some sanity."

Kurt laughed. "Feel free. Dalton's going to be nothing without you." A second later he realized what he had said and, to his horror, felt the blush spreading across his cheeks. "I mean -"

"I know what you mean." Blaine's voice was quiet. "I - I'll miss you."

_Really? _"I'll miss you too," Kurt all but whispered.

Blaine was staring at him with the look that Kurt was so familiar with - the look that had been on his face ever since Kurt had sung _Blackbird _the other day - but this time he seemed to be asking a question as well. Swallowing hard, Kurt nodded, hoping the message had gotten through.

Apparently it had. Blaine leant in, taking one of Kurt's hands as their heads moved closer together, almost in slow motion. And this time it _had _to happen, they had waited for _so _long...

"Excuse me? Sir!"

Kurt _growled_ as he pulled away, turning to see the barista jogging over. "You left your change," she said breathlessly, handing over a few dollars to Blaine before heading back inside. Kurt watched her go, shaking his head, before turning back with the intention to pick up right where they had left off.

Except Blaine clearly didn't have the same idea, his keys already out of his pocket. "I - we'll talk about ... _this_ when I get back, okay?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, but reluctantly agreed that was probably for the best. Waving Blaine off, Kurt slumped back against his car and let out that familiar sigh. _This is never going to happen..._

And then he realized. _I need to stop waiting. I have to make it happen._

* * *

**one.**

Kurt had prepared himself for this moment - in fact, he had been preparing himself for the last ten minutes ever since he had seen Blaine's car pull into the student parking lot. But seeing Blaine standing in the doorway, a piece of paper in hand, made Kurt's heart beat way too fast for his own good. Blaine raised an eyebrow at him then glanced down at the piece of paper. "_Come to the choir room as soon as possible," _he read out before looking back up at Kurt and smiling. "I'm here."

"You are," Kurt agreed then subtly kicked himself. "Come sit down." Blaine crossed the room and took the seat on the couch next to him. "So, did you have a good time? How was the wedding?"

"It was great, she looked really happy." Blaine placed the note on the arm of the chair - gently, Kurt realized, as if he didn't want to do anything to ruin it - before turning to face him fully. "How was your week here?"

Kurt attempted to smile and hoped it didn't look too pained. "You know what Dalton's like. Worked, sang… thought." Blaine simply raised an eyebrow in response. "Do you know what I thought about, Blaine?"

"I'm assuming since you called me down here, it was something to do with me." Blaine steepled his fingers together in what Kurt knew was a nervous habit. "Probably something to do with what happened at the coffee shop last week."

Kurt nodded. "It is. And since you said we would talk about it, I've been thinking a lot about it. I guess the thing I really need to know is… um." Kurt sighed. "Do you still want to do _that_?"

"Yes," Blaine said immediately before blushing a dark red as Kurt stared at him in wonder. "I mean… no, that's what I meant. Yes, I do."

"Why?" Kurt found himself asking. Obviously he knew _why_, but he needed to hear it from Blaine for it to be true in his mind. Right now he was just in an elaborately created dream.

Blaine chuckled low in his throat. "Because I like you, Kurt, and I spent most of my week away thinking that I should have just kissed you then while I had the chance and worrying that I'd come back and I'd have run out of time…" Blaine's face suddenly changed. "Oh, I just assumed - do you still want to? And did you want to in the first place?"

"Yes," Kurt said softly and, with a boldness he usually didn't attribute to himself, reached out to take Blaine's hands. "And yes. Absolutely." And there was that _look _again, and this time Kurt knew it was going to happen. Licking his lips in apprehension, he saw Blaine's glance drop and his eyes widen slightly. "So, I think you should do it," he finished, waiting for Blaine's eyes to meet his again.

Blaine nodded and began to lean in, Kurt closing his eyes in preparation, waiting, feeling Blaine getting closer, his breath against his lips, _so _close…

"… pretty sure I left it on the table."

And then Blaine was gone. Kurt opened his eyes to see him sitting back, glancing towards the door. The sound of a few pairs of feet could be heard and Wes was still talking to whoever he was with, clearly headed in the direction of the room. And with that, Kurt resigned himself to the fact that they were going to be interrupted yet _again_ and it wasn't going to happen this time…

_You need to make the opportunity._

"No," Kurt murmured. "Not this time. No more interruptions."

Grabbing Blaine's face in his hands, he pulled him back in and kissed him just as the footsteps stopped in the doorway. Kurt was only going to make it quick, completely aware that there were about three sets of eyes on them, but as soon as Blaine began to kiss him back he couldn't think to stop. It was worth the waiting, the persistence, the wondering whether he had just made it all up… all of that finally came together and ceased to matter. What mattered was that he was _finally _kissing Blaine.

A loud cough from the door broke Kurt out of his haze and he sighed before gently pushing Blaine away. "What?" he called irritably without looking up.

"Just… ah, don't mind us. Just getting some sheet music."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You could have done that while we were kissing, you know?"

Nick laughed. "Very true, you probably wouldn't have noticed. But Jeff and I wanted to express our strongest emotions on this venture."

Frowning at Blaine, Kurt turned to face the three boys. Wes was edging along to the table as if he couldn't break eye contact with them, but Nick and Jeff were standing in the doorway, their faces impassive. "What do you mean?" he asked, suddenly hesitant. _Do they not approve of us being together or something?_

"All we can say is _about freaking time_."

With that the three boys quickly left, Wes shooting them a slightly nervous smile as he did. Kurt couldn't help but laugh quietly before turning back to Blaine who looked confused. "They're right, you know," he explained. "It did take us a _long _time to get that kiss."

"It did," Blaine agreed, finally looking completely at ease. "But we got there in the end and that's what matters. We got each other out of all of this."

And then Blaine leant in to kiss him for their first uninterrupted kiss. Finally.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Blaine... I want to go back to McKinley..."**_

_**"What? But- but I won't be there with you! And Karofksy! And I'll have to go days without kissing you!"**_

_**"I have to-"**_

_**"Is this about standing up for yourself? Kurt, I-"**_

_**"No. They started selling Revines in the cafeteria."**_


	145. Mono

_**Broken Gold: The mono virus comes to Dalton. Kurt gets it completely innocently (ex. Sharing a water bottle) Mysteriously enough Blaine has Mono the next day. Wonder how that happened?**_

**I've decided that instead of singing to Jeremiah, Blaine actually was deciding to sing to Kurt and they got together then. So... yeah :)**

* * *

Mono

"Mono, Finn? How on earth did you get mono?"

Jeff looked up as Kurt shook his head. "Well, just chucking it out there, you did kiss every girl in the school..." Kurt raised an eyebrow as Finn said something. "It's not like an STD, Finn, they don't legally have to tell you that they have it before they kiss you." Blaine began to laugh and Kurt gave him a warning glare, the beginnings of a smile forming. "Okay, well just rest. That's all you can do. And no, I'm not coming over to take care of you so don't even ask. I pride myself on not getting sick."

There was another minute of conversation about members of New Directions that Jeff had no idea about before Kurt hung up, tossing the phone next to him dramatically. "You caught all that, did you?" he asked, turning to Blaine.

"Yeah." Blaine closed his textbook and sat up, still smirking. "Who gave it to him?"

"He says he doesn't know, but I can almost guarantee it was just someone he wasn't meant to be kissing." Kurt shrugged. "Anyway, sounds like mono's going around so you guys had better be careful."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, Jeff mirroring the action. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, not like that," Kurt amended hurriedly. "I would have said we all need to be careful, but I don't. I never get sick."

"Never?" Jeff asked with interest. "Like, you never get a cold or anything?"

Kurt shook his head proudly. "Not for years. I take very good care of myself."

Jeff smirked as Blaine and Kurt launched into conversation about various ailments and illnesses. _Better be careful, Hummel. Statements like that __always__ come back to bite you._

* * *

In fact, it managed to come back to bite Kurt only three days later.

The mono epidemic had certainly hit Dalton. And for an all-boys school that was certainly _not _gay, thank you very much - even though Jeff himself was and wasn't exactly offended by statements that said they were - the disease travelled fast. Half of the Warblers had been knocked out of commission, but thankfully neither Jeff or Nick had gotten it yet. Not being able to kiss Nick for a few days would suck.

And, of course, Kurt continued to boast about his perfect track record. Blaine was unscathed so far as well which was good. They may have lost half of their harmony, but at least they had their lead soloist to get them through Warbler practices.

But it all changed the morning that Jeff woke to the sound of miserable whimpering across the room. Struggling to sit up, he rubbed at his eyes. "Kurt?" he muttered blearily. "That you?"

"Mm."

Jeff frowned, glancing over at his roommate. Kurt was curled into a ball, looking feverish. There were dark bags under his eyes and he had one hand to his neck. It was obvious what was going on. "Kurt, I think you've got mono."

"I - no that's impossible," Kurt croaked out. Jeff winced just listening to him. "I haven't kissed anybody.."

Jeff shook his head, standing up and walking over to the bathroom. "You know you don't have to kiss people to get it, right? It's just a myth." He filled a glass with water and grabbed some painkillers as well as the thermometer. For someone who never got sick, Kurt sure liked to be prepared. "It comes from the exchange of saliva. Have you shared a drink with someone lately?"

"Blaine, but he doesn't have it." Kurt pulled himself into a sitting position and took the painkillers as Jeff held the thermometer to his forehead. "Oh, wait. I stole Ethan's diet Coke because he didn't want any more of it... does Ethan -?"

"He does." Jeff pulled the thermometer away. "102.4. Yep, I'd say it's mono."

Kurt groaned, draining the glass of water. Jeff quickly went back to the bathroom to refill it. "But I never get sick," he whined, curling back into a ball and wrapping the blankets around himself tightly. "It's not fair."

Jeff frowned sympathetically down at the huddle. "Want me to bring you anything? Food?"

Kurt pulled a face. "Not hungry. I -" a yawn interrupted him and Jeff chuckled.

"You're just tired," he finished. "That's alright, I'll just get ready to go and be out of your way. I'll let the Warblers know that you're out of action."

Kurt looked at him, panicked. "But - but I can't miss rehearsal!"

"Wes ordered anybody who gets mono to stay away. You'd be doing him a favor, I promise." Jeff was already grabbing his uniform and getting changed for the day. "Apart from your toothbrush and water bottles, is there anything I need to stay away from to make sure I don't get it?" Kurt shrugged and Jeff frowned. "No offense, but I might sleep on Nick and Blaine's floor tonight. I just don't want to run the risk."

"I understand." Apparently Kurt was sick of hurting his voice every time he spoke, because he buried his head in his pillows and looked like he was attempting to go back to sleep. Jeff chucked a change of clothes into his school bag and grabbed his laptop before leaving the room quietly and heading down to breakfast.

"Kurt has mono," he announced, sliding into his seat and turning to kiss Nick good morning. "I think I'll need to sleep on your floor tonight."

Nick nodded, looking sympathetic. Blaine looked like Jeff had told him Kurt was on fire. "He's got _mono_? Is he alright? How did he get it?"

"Yes, as well as he can be, and from Ethan." Now Kurt was on fire and having a heated affair with Ethan, if Blaine's face was anything to judge by. "Relax, he still loves you. He stole Ethan's drink."

Blaine relaxed. "Okay... yeah, good."

Nick shook his head. "Did you seriously think Kurt would cheat on you with straight-as-a-flagpole _Ethan_? Or at all," he added hastily.

"No, of course not." Blaine looked slightly ashamed. "That was stupid, I know. Don't tell Kurt, please. I think I'll go check in on him - did he need anything?"

"He said he didn't, but I'm pretty sure his throat was on fire."

Blaine stood, grabbing his bag. "I'm on it. See you guys later."

Jeff watched Blaine walk away in the direction of the front doors before turning back to Nick. "There's no way he's going to class today, is he?"

"Yeah right." Nick smirked. "Come on, if you had mono I'd spend the whole day with you."

"Don't jinx it, babe," Jeff warned. "I have been sharing a room with Kurt."

True enough, by the time Warbler rehearsal rolled around, Blaine was nowhere to be found. Jeff explained to Wes that Kurt had mono, and Blaine's absence was simply taken for granted under the circumstances. So without their lead soloist, countertenor or... well, very many Warblers at all, Wes had no choice but to call off the meeting, especially since he was the only Council member still standing.

After making the most of his uninterrupted quality time with his boyfriend, Jeff thought it was probably a good idea to check in on the two boys. So, against his better judgement, he went back up to his room and quietly cracked open the door before gesturing for Nick to come and take a look.

Kurt and Blaine were both fast asleep, curled up together in Kurt's bed. Blaine had clearly bought out half the store to make Kurt feel better, and _West Side Story _was quietly playing on the TV in the corner of the room. "Isn't that adorable?" he whispered to Nick, smiling at the scene in front of him.

"Ten bucks on Blaine getting mono tomorrow?"

Jeff shut the door and turned back to Nick. "They haven't kissed yet though, Kurt told me. I don't think Blaine would make their first kiss while Kurt's sick. And unless Blaine's been a complete idiot and shared a drink with him or something, I don't see it happening any other way."

"Ah but you, my dear, have clearly not thought about therapeutic kissing." Jeff snorted and Nick gave him an indignant look before continuing. "If Kurt's really feeling like crap, there's only a few things that Blaine can do to take his mind off of it."

Jeff shrugged, holding out a hand for Nick to shake. "Ten bucks it is. We'll check in on them tomorrow, but right now there's an empty room with our names on it."

Nick's smile was positively wicked as he began to drag his boyfriend towards his room.

* * *

"Kurt? Blaine?"

Jeff opened the door quietly to see Kurt sitting up, looking at him. "Hey, you feeling better?"

"A little," Kurt whispered, his voice still scratchy. "I think I could probably do class today if I forced myself... but I don't want to risk it. And besides," he added as the bundle of blankets next to him moved, groaning slightly, "I have my own patient to take care of."

The covers were pulled back and Blaine appeared momentarily, looking miserable. "I can't believe you gave me mono."

"Keep on saying it, babe, you'll eventually wear your voice out." Kurt patted his head fondly before turning to Jeff. "So I - what?"

Jeff knew his jaw had dropped. "You ... you gave him mono?" Kurt rolled his eyes in response. "You kissed!"

"Oh." Kurt blushed violently. "Crap, I told you we hadn't yet..." Jeff watched as Kurt tried to think of another excuse. "Okay, yes, he kissed me. And I know, it's a strange time to do it but I was just feeling miserable and I know it's not romantic at all -"

"Keep on complaining, _babe_, I'll never do it again," Blaine muttered from under the covers.

Jeff stifled a laugh as Kurt's jaw dropped. "Well, I might just leave you two to it," he said, winking at Kurt. "Oh, and if you get the urge to make _him _feel better... try just hugging instead. You really don't want to give yourself mono again."

As he left the room and headed back down the hall, his smile suddenly faded.

_Damn. I owe Nick ten bucks now._

* * *

**So this was my first prompt where we don't actually see the kiss. I've written chapters where we don't see them kiss before, but nobody's ever requested it before :)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**...And as Kurt later recounted his tale, Mercedes decided it would be a good time to kick some white boii butt.**_

_**"...who are you?"**_

_**"Thats not important. Listen all of you Garglers, if I hear you interrupt my boy getting mack on, I will bring the rest of New Directions with me to kick butt. We're all over protective of Kurt, Santanna has razor blades, Puck and the rest of the guys have muscle... And rest of us girls have our ways."**_

_**Which is why Jeff and Nick woke up to find their dorms completely bare, not even furniture in it. But thy didn't know that till later, because they had somehow moved to the Seniors Commons.**_


	146. Numbers

**I keep forgetting to authors note! Sorry about that. Last night was a bit rough and I don't know what I would've said anyway. There's some weird stuff going on in my life at the moment so... yeah. **

**I'm currently being stalked. At first it was nice because there was a cute guy paying attention to me and giving me his number and wanting to meet up for coffee and all that... and then I realized just what extent it was going to. He shows up at my work when I'm there alone just to talk to me and has come far more times than I realized. It's putting me a little on edge and I don't know what I'll do if it continues like this or gets worse. **

**From **_**ShadowStar556: In a lot of stories, yours also, girls give Blaine their phone #s. **__**Kurt MUST get annoyed about that. So one day he just can't take it anymore and **__**kisses Blaine right in front of the girl. (Maybe leaving her staring with wide **__**eyes and running away?)**_

**Another Five and One =D I got a nice little string of stories there that all worked for this type of story. I had trouble with thinking of the five things though, so I enlisted some of you guys to help me. So thank you heaps to **_**issybird **_**(via Tumblr) for #3, **_**myriahjustbeingmyself **_**(via Tumblr) for #4 and **_**RoeyMcG **_**(via Twitter) for #5**

**So, without further ado...**

* * *

Numbers

**Five Times Kurt Hummel Watched Girls Flirt With Blaine Anderson, And The One Time He Did It Himself.**

**I. **

"So I still think green's a great colour on you."

Blaine shook his head, shifting the shopping bags from one arm to another. "I've never liked green. Plus, I wear my uniform most of the time, why do I need new clothes?"

Kurt sighed dramatically, crossing his arms. Somehow he had managed to con Blaine into carrying his bags for him ("I just need to tie up my shoe, hold these." Honestly, he was wearing _boots_). "You're not in uniform right now, are you?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, glancing down at Blaine's attire which ... well, needed a bit of work if he was perfectly honest. But now that Blaine _had _new clothes, Kurt was going to make sure they were worn, and worn _properly. _Even if he had to lay out his friend's clothes every day.

"If I didn't have to come clothes shopping, I probably would be." Blaine smirked as Kurt struggled to find a response and came up with nothing. "So, coffee?"

He nudged Kurt with the bags, sighing dramatically. Kurt rolled his eyes but took a couple of the bags from Blaine. "Coffee sounds great." They headed down to the nearest Starbucks and Kurt grabbed a table, dropping the bags at his feet while Blaine went to order. They knew each other well enough to order coffee for one another when circumstances dictated. And now was certainly necessary - Kurt's feet were _tired. _

He watched his friend as he stood at the counter, waiting for their drinks. It wasn't the first time Kurt had caught himself staring at Blaine, and he knew full well what it meant. After his past experiences with falling for straight guys who turn out to become step-brothers (and honestly, what had he _thought _was going to happen if he convinced his dad and his _crush's _mom to get together?), Kurt knew that the chances of him crushing on the first gay guy he discovered were high. He just didn't realize how quickly those feelings would grow - long past 'oh look, someone else who likes to stare at guys', and into true feelings. Blaine was like something out of Kurt's dreams, and some days he found himself wondering when exactly he was going to wake up. Because, honestly, what were the chances of finding a dapper, charming, friendly, talented, _gay _guy in _Ohio? _And one who wanted to spend time with him, Kurt Hummel?

But Blaine was real, was his friend and was ... coming back to the table. Kurt hurriedly averted his eyes, pulling out his phone to check if he had gotten any messages.

"Well, that was weird."

Kurt looked up as a coffee was placed in front of him to see Blaine with a strange look on his face. "What was?" he asked as he stirred his drink.

Blaine sat down, holding out a piece of paper. "The girl gave me her number."

Kurt snorted, taking the piece of paper. Sure enough, the name _Courtney _was written in flowing script, followed by a number and ... a _love heart? _

"Well, isn't that sweet?" He slid the piece of paper back, smirking. "You'd better call her, she might be nice."

Blaine shook his head, still looking at the piece of paper. "I like my dates male, thank you. But that's strange... I've never had that happen before."

As Blaine continued to stare at the piece of paper, Kurt felt a stab of jealousy before he could help it. _What was that for? Seriously, he's gay and you both know that._

But all Kurt wanted to do was reach over and rip up the number.

* * *

**II.**

Kurt stepped back from the window, turning towards his roommate who was fixing his hair in the mirror. "So, what's the deal?"

"It's girlfriend day," Wes explained, putting down his comb. "Technically it's just our sister school's visiting day, but so many of us have girlfriends there that we take the chance to spend time with them. How do I look?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "What is the socially acceptable answer when a straight guy asks his gay friend that question?"

"You can tell me I look hot. Assuming I do."

Kurt coughed, then laughed when Wes pouted. "You do. Jessica's going to love you."

Wes's phone began to ring and he picked it up, mouthing a quick _thanks _in Kurt's direction as he left the room. Alone, Kurt sighed and turned back to the window, watching the various girls milling around. He had very little desire to strike up a conversation with any of them, but sitting alone in his room all day wasn't at all appealing.

A familiar face caught his eye and Kurt saw Blaine walking with David through the crowds, both dressed casually. A moment later, David broke away, walking over to his girlfriend and leaving Blaine standing on his own, looking awkward.

Turning away from the window, Kurt grabbed his jacket and pulled it on as he headed out the door. Of course Blaine wouldn't be spending the day with a girlfriend, so the two could easily hang out together. He hadn't had much of a chance to spend time with Blaine, between Warbler rehearsals, school and Kurt keeping in touch with his New Directions friends. But now here was a day where everybody else was preoccupied.

As he stepped out the front door, Kurt stopped and frowned. In the time it had taken him to get downstairs, one of the Crawford girls had intercepted Blaine and started up a conversation with him. She was facing Kurt's direction, and he could see the way she was standing with one hand on her hip and flicking her hair back. _Is she... flirting with Blaine?_

Kurt drew closer, staring idly off in another direction as he listened to their conversation.

".. haven't got a girlfriend here?"

Blaine chuckled. "No, I'm not dating anybody right now."

"Well, I think I could fix that."

Kurt sneaked a glance and saw the girl digging around in her bag, before pulling out a pen and piece of paper. "Take this," she said, scribbling something down before handing it to Blaine. "Call me if you want to take me up on that offer, alright?"

With that, the girl turned and sauntered away, catching up with a couple of friends a moment later. Kurt watched Blaine stare down at the piece of paper for a moment before looking up, watching the girl leave. A few seconds passed, and Blaine was still looking in the girls direction.

Kurt's frown grew deeper. _Why is Blaine watching her like he actually wants to ... no. No. He's __gay__._

Kurt took a few steps forward, plastering a smile on his face and stopping by Blaine's side. "Hey there. Admiring the girls?" he teased, feeling relieved when Blaine turned to him with a smirk on his face.

"Oh, of course. No, I just had one give me her number."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. "Again?"

Blaine shrugged. "I'm not sure what's going on." He glanced at the piece of paper for another moment before folding it and sticking it in his pocket. "Anyway, have you come to rescue me from the hoards of girls wanting a boyfriend?"

"Absolutely." Kurt laughed, but to his ears it sounded fake. "Want to go watch _RENT _again?"

Blaine nodded, grinning happily as they turned to walk away. But Kurt's attention was focused on the piece of paper, still sitting in Blaine's pocket. _Why did he keep it?_

* * *

**III.**

"Are you sure this is safe?"

Kurt nodded absently, peering down the hall. "The jocks all have practice this afternoon, or they'll be in the gym. Oh, there's Mercedes!" He took off down the hall, grabbing Blaine's hand to make sure he didn't get left behind. Or at least that was the reason he would give if anybody asked him later. "Mercedes!"

Releasing Blaine's hand, Kurt hugged the girl who was laughing. "Good to see you again, Kurt! Hi, Blaine."

"I still don't like the idea of the competition being in our halls. What if he sneaks into the choir room or Mr. Schuester's office and steals our notes?"

Kurt sighed. "Rachel, stop treating Blaine like the enemy. I'm your competition too, remember?" He turned to Blaine who was looking uncomfortable. "You're completely allowed to ignore her. The rest of us do." The other girls laughed and Blaine cracked a smile while Rachel just looked put out. "So, are we going to see the other girls?"

Tina nodded. "Quinn said she'd murder me if we didn't bring you down to say hi, I sort of believe her too." Kurt snickered. "They're at Cheerios practice."

"Oh great, I'll have to face up to Coach Sylvester and she'll want to know why I haven't returned my uniform."

The girls led the way, Kurt and Blaine falling into the back of the group as they began to discuss something that Kurt wasn't aware of. "Uniform?" Blaine asked quietly.

Kurt frowned. '"Oh, I didn't tell you. I was a Cheerio here."

"And a Cheerio is…?"

"A cheerleader?"

Blaine choked. Kurt raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to regain normal breathing. "You… you were a _cheerleader_?"

Kurt couldn't help but smirk at the reaction that received. "Uh-huh. And before you try and paint the picture in your head, no I didn't wear the skirt."

"I wasn't thinking that!" Blaine protested. Kurt simply hummed derisively and continued to walk. Of course he knew Blaine _wasn't _thinking about him like that, but it was always fun to wind his friend up. And Kurt certainly hadn't expected that kind of reaction about being a cheerleader…

They arrived on the football field just as cheer practice was breaking up and Kurt immediately found himself faced with three girls in skimpy skirts wanting to hug the life out of him. Even Santana had put aside her bitchiness to welcome him, but of course had followed it up with her usual snark. "So how many bases have you and prep boy crossed?"

Kurt promptly blushed, drawing interested murmurs from the girls. "There's nothing going on between me and Blaine," he said quickly. "Right Bla… Blaine?" As Kurt turned to get backup he realized Blaine was no longer by his side. Spinning around, he almost fell over when he saw four of the cheerleaders surrounding him, getting far too into his personal space for Kurt's comfort. _What the hell?_

Kurt's first reaction was that the girls were harassing Blaine, but Santana's comment changed everything. "Are you sure that boy's gay? Damn, I'd tap that, just wish the other girls hadn't beaten me to it."

Frowning, Kurt watched as one of the girls held out her hand and Blaine placed his mobile into it, smiling bemusedly. The phone was quickly passed around the group before they disappeared, giggling to themselves. Blaine stared at the phone for a few seconds before looking up and catching Kurt's eye, making his way over to join them. "Ladies man, much?" Mercedes commented loudly. "Puck's gonna love you, you managed to get the numbers of _three _Cheerios without doing anything."

Blaine shrugged. "They just told me they'd heard a lot about Dalton and something about calling me if they wanted a hookup. There's plenty of single guys at Dalton so I figured I could arrange something."

Kurt turned to stare at the other girls. After a moment of silence, they all burst into laughter, Kurt's a lot faker. "Oh honey, you're too precious," Quinn said, the first to regain control. "They wanted a hookup with _you_."

Kurt watched Blaine's face change rapidly. "Oh… really? Are you sure?" The group nodded as a whole. "I - well, I'll have to disappoint them. I'm sure I can pass their numbers on to Thad or Cameron…"

"Why don't you just delete them?" Kurt blurted out before he could stop himself.

Blaine looked at him, confused. "There's no need to? Plus, if they do call, it's better to know who I'm talking to than have to admit I deleted their numbers. Anyway, now that that's out of the way, it's lovely to see you girls again."

As the three cheerleaders began chatting with Blaine, Kurt swapped a look with Mercedes, who he knew had caught it too. _It's like he wants to keep the numbers…_

* * *

**IV.**

"I'll just be a minute, yeah?"

Blaine paused as they walked through the door, clearly waiting for some kind of approval. Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes playfully. "We both know you'll actually be about half an hour. I'll just go and amuse myself with the piano, okay?"

"You're the _best_," Blaine said before disappearing off to the guitar section. Kurt allowed the words to float around his head for a few moments, reading far too much into them, before heading towards the piano he always occupied when Blaine needed a 'minute' in the music store. And really, he couldn't say no considering how many times Blaine went shopping with him and hated it.

The quiet sound of strumming was already coming from the guitars and Kurt smiled as he seated himself at the piano, letting his fingers dance softly across the keys. It had been a long time since he had played and he was very rusty but he tapped out the opening notes to _River Flows In You _before suddenly finding himself restless and needing to pace. Most of it was due to the thoughts that had been in his head for quite some time now, because Blaine had started getting rather flirtatious with him. His comment at the door was one of a string of many comments that seemed to be to either make Kurt feel awkward or make him think that Blaine was interested in him.

If it _were _true, Kurt would probably be in heaven, but it was the not knowing that was killing him. All he wanted was some kind of outright confirmation that Blaine did feel the same way, but he didn't have the courage to go up to him and just _ask_.

Kurt realized in his pacing he had just about come full circle, wandering around the back of the guitar department. When he realized he couldn't hear the sound of Blaine playing anymore, but rather his voice talking to someone, he had to investigate.

"… playing for about nine years now."

A girl's voice quickly followed. "That's incredible! Who taught you?"

"I taught myself actually." Ducking around one of the stands, Kurt peeked around the aisle to see Blaine with his back to him, sitting on the stool provided with his guitar of choice resting on his lap. Standing in front of him was a black-haired girl looking just a _bit _too interested for Kurt's liking.

"Wow! Have you ever thought about teaching lessons?"

Blaine nodded. "I'm considering doing it as a career actually." Kurt smiled, knowing that Blaine wanted more than just a career of teaching guitar but would never quite let himself dream of being a star someday.

"Maybe you need a student to start you off." The girl fumbled in her bag, pulling out a pen and paper and scribbling a note down. Kurt blinked a couple of times to make sure he wasn't seeing things. _She's not… _"If you do feel like getting into teaching, give me a call?"

And Kurt was pretty much fed up. "Blaine?" he called out, getting his friend's attention immediately. "I don't want to rush you but I remembered I need to call Mercedes tonight."

"Oh, of course!" Blaine stood immediately, tucking the piece of paper away. "I'll let you know if I do," he promised the girl before turning towards Kurt.

The girl looked between the two boys and something shifted in her face. _Sorry_, she mouthed to Kurt before disappearing. Kurt blinked after her before deciding that it was good that at least _someone _was perceptive because Blaine still didn't have a clue. "So, are you going to teach her?"

Blaine shrugged. "I might… hold on. How long were you standing there?"

Kurt allowed himself a smirk. "Long enough," he said before sauntering away, waiting for Blaine to catch up. _If flirting is the game he wants to play, let's bring it._

* * *

**V.**

"… and then Nick _winked_ and Jeff just rolled his eyes and said 'If you're trying to ask me out, you're failing'."

Kurt wiped the tears from his eyes, clutching at his stomach. "No wonder they never talk about how they got together. What happened then?"

Blaine paused for a few moments, clearly trying to get back under control. "Well Jeff basically just asked Nick out at that point, and apparently any time Jeff wants Nick to do something for him, he just brings that up."

"That's priceless!" Kurt deliberated for a second before 'accidentally' leaning against Blaine's shoulder as he laughed. To his delight, Blaine didn't move away or even act like it was unnatural. "So do I have to pretend I don't know this story?"

"Probably best," Blaine agreed. "They don't know I know, but it was right outside my dorm room, I had no choice but to listen."

Kurt rolled his eyes, even though Blaine couldn't see him, and they fell into a comfortable silence. The sound of kids playing on the playground to their right was drifting into Kurt's subconscious, but nowhere loud enough to irritate him. In fact, nothing much could irritate Kurt right now - the sun was shining, he was in a park with Blaine Anderson, he had his head on Blaine's _shoulder _and everything was peaceful and almost perfect. The almost part being that he and Blaine were still classified as 'just friends' when it was so _clear _that they saw each other as more. And the more Kurt thought about it, the more he just wanted to lift his head right now and ask Blaine out.

_So why don't you?_

Kurt blinked a couple of times as the thought cemented in his brain. But it was true - what _was _stopping him from doing it? The situation was perfect, Blaine was definitely in a good mood if his light humming had anything to say about it…

_Okay. I'm going to do it, right now._

Lifting his head, Kurt turned towards Blaine who was staring out across the park, his brow slightly furrowed. "Blaine, I need to -"

"Holy crap!" Blaine was suddenly on his feet, running across the park. Kurt frowned after him for a few seconds before realizing what Blaine had seen - a young teenage girl had just fallen out of a tree from a branch that was at least ten feet high. Kurt quickly ran after him, getting there just as Blaine was kneeling beside her, checking for a pulse. "Call an ambulance, Kurt!"

Kurt pulled out his phone and dialed the number, beginning the process of dealing with emergency services as Blaine tried to get a response out of the girl. He had just hung up with a promise of an ambulance being on its way when the girl finally began to stir. It was only then that Kurt noticed what was wrong with her at the same time she did - her arm was laying next to her at an incredibly awkward angle, clearly broken.

The girl began to cry, Blaine immediately doing everything he could to comfort her. Kurt noticed his hand linked with her uninjured one and pushed away the flash of jealousy he felt. _Now is not the time!_

"Is anybody here with you?" Blaine asked gently, receiving a shake of the head in reply. "Can we call someone?"

The sound of the siren could be heard and Kurt turned, waving his arms above his head to direct them over. As one paramedic set to work on the girl, the other immediately began to fire off questions to Kurt. "We don't know her, we just saw her fall from up there." He pointed to the branch.

"Her mobile is in her pocket," Blaine added, "but I didn't want to move her to get it out. She told me her dad is at home but she doesn't want to ride alone."

Blaine shot a quick look at Kurt who understood immediately. "I'll get my car and drive over to the hospital to pick you up then?"

"Thanks, Kurt." The paramedics had already gotten the girl onto a stretcher - precautionary, just in case there were other injuries - and Blaine was gestured towards the passenger seat. "I'll see you soon."

Kurt nodded, watching everybody else climb into the ambulance before it pulled out of the park. He gave it another minute before sighing. "So close," he muttered to himself before beginning the walk back to Dalton. As much as he wanted to blame it on Blaine's 'saving people' thing, he knew it just endeared him to the boy even more. And of course he would have done the same thing.

The walk was short and before long, Kurt was in his car on the way to the hospital. He had stopped in at his room to grab a book, knowing what waiting rooms could be like and knowing Blaine wouldn't leave the girl's side until he was sure she was going to be okay. Sure enough, when he pulled up at the hospital, the parking lot was close to full and emergency was packed. Kurt squished himself into a seat between a mother juggling three children and an elderly man with a painful sounding cough, pulled out his book and attempted to read.

The waiting room slowly cleared and finally Kurt heard his name. Looking up he saw Blaine and the girl standing in the doorway with a man who must have been her father. The girl's arm was in a cast and she looked slightly out of it. "Hey, sorry it took awhile, I just wanted to make sure everything was alright."

"It's fine." Kurt raised his book in explanation and Blaine nodded in approval - he had been trying to convince Kurt to read _The Princess Bride _for a long time after all. "How are you feeling?" he asked the girl.

"Sore," she murmured quietly. "Thank you," she added as an afterthought.

"Yes, you're the boy who called the ambulance?" Kurt nodded towards the girls father. "Thank you for helping out my daughter. And Blaine," he continued before Kurt could comment, beginning to dig around in his pocket, "let me get your number. I'm sure when Sofia is feeling up to it, she'd love to call and _thank _you."

Kurt blinked a couple of times before turning to Blaine who looked slightly unnerved, clearly having caught the emphasis in the sentence also. But he obligingly wrote down his number and took the girls number in turn before the two made their way out of the hospital. As soon as they were gone, Kurt shot another look at Blaine who was looking at the number, slightly shocked. "Did he just try to set me up with his daughter?"

"I think so." Kurt slipped an arm through Blaine's before he could think about it. "Come on Casanova, let's get back to Dalton. There's something I want to talk to you about."

* * *

**I.**

Kurt finished fixing his hair, smiling at his reflection as it obeyed and styled to perfection. Tonight was his first proper date with Blaine and he wanted to look perfect. After all, they weren't going for coffee or anything this time. This time it was a date-date. A 'we-might-become-boyfriends-after-this-if-all-goes-well' date. And Kurt could barely keep from squealing.

"Is this the part where I validate you by telling you that you look hot?"

Kurt turned away from his mirror, facing Wes who was lounging on his bed. "I already know how good I look, thanks," he said, trying to keep his usual attitude in place. But even he could tell that his anxiety was getting the better of him.

Wes smirked. "You're nervous," he stated.

"Just a little," Kurt admitted quietly. "This... this means something, Wes."

"Yes, it does. It means you two will finally stop pining over each other to _me_ and be a couple. So only positive things." Wes sat up, his smirk dying a little. "Look, Blaine's crazy about you. Just be yourself and the whole thing will go great."

Kurt nodded, letting out the breath he didn't realize he had been holding. "Okay. I'm calm." He offered Wes a confident smile who shook his head, smiling as he returned to his study. "I'm totally calm." He then proceeded to ruin that image by squealing as a knock came on the door. Wes slowly turned towards him, raising an eyebrow and clearly trying not to laugh. "Shut _up_," Kurt muttered, grabbing his bag and almost running to the door.

"Hey," Wes called after him and Kurt paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Breathe."

_Right._ Kurt took a deep breath before opening the door. Even though he knew Blaine was going to be the one standing outside, his heart still skipped a beat when he saw his friend. Blaine was dressed casually and Kurt's jaw almost dropped when he realized that Blaine was wearing one of the outfits Kurt had picked when they went shopping. "Hi," he murmured, unable to find any other words.

To his delight, Blaine seemed to be in exactly the same state. "Hey," he said quietly. "You ... you look great."

"I - thank you." Kurt immediately cursed his complexion as he felt the blush begin to form. "So do you."

And it was true. Blaine had gone easy on the gel for once, leaving noticeable curls that were tamed into place instead of his usual rock-hard gelled look. Kurt immediately found himself wondering how it would look without any gel at all... and then had to shake himself back to reality when he realized Blaine was holding out an arm, which he took happily. "So where are we going?"

"I know a place."

Blaine refused to say any more on the subject. Instead the half hour drive it took to get there was spent just as any other time the two were together had been spent - talking, their usual mock-arguments over radio stations and songs, and all the things Kurt was already so comfortable with. He had completely forgotten it was an actual _date _until Blaine pulled up outside a small restaurant that Kurt had never seen before. Suddenly the sight of the romantic looking building brought Kurt's nerves back full-force, and his hands were shaking as he climbed out of the car.

Blaine noticed the second he took Kurt's hand, which only made it shake more. "Hey, what's wrong?"

Kurt let out a shaky breath. "Nothing. Just... I've never done this before," he admitted, trying to keep his embarrassment out of his voice.

"Neither have I, you know that." Blaine smiled at him, helping quell his nerves. "We're doing this together, okay? Things haven't been awkward between us before, let's not start now."

Kurt nodded. "Okay," he agreed quietly. Blaine squeezed his hand again and the last of his nerves disappeared. It was just him and Blaine after all.

To his delight, the dinner went off without a hitch. The nerves didn't make a reappearance, the conversation was light and easy and everything was just as easy as it had been when they were 'just friends'. And the fact that they _weren't _just friends now made the whole night even better.

But of course nothing could ever be perfect. As Blaine was picking up the tab - despite Kurt's insistence that he didn't have to pay - Kurt noticed the girl behind the counter checking him out and groaned inwardly. _Please, not tonight._

When they made it out the door without any incidents, Kurt let out a sigh of relief which Blaine noticed. "Everything alright?"

"Absolutely," Kurt replied truthfully. "Tonight was perfect, thank you."

Blaine turned to face him, taking both of his hands. "I'm glad you had a good night. I was actually so afraid that something would happen and things would go wrong and -"

"Excuse me!"

_Oh, please no!_

Blaine, ever the gentleman, turned to the girl with a polite smile. "What can I do for you?"

"You left your change," the girl said, apparently oblivious to their linked hands as she sidled up as close to Blaine as possible, pushing a couple of coins and a piece of paper into his hand. "I also left you a little something, just in case you wanted to have a _proper _date next time and -"

Kurt snapped.

Without saying a word, he yanked on Blaine's hands before grabbing him by the face and pulling him in for a kiss. It wasn't sweet or soft or gentle or anything like he had imagined his first kiss to be, but there was something about it that made it more than just proving a point. He was kissing _Blaine_ for the first time, and it was amazing… but of course they still had to discuss what had just happened.

Pulling back, Kurt shot the girl a frosty glare. "I'm sorry but he already has a _proper _date. Now if you'll excuse us?" Without waiting for a response, he took Blaine's hand and led him away from the girl who was staring at them, clearly unable to process what she had just seen. As soon as they were far enough away, Kurt turned to Blaine who also looked stunned. "Blaine, I'm so sorry, I just couldn't help it, they flirt with you _all the time _and now that you actually want to be with me I couldn't handle it -"

This time, Kurt was the one being cut off as Blaine's lips covered his again. Except now it was that soft and sweet moment he had imagined for so long and - to put it simply - he melted, and almost whimpered when Blaine pulled away. "I'm glad," he said simply.

Kurt frowned. "Glad?"

"Glad they made you jealous," Blaine clarified. "If they hadn't, we might have skirted around each other for _months _before letting ourselves do that."

Grudgingly, Kurt agreed that he had a point. "Just do me a favor, okay?" he asked as they made their way over to Blaine's car.

"Anything."

Kurt smirked. "Throw out their numbers. You're _mine_."

* * *

**Possessive!Kurt is beautiful :)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Ethan, do you want your Diet Coke?"**_

_**"Yes, yes I do."**_

_**"Can I have it, pleeeeeaaase?"**_

_**"No."**_

_**"I might have left some highly flammable gel next to your statue of that dancing banana with the top hat and baguette..."**_

_**"Take it." *runs off***_


	147. Setup

**Thanks for all the messages last night in regards to the stalker issue. It's not too bad just yet, it only really became a bit of an issue in my mind as of Saturday morning (yesterday? Yeah, I've lost track of days completely) but if it escalates I'll be sure to tell my manager. My parents know already so it'll be fine :)**

**I'm so tired. My work schedule for the next two weeks is hectic and a half so I don't know how much I'll be able to write. _Kiss _will still update as per normal but my other stories might be taking a bit of a hiatus, I don't know yet. I'll try to work in some time but I've got about 24 hours of sleep to catch up on, not including night shift tonight. I also have 8 FF messages and 14 Tumblr messages and it's all a little crazy. I'm going to try to power through those ASAP though. **

**From **_**sailorjupiterox: The Warblers set Klaine up on a date - without them knowing!**_

**Time for someone else's POV :) or... everybody else's POV's ;) **

**Angela is convinced that Trent is gay. So, this is for her ;)**

* * *

Setup

"I call this emergency Warbler meeting to order!"

David waited for Wes to bang his gavel, even though the room was silent, before standing. "Okay, everybody. You may notice that Kurt and Blaine aren't here." The boys began to look around the room, muttering to each other, and David sighed as he realized nobody had noticed. "Well, they're not. The reason being is that this meeting is about them."

And now everybody looked confused. "If we're giving them solos and stuff, shouldn't they be here?"

David shook his head at Cameron's question. "This isn't about solos. In fact, it's not about music at all."

He winced as the room erupted into bedlam. Thad, who hadn't been informed of what was going on prior to the meeting, was arguing with Wes. The other Warblers were torn between extreme confusion and excitement that they might _finally _be discussing something other than performances and uniforms. Wes finally rapped his gavel sharply. David shot a look of appreciation to his friend before turning back to the group. "Thank you for the, ah, _input_. How about I actually tell you what's going on?"

The group looked suitably chastised. "I think I can speak for everybody when I talk about the tension that's been going on between Kurt and Blaine lately. Wes informed me I wasn't allowed to refer to it as sexual tension, so I won't."Wes groaned as Nick and Jeff sniggered. "Anyway, we've decided enough is enough. Telling them straight out isn't going to work because they just deny it and say they're just friends who like to hold hands and watch musicals for hours on end together and have numerous coffee dates that aren't dates, they _promise_."

"Are you saying we're setting Kurt and Blaine up?" Thad looked skeptical while every other Warbler was on the edge of their seats, just waiting for the go ahead.

David nodded. "But this requires subtlety, guys. So we can't _all _plan. Therefore, we've picked a group of the Warblers who have proven their planning capabilities. The Council, along with Nick, Jeff and Trent will be spearheading this one. The rest of you will be filled in as necessary and called in for specific tasks. Oh, and nobody better say a _word _to either of them or they're going to be hit with a solo suspension."

The rest of the group filed out, a couple mumbling under their breath that the punishment didn't even _matter _because Blaine was the only one who got solos anymore. But on the whole, David felt pretty sure that it was going to stay a secret. He turned his attention to the three that had remained behind, as well as the rest of the Council. "Okay guys. So begins the first meeting of Operation Klaine."

* * *

"Hey, Kurt."

Jeff slid into a seat next to the boy who was pouring over a History textbook. He looked up to spare Jeff a smile before returning to his study. Undeterred, Jeff continued. "So, what are you doing tomorrow night?"

Kurt did look up at that, confusion written across his face. "I thought you and Nick were still together?"

"We are."

"Then why do you sound like you're asking me on a date?"

Jeff sighed mentally. _Smooth, Sterling. _But what was coming next would almost certainly make up for it. "Well if you don't _want _to go and see _Wicked_, that's f-"

"_What?" _Kurt's eyes almost bugged out of his head. "No. _Way!_"

Jeff was glad he wasn't the one who was going to end up telling Kurt that he wouldn't actually be seeing _Wicked_, and even more relieved that Kurt hadn't actually thought about the impossibility of seeing _Wicked_ in Westerville. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"Of course it's a yes!" Kurt jumped up and threw his arms around Jeff's neck. "Thank you!"

And of _course _luck wasn't on their side, because Blaine walked into the room at that exact moment. Jeff immediately lifted his hands from Kurt's back where he had hugged the guy back, raising them in the air. To his credit, Blaine only looked confused for a second before apparently plastering on his 'brave mask' and walking over. "Hey, guys."

"Oh, Blaine! You're not going to believe it, Jeff managed to get me a ticket for _Wicked _tomorrow night!"

Jeff stood hastily, refusing to look at Blaine. "Anyway!" he cut in loudly. "I'll talk to you about arrangements later, Kurt."

He could feel Blaine's glare drilling into his back as he left. Wincing, he stepped into the hallway where Nick was waiting. "How'd it go?" his boyfriend asked, linking their hands together. "He bought it?"

"Absolutely. But Blaine walked in and he was _pissed_. So I'm going to stay out of his way for the next twenty four hours, I think."

Nick chuckled. "A wise choice. Time for Stage Two."

* * *

After hearing from Jeff what had gone down the previous day, Trent really didn't want to be the one who had to get Blaine on his own. But it was for the sake of the Warblers... plus, Wes had threatened to pull every string possible to kick him out of the Warblers if he didn't. So, with the utmost trepidation, Trent knocked on Blaine's door early on Saturday morning.

"Come in."

Trent opened the door to see Blaine sitting on his bed, violin in hand. He knew well enough that Blaine only brought out the violin when he was feeling sorry for himself and suppressed a wince. _They're so obvious._

"Hey, I was wondering whether you could do me a favour?"

Blaine sighed, lowering the violin. "What is it?"

_So gracious_. "Well, it's my mother's birthday tomorrow and I need to get her a present and I've come up blank. And I know you usually do well with buying presents for people -"

"So you want me to come and help you out?" Blaine looked slightly less belligerent, probably at the thought of doing something with his day rather than sitting alone and pining over Kurt. "Yeah, I guess I can do that.

Trent nodded. "It'd be a huge help. Thanks Blaine, I'll come grab you this afternoon."

Blaine picked up his violin again and began to play, signaling the end of the conversation. As much as Trent appreciated some good violin music, he didn't really want to hang around and listen to his friend play mournful songs about his 'just friend.'

As he backed out of the room, Trent turned to Wes who had an eyebrow raised. "All good."

David nodded, holding his phone up to his ear. "Wes. Time for Stage Three."

* * *

In hindsight, Wes would probably look at it as the most successful project the Warblers had ever undertaken. For a plan that could have gone wrong at any opportunity, so far it was going off without a hitch.

Trent and Blaine had left just after three. Wes knew it would have been earlier but dragging Blaine away from his violin when he was having a miserable moment (or hour... or day...) was quite the mammoth task sometimes, especially when Trent wanted him to change for the occasion. Finally Trent had lured him out with the promise of plenty of coffee, signaling to Nick who sent Wes a text informing him.

Jeff had picked up a hyperactive and dressed-to-the-nines Kurt around five, covertly giving Wes a thumbs up as they walked past - or bounced past in Kurt's case. Wes was still amazed that Kurt hadn't realized the impossibility of him seeing _Wicked_, but the excitement was Wes's main worry. When Kurt was told that he wouldn't be seeing the show, they were concerned that the disappointment would ruin the night they had planned.

Speaking of which... Wes grabbed his phone and dialed the number. "Yes, just wanting to confirm a booking for two at six o'clock tonight, under Anderson?" The voice on the other end gave an agreement and he smiled. "Excellent. And the booking for six under Montgomery?" Another confirmation. "That's great, thank you very much."

The next call was to Jeff. "It's a go. We'll meet you there."

And finally, Trent. "Did you manage to convince him to buy it?" The final confirmation was all he needed. "Okay. See you at six."

He hung up, turning to face David, Nick and Thad. "Gentlemen." They all stood, looking strangely formal. "Ready for our date?"

As the four left the room, Thad could be heard whinging. "Come on, I already get so much crap about being gay, and I'm _not_! This is going to ruin my imag - OW!"

"Keep walking," said Nick, "and just remember that we outnumber you straight guys once the other four show up."

Wes hid a smile.

* * *

".. and I just can't believe this is happening, I didn't think I'd get to see _Wicked _until I got to New York..."

Jeff suppressed a sigh. The past half hour had been nothing but Kurt's incessant rambling and Jeff was just waiting for the moment that Kurt finally twigged and realized.

"... and - wait... hold on. Jeff?"

_Here we go_. "Yes, Kurt?"

Kurt turned to him, frowning. "Where exactly are we going to see _Wicked _in Ohio?" Jeff stayed silent, staring out the window and waiting. "Wait... no... no, you're kidding me! We're _not _going to see _Wicked_, are we?"

"I'm afraid not." Jeff turned suddenly into a side road, flipping back around in the direction they had come from. "Glad you figured it out in time." He chanced a glance over at Kurt who looked devastated. "I'm sorry, Kurt," he said genuinely. "But believe me, you won't be disappointed for long."

"What?" Kurt looked up, trying to catch his eye. "What have you got planned?"

Jeff reached over and flicked on the radio, turning it up loud. Kurt seemed to get the picture and crossed his arms, pouting. Jeff simply rolled his eyes and kept on driving, hoping that Kurt would get out of his funk in the next half hour. After all, a lot was riding on this night.

* * *

"Thanks again, Blaine. I owe you big time."

Blaine shrugged. "It wasn't a problem. Gave me something to do anyway."

Trent watched as Blaine's bad mood suddenly reappeared as he remembered why he needed something to do. Trent hastily intervened, trying to keep Blaine cheerful. "Tell you what, how about we go out to dinner? I mean, you bought that new jacket and everything, might as well put it to good use."

"Um," Blaine looked like he was trying to say something with the utmost tact. "Trent... I know we play for the same team and all that... but -"

"Oh! No, not a date!" Trent resisted the urge to laugh. _If only he knew. _"No, you're not my type, don't worry."

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I should be insulted, but whatever. Sure, let's go."

Trent led the way to the car, pulling out his phone and subtly texting his confirmation to Nick. The restaurant was only a ten minute drive, so it all depended on Jeff and Kurt being on time. But as they reached the car, Trent received his response.

_J + K are en route. Come now - Nick_

Suddenly unable to keep the grin off his face, Trent jumped in the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Blaine was looking at him suspiciously, but he couldn't bring himself to care. _Another ten minutes... and then they'll finally be on a date!_

"So, where exactly are we going?" Blaine finally asked, pulling his new jacket out of the bag and shrugging it on.

Trent took another turn. "Just down the end of this road." He knew Blaine's reaction was going to be priceless and wished he had set up a video camera of some kind.

The second they pulled into the parking lot, Trent knew he was running on borrowed time. Killing the engine, he quickly jumped out of the car before Blaine could say anything. The other boy was currently staring at the restaurant in front of him, jaw agape, and Thad couldn't blame him. After all, who took his strictly platonic friend out for dinner to a _romantic restaurant? _

Blaine had finally managed to make his legs work and climbed out of the car. Trent glanced around and couldn't see any of the others, meaning they had beaten Kurt and Jeff - hopefully not by too much. "Trent, this place is..." Blaine suddenly turned to him, confused. "You said this wasn't a date!"

"I lied. Sort of." Behind Blaine, Thad saw Jeff's car pull in and breathed a sigh of relief at their perfect timing. "It's not a date for me."

Blaine's brow furrowed until Trent took him by the shoulders, spinning him gently. Kurt was just stepping out of Jeff's car, wearing the same confused expression. "It's a date for you," Thad finished, watching the pieces finally slot together in Blaine's head. Jeff was saying something to Kurt and Trent saw the realization dawn on his face as well. "Your reservation is for Anderson at six. Enjoy."

Jeff quickly stepped away and Trent followed suit, walking over to the other side of the building where Trent knew the other Warblers were waiting for them. "Well," Nick whispered after kissing Jeff quickly, "how did it go?"

Trent simply gestured for them to look. In the car park, Kurt and Blaine had finally stepped towards each other and were speaking quietly. A moment later, Blaine held out a hand which Kurt took, his face alight. When asked about it later, every single boy would deny being one of the three to squeal. But Trent knew that Thad's battle to be taken as a completely straight guy was weakening when he acted exactly the same as Nick and Jeff. "Alright, we give them five minutes then we'll head in," Wes muttered quietly. "Apparently we've been seated just around the corner where they won't see us but we can be nosy friends and listen in."

"Can I just mention we should all dress up nice more often?" Jeff glanced around the group, nodding in appreciation. "We look _good_."

"Do you know how hard it was to convince Blaine that he needed _another _dinner jacket that just so happened to match his current outfit?" Trent glared at Wes. "You owe me."

Wes was still grinning happily. "It'll totally be worth it once they get their acts together. Oh, and I hope you all know I'm not footing the bill. Pay your own way."

Nick immediately leant over to Jeff. "I'll pay for you, it's my turn after all. Consider this the date we would have had if we weren't scheming." The other boys tactfully turned away as Jeff took the chance to show his appreciation to his boyfriend.

Finally, the allocated five minutes passed and Wes led the group into the restaurant. "Reservation for six under Montgomery? Oh, and can we order before being seated?" The staff gave the group a strange look but allowed them their request - after all, they were probably going to be paying an obscene amount of money considering the kind of food Thad liked to order. In places like this, money talked.

Finally, they were led to their table where they all sat. Wes placed a finger to his lips and the group listened intently until they could make out Blaine's voice. "... you know they were going to do this?"

"Not at all." Kurt's voice, quiet but still filled with excitement. "I thought I was on my way to Wicked until I worked out the impossibility of it."

Blaine suddenly sounded worried. "I'm sorry you couldn't go, I'm sure you're disappointed."

"Believe it or not..." Kurt hesitated a second. "I'd rather be here."

Jeff and Nick exchanged a high five and Trent grinned at the other boys. _Maybe this is going to work..._

* * *

The sound of chairs moving alerted the boys that Blaine and Kurt were making their way out. Quickly settling the bill between them - Nick happily receiving another kiss from Jeff as he covered theirs - they slipped out of the restaurant, only to have to duck behind the building as they realized Kurt and Blaine were standing in the middle of the parking lot, looking around.

"Oh..." Wes suddenly slapped a hand to his forehead. "They came in Jeff and Trent's cars, so they're probably working out how they're going to -"

"Already on it." Jeff had pulled out his phone and was sending a text. Nick glanced over his shoulder and nodded at the words.

_We'll be back to drop you home in ten minutes. Enjoy your time together until then - Jeff_

A moment later, Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket, reading the text before laughing. He showed it to Blaine who raised an eyebrow. "Enjoy our time?"

"Hm," Kurt said quietly, putting the phone away and taking a step closer. "How are we going to pass the time, do you think?" His back was to the boys so they couldn't see the look on his face, but apparently it was something surprising as Blaine's eyes widened fractionally. But the smile that crossed his face a second later was perfect.

"I don't know," Blaine murmured, Nick straining to hear. "Why don't you tell me?"

Kurt whispered something that nobody could hear, and then their lips were pressed together, kissing softly under the streetlight, their arms wrapped around each other as if they had been waiting for this forever. They probably had, after all.

Jeff had his arms around Nick's neck and Nick could tell he was trying not to squeal. Wes and David high fived again and Thad fist bumped Trent. They were all grinning as the two kissed, before finally breaking apart, staring into each other's eyes. "About time," Wes whispered, but he looked the happiest of all and Nick couldn't blame him. He was the one who had orchestrated it all after all.

And then Kurt turned towards the side of the building and called out, "Guys, you can come out now."

"_What?_" Nick turned to the others in shock. "How did he know?"

Wes shook his head. "We should have learned not to try and pull one on Kurt." He gestured for the others to follow and the group made their way over to where the two boys were standing. Blaine was frowning, one arm still around Kurt's waist, while Kurt's arms were folded over his chest.

There was an awkward silence, then David caved. "Okay, yes, we set it up. And yes, we had to stick around."

"But it worked, right?" Trent chimed in before wincing as Nick elbowed him in the ribs. "What, it did!"

Kurt shook his head. "Yes, but you invaded into both of our personal lives -"

"Made Kurt get his hopes up about seeing _Wicked_," Blaine added.

"Made Blaine spend $90 on a new jacket he didn't need,"

"And then dinner on top of that," Blaine finished. "You put us through a lot here guys and we really should be demanding reimbursement of some kind."

Nick glanced at the others who all looked as guilty as he felt. Maybe their hearts had been in the right places, but their methods were certainly lacking. Just as Nick was about to cave, Kurt burst into laughter, Blaine quickly following suit. "Oh, your _faces_!" he gasped out. "Did you really think we were angry?"

"We're glad you did step in," Blaine said, still grinning. "So thank you."

Wes let out a sigh of relief which the others quickly mirrored. "You had us going there," he said, stepping forward to place a hand on Blaine's shoulder. "And you're welcome. As long as you two are happy."

"We are." There was a comfortable silence for a minute, then Kurt coughed quietly. "So are we going back to Dalton or will we just break curfew?"

At that, Wes jumped into action, ordering everybody around quickly. Nick joined Jeff in his car with Kurt and Blaine going with Trent. Just as the groups were about to depart, Nick heard Blaine's last comment to Wes and couldn't help but laugh.

"By the way, I wasn't kidding. You're paying our dinner."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Hmm... And one time a guy flirted with Kurt.**_

_**"Blaine, do you want the hot chocolate or the-"**_

_**"Hey, be careful!" *places hand on shoulder* "Say, you're cute. Do you to maybe-"**_

_***growl* "Back off, those lips (and shoulders) belong to me!" *holds up plastic straw threateningly***_

_**Shoulder fetish Blaine ^^**_


	148. Mistletoe

******Sarah = zombie. So zombie that this entire thing was in bold the first time I uploaded. Sigh. **

_**Klaineforthewin: Mistletoe**_

**This particular party is a concept I've always wanted to explore, because I've heard of people who do it. **

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Mistletoe

Kurt had always been wary of the idea of a house party. Mostly because his only experience had been Rachel's absolute train wreck of a party, and the stories he had heard about other parties were equally as worrying. Add to that his sole experience with alcohol still fresh in his mind, and Kurt really wasn't too thrilled about the idea when Jeff had suggested that the Warblers come to his place for a party in the first week of summer.

Blaine had been the one to invite him. Of course Jeff had said he was allowed to come, being a former Warbler and all, but that alone probably wouldn't have convinced Kurt. But to have Blaine ask him as his _date_ (no matter how platonic) almost sealed the deal.

It was only when Kurt called Jeff to find out the details that he was completely sold.

"It's a midsummer Christmas," Jeff explained. "My family has a tradition where we do Christmas twice a year and for the summer one, we throw a huge party. They'll be home, so it's not going to get crazy or anything."

It didn't take any more than that. Kurt had always loved Christmas and the chance to celebrate it twice sounded great to him. "Do we do presents?"

"Not for everyone, no. Nick and I will for each other, and tradition dictates that anybody who brings along a significant other does the same. So, you can either not bring anything... or suck it up and finally tell Blaine how you -"

"Goodbye Jeff," Kurt interjected hastily. "I'll see you next week."

He hung up quickly, rolling his eyes at how easily the other boy could get to him. Just because Jeff had gotten together with Nick pretty much the second he came out of the closet didn't mean it was quite as easy for everybody else. Yes, Kurt was out and proud of it, but that didn't make it any easier to 'suck it up' as Jeff had said and tell Blaine that he was kind of in love with him.

Not for the first time, Kurt regretted telling the blonde Warbler about his crush. What had made him do it, Kurt had no idea, but somehow Kurt had found himself wandering into Jeff's dorm room, collapsing on the bed and announcing, "So, I'm madly in love with Blaine." The ensuing conversation, while awkward, had given Kurt someone to talk to when Blaine was being especially flirty or a little too oblivious - so, basically every day. But on the flipside, it now had Kurt staring at his phone wondering what to do. Sure, Blaine wouldn't know if Kurt didn't get him a gift, but Jeff would. Here was a way for Kurt to admit his feelings with a backup plan in case of rejection - Kurt could say it was some kind of appreciation present for how much Blaine had helped him. Cheesy, but it would spare Kurt some fairly unnecessary pain if worst came to worst.

With that sorted, Kurt was immediately hit with the next dilemma and the one that should have been the most important; what on earth was he going to _buy_ Blaine?

This called for intervention.

"Tina," Kurt barked into his phone. "I need a present that says 'I'm crazy about you but I'm only going to show it if you feel the same...'"

* * *

Kurt walked up the front path, nervously clutching his messenger bag to his side. Blaine was supposed to have picked him up, but his car had broken down meaning he had to catch a lift with David while Kurt drove himself. Blaine had been on his Bluetooth for the first half of the trip, giving him directions and sounding endlessly apologetic no matter how many times Kurt told him it was fine. _At least I have a way of escaping if things get too awkward_, he thought to himself privately.

And now that he was here, Kurt's nerves grew tenfold. _What if I make a total fool of myself, what if he doesn't even want me here -_

"Kurt!"

Kurt jumped as the door flew open - apparently he had knocked without realizing. A beaming Jeff tugged him through the doorway, looking him over. "Looking good, as always!"

"Same to you." Kurt pulled the boy into an one armed hug. "Am I last?"

Jeff shook his head as they separated. "Thad and Ethan are still on their way, they had to pick up girlfriends. And Nick ducked out to get some more supplies for me." Jeff glanced around before loading his voice and leaning in closer. "Did you buy him a present?"

"I - I did." Kurt clutched his bag tighter, thinking of how long it had taken on eBay to find the gift. "But I don't want to give it to him if he doesn't feel the same."

Jeff simply rolled his eyes, then glanced over Kurt's shoulder. "Oh, Nick's back. Go in, go say hi to everyone again. We've missed having you around."

With that, Jeff gave him a gentle push in the direction of the noise. Kurt followed it down a long hallway - he had forgotten that most of the Warblers came from money, Jeff's house was gorgeous - where he came across a large room filled with a pool table, video game machines, mini fridges, lots of food... and a lot more people. Every Warbler except the two running late were in attendance, as well as their significant others and what looked like half of Dalton. Jeff hadn't been kidding when he mentioned a huge party.

Kurt hovered in the doorway awkwardly until he was rescued. "Kurt!" David yelled, making his way across the room with Wes and their girlfriends in tow. "So good to see you again!"

Kurt accepted hugs from the two boys and nodded politely to the girlfriends - Jessica attempted to smile while Melanie simply looked bored. "It's great to see you both too."

"So, tell us about McKinley?"

Kurt passed a few minutes talking with two thirds of the council before a couple of other Warblers showed up to hug Kurt and catch up. In his excitement at seeing his friends again, Kurt had almost forgotten about Blaine. Almost.

When Jeff and Nick joined them, Kurt waited for the perfect moment before pulling Jeff aside slightly. "I, uh, haven't seen Blaine yet."

Jeff smirked. "Been waiting for you to ask. He's putting me to shame currently."

Kurt's brow furrowed in confusion and Jeff laughed. "Come with me," he said, taking Kurt's hands and laughing again as Nick pouted. "Back in a minute, babe, promise."

Jeff led Kurt back down the hallway, opening a door on the right and immediately groaning. "Seriously, Blaine, do you have to be so freaking dapper and charming all the time? You're making me look bad!"

"I can't help it if I want to help!" Blaine called over his shoulder as he poured various bottles of drinks into a large punch bowl. "Besides, you know I'm just waiting for Kurt to arrive."

Smirking at Kurt - who was beginning to wonder whether it was a permanent fixture - Jeff cleared his throat loudly. Blaine turned and almost dropped the bottle he was holding. "Kurt! When - when did you get here?"

_Is he blushing?_ "About fifteen minutes ago. Your friends accosted me." Kurt stepped into the room, surveying the benches covered with food in various stages of preparation. "Can I help with anything?"

"Can you cook?"

Kurt turned to see a platinum blonde woman step into the room. The resemblance was striking, and Kurt immediately knew where Jeff got his looks from. "Oh, Mom, this is Kurt. And yes, he can."

The woman's face brightened instantly. "Brilliant! Blaine's a dear, but I can't trust him with a whisk, electric mixer, stove top or oven, just to name a few."

"That sounds oddly specific..." Kurt wondered out loud, glancing over curiously when Jeff snorted.

Blaine groaned, dumping the last bottle into the punch bowl. "You're giving me a bad reputation here, Mrs. Sterling. Those were all accidents!"

"Blaine, you know to call me Marissa, and I'd rather avoid any other - ah, _accidents_." Marissa turned her attention back to Kurt. "So, honey, tell me what you're good at cooking."

Kurt glanced across the bench top. _Pretty simple... basic party food. _"I can do all of this stuff."

Marissa's eyes nearly fell out of her head. "You are an _angel_. Can I leave this with you for ten minutes? I've got about thirty other things to do before my party guests show up and my husband is, as usual, completely preoccupied with business."

The woman shook her head, but Kurt could see the affection in her eyes when she spoke of her husband. "That's fine," Kurt said, walking over to the bench and rolling up his sleeves. "I'll see how much I can get done for you."

"Jeff, this one can come over more often." Marissa placed a kiss to the top of her son's head before practically dancing out of the room.

"Great, now there's _two _guys she'd rather have as a son than me," Jeff grumbled good-naturedly before crossing the room to peer at Kurt's bench. Kurt had already begun expertly chopping fruit and preparing different platters at a speed he knew was impressive. "How do you _do _that? I'd have lost most of my fingers by now?"

It was finally Kurt's turn to smirk. "Practice," he quipped lightly. "And your boyfriend's waiting for you, you know? As well as all of your party guests."

Jeff nodded, pushing away from the bench. "Coming, Blaine?"

"I - I might stay here. Keep Kurt company, you know."

Kurt fought with his blush, bending his head further over his work. _He's just being a friend, he's doing what friends do..._

"If you touch anything, Mom will kill you. So just watch." Jeff winked at Kurt one more time before leaving the room, the boy shaking his head as he continued to work.

For a little while they worked in silence, Blaine mixing up the final bowl of punch. Finally, Kurt could hear the sounds of Blaine throwing empty bottles out across the room before footsteps came up behind him. "That's amazing," Blaine murmured, appearing next to Kurt and glancing at the mostly finished food dishes. "We're definitely polar opposites when it comes to cooking."

Kurt hummed in agreement. "Most people are," he said, grabbing a couple of trays and heading over to the oven. "Can I trust you to open this for me?"

Blaine stuck his tongue out but opened the oven door, stepping back as Kurt slid the trays in and set the timer. "I'll probably have to come back and check -"

"No need, honey." Marissa re-entered the kitchen. "Thank you so much for all your help, but you need to go and enjoy your party too, alright?" She ruffled Blaine's hair, a gesture that seemed so familiar to both of them, and it was only then that Kurt realized that Blaine wasn't wearing his usual helmet of gel. "Can you take these out for me, Kurt? Not you, Blaine," she added as Blaine reached for the tray she was holding. "I don't trust you."

Blaine pouted, but agreed with the statement nonetheless. Kurt took the tray handed to him and the two left the kitchen, heading back down to the bag hit lightly against his leg as they walked, and Kurt was reminded of the present it contained. He was still undecided about whether to give it to Blaine or not, but he figured as the party wore on, he would make a decision.

Entering the party room, Kurt noticed most of the occupants gathered around the game machines with a few couples sitting around on the couches. Placing the food on the table, Kurt was about to turn around to see what was going on when Jeff called to him from outside. "Hey guys, come out here for a minute."

Shrugging at Blaine, the two stepped through the open doorway before - "STOP!"

Kurt froze, staring at Jeff who was smirking. Very slowly and deliberately, he raised his eyes above their heads. Kurt followed his line of sight, his eyes growing wide as he realized what had just happened. There, hanging in the door frame, was mistletoe. And he and Blaine were right underneath it.

Blaine swore lightly under his breath, turning to glare at Jeff. Kurt felt his heart plummet as he realized that Blaine _really _didn't want to kiss him and decided that he just had to get it over and done with - Jeff was definitely not going to let them get away with _not _kissing after all. Drawing up all of his courage, he tapped Blaine on the arm. And as Blaine turned to him, he leaned in and connected their lips.

What happened next took Kurt completely by surprise. Instead of breaking the contact, Blaine was kissing him _back_, properly, better than Kurt had ever dreamed he would get. And it was in that moment that Kurt realized that Blaine wanted this too, maybe just as much as Kurt did.

As soon as they broke apart, Kurt was fumbling one handed in his bag, knowing he needed to do it _now_. His fingers latched around the present and he pulled it out, pushing it into Blaine's hands. "Here," he murmured, watching Blaine who was still staring at him, stunned.

Blaine blinked a couple of times, then shook his head as if to return to focus. "Come with me," he murmured before raising his voice. "Jeff, you know where we'll be." Without looking to see if the boy had answered, Blaine was taking Kurt's hand and all but dragging him out of the room. Kurt followed behind, slightly bewildered as they climbed up a flight of stairs. But when Blaine led him into a bedroom, Kurt baulked.

"Blaine... what?"

"It's not how it looks, I promise. I just - I left it up here." Blaine was digging through a desk drawer, clearly looking for something. As he did, Kurt glanced around at the room and immediately figured it must be Jeff's, if the corkboard full of photos of Jeff and Nick had anything to say about it. "Okay, here it is."

Kurt turned back towards Blaine and froze. In Blaine's hands was a present. "You - you got me something?"

"I was going to try to ask you today, but ... well, that method worked, I suppose." Blaine sat on the edge of the bed, Kurt moving over to join him. "I mean, I still want to _ask _properly, I just - here."

Handing the present over, Blaine picked up the one Kurt had gotten him. They both stared down at the gifts in their laps for a few moments before Kurt started to laugh. "Okay, how about we just open them?"

Blaine nodded, and Kurt returned his attention to the package, flipping it over to slide a finger under the tape. It was flat and rectangular, and Kurt was starting to wonder whether Blaine had gotten him a book when saw the back of what looked like a photo frame. _A photo? Of us, maybe?_

Then he flipped it over and all hell broke loose.

"Shut UP!" Kurt stared, open mouthed at the framed, _signed_ _Wicked playbill_ in his hands. "No way, this ... this isn't... how did you GET this?"

He turned to Blaine, only to be caught off guard as Blaine's lips were crashing against his again, arms wrapping around his neck. "I think the question is, how did you get _this_?" he whispered the second he had pulled away. "Kurt... this is _incredible!_"

"I'll tell if you do," Kurt murmured teasingly.

Blaine took a deep breath, regaining enough control to wink at Kurt. "My parents went last year when they were in New York for business. They both got their copies signed and gave them to me, I figured someday I'd find someone who was an enthusiast and be able to give it to them. But now I feel awful because you must have spent so _much _on this -"

"Price doesn't matter," Kurt said immediately. "Not for you. And what you gave me is _priceless_. But if you really feel bad about it, I'll happily take a 10% cut on royalties from the song."

Blaine laughed giddily, glancing down at the voucher in his hands. "I will _totally _do that. I can't believe you got me an album deal..." He dropped the voucher into his lap, grabbing Kurt's hands. "Okay, I have to ask now. Kurt, be my boyfriend. Please?"

"You got me _Wicked_ stuff. I couldn't say no." They looked at each other for a second before bursting into laughter. "But seriously," Kurt continued when they had finished, "yes. Yes, I will."

The smile that crossed Blaine's face was somehow a million times better than when he had first opened his present, and Kurt suddenly came to a very important realization. If the way Blaine was looking at him was any indication, Kurt was more important to his now-boyfriend than any recording contract in the world. And that was mind blowing, but so right.

But there was plenty of time to wonder over the intricacies of a relationship later - and Kurt would, considering it was his first one. Right now they had a party to get to.

"Hey," he murmured, nudging Blaine lightly. "I'd like to take my boyfriend to a faux-Christmas party. Would he care to go with me?"

Blaine shook his head patronizingly but his smile said it all.


	149. Stars

**So I don't want to get all cranky authors note on you all but... well, yeah. I made a mistake yesterday when I published the chapter. Actually, I made two mistakes - the first was posting the entire story in bold and I was alerted to this and changed it. That I'm okay with because it is something that would affect the reading of the story and I can understand being alerted to it. But the second mistake wasn't a mistake in the story, it was a mistake in the _authors note. _I accidentally labelled the story as TGTDOSBDK when it wasn't. This happened because that story was a rewrite and I had originally written it with them as a couple. But I was amazed by the amount of people who reviewed simply to tell me that I'd gotten that wrong, no feedback on the story or anything but just that. **

**Guys, I'm not perfect. And at the moment, I'm in a state of exhaustion and that's not going to change any time soon. So mistakes like that are going to happen and I understand you wanting to alert me to it but for something like that, I'm not going to go back and change it because it doesn't matter. If you read that and then go down and read the rest of the story and realize it's _not _TGTDOSBDK, you're going to just realize it. Simple. It won't affect your reading. If I've made a mistake that affects your reading, by all means tell me, but stuff like that for me is a nonissue and I absolutely hated every second review last night being reviews simply telling me that. **

**All of that out of the way, I'm going to get this story posted and then try to convince my mum to let me have a bath. I need some me time. **

_**Klaineforthewin: Stargazing**_

**This one _is _a TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Stars

Kurt buried his head in his pillow, refusing to open his eyes as he reached out blindly, grabbing his phone on the second ring. "Hello?" he muttered, not bothering to check the caller ID.

"Kurt?"

Kurt's eyes snapped open and he rolled over. "Blaine? What's wrong?"

Blaine's voice was quiet and hesitant when he replied. "I - I'm outside."

"Wh - no, I'll be there in a minute." Kurt pulled himself out of bed, wincing as the cold hit him. He quickly pulled on some warmer clothes, stopping for a second to grab a blanket before heading downstairs quietly. Luckily the rest of his family were deep sleepers and he managed to make his way out the front door without waking anybody.

Blaine was leaning against his car, shivering. He was only dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and Kurt frowned as he crossed the yard, pulling his boyfriend into a hug. "They fighting again?"

"Yeah," Blaine murmured into his shoulder. "I'm alright, I just had to get out of there before I did something I'd regret."

It wasn't the first time Blaine had shown up at Kurt's place because of his parents. After his boyfriend had finally admitted his parents were only together for show in their high society lifestyle and their marriage was falling apart, Kurt had immediately offered his place as sanctuary for any time that Blaine was sick of the fighting. But never before had Blaine needed to come so late at night. Speaking of which... "What time is it?"

Blaine pulled away, still shivering. "About eleven. I'm sorry for waking you."

Kurt shook his head and pulled off his jacket, ignoring Blaine's protests as he slipped it over his shoulders. "You know it's not a problem. What can I do to help?"

Most of the time when Blaine came over, they would just watch a movie or do something equally as relaxed to take Blaine's mind off what was going on back home. The boy never actually wanted to talk about what was going on, he just needed a distraction. But Kurt knew it was too late to do so without waking anybody. And even though his dad wouldn't mind - Kurt had told him about Blaine's situation and he was sympathetic - Blaine was very private about his family issues, and Kurt knew he didn't want attention drawn to himself.

"Just being with you helps," Blaine said, wrapping his arms around himself. Kurt could tell he was still cold and considered inviting him inside or suggesting they go to his car before remembering the blanket in his hands.

"Come with me."

Kurt took Blaine's hand and led him to the backyard. As soon as they circled around the house, Blaine's eyes lit up. "When did you get a trampoline?"

"It's Quinn's actually." Kurt tossed the blanket onto the trampoline, turning back to Blaine. "She's moving house and asked Finn if she could store it here and do her cheerleading practice over here until they're moved. Finn agreed of course - he loves pretending not to watch her do her stunts."

Blaine chuckled as he climbed onto the trampoline. Kurt followed him up and spread out the blanket underneath them, gesturing for Blaine to lie on it. He curled up next to him and grabbed the rest of the blanket, wrapping it around them. Blaine pressed their foreheads together and simply stared at him for a second. "You're too good to me," he whispered.

Kurt smiled. "Look up."

The expression on Blaine's face as he stared into the sky made the lack of sleep and cold all worth it. Kurt lived just far enough out of town to have the perfect night sky on clear nights such as these, but as he had gotten older and more busy, he had spent a lot less time looking at them. Now he couldn't work out why.

"I don't know any of their names," Blaine whispered, looking almost embarrassed that there was something he didn't know.

Kurt couldn't resist. "Well, see that one there?" He pointed in the general direction of a cluster of stars. "That one is called a _star_."

A second later there was a light elbow to his ribs. "What would I do without you?" Blaine laughed, his eyes still skyward. A moment later, he raised one of his arms and began tracing lines in the sky.

"What are you doing?" Kurt asked, taking Blaine's free hand and linking it with his own.

Blaine continued drawing. "I'm trying to make shapes," he said absently

"Anything good?" Kurt leaned closer, resting his head against Blaine's.

"Can you see the dragon?"

Kurt blinked, turning to stare at Blaine who looked perfectly serious. "Um... no, honey, I can't see the dragon. Why don't you show me the dragon?" He couldn't resist using the same voice one would use when humoring a small child, but really Blaine was asking for it.

Blaine shook his head. "You're so mean to me," he said with a long suffering sigh. "Okay, here." He raised the hand that was linked with Kurt's and began to trace around a cluster of stars. "That's its head... and down the back there to the tail.. and then back up the legs. See?"

Somehow, Kurt could almost imagine it. "I guess it is up there." But as gorgeous as the stars were, Kurt was much more interested in what was on the same planet as him. And, more importantly, what was lying on the same trampoline as him right now.

Rolling on his side, Kurt rested one hand on Blaine's chest lightly and began to trace patterns. Blaine shivered, but Kurt knew it wasn't from the cold this time. They hadn't done a lot of exploring of each other's bodies yet, and definitely nothing sexual, but Kurt had had a sudden urge to see how Blaine's chest felt, and took it. Moving his fingers higher, Kurt paused over Blaine's heart. He could feel the steady thumping of his boyfriend's heart under his fingers and suddenly felt more connected to Blaine than ever before. As he circled over it gently, he felt the heartbeat speed up and glanced up to see what Blaine was doing.

Blaine was staring down at him, his eyes flickering with different emotions. Kurt immediately stilled his hand, wondering whether he was doing something wrong, before Blaine's hand was covering his, pressing it back into his chest again. "It's yours," he whispered quietly.

Kurt took a slightly shaky breath, overwhelmed with emotion. He knew Blaine at least liked him - they wouldn't be dating otherwise - but to hear that he had Blaine's _heart_... that was a whole new thing. Blaine's trust and love (whether it was that strong yet or not) was one of the biggest things he could give to Kurt.

Of course Blaine had Kurt's heart, and he knew that. But Kurt wanted to give Blaine the biggest thing he could give to Blaine at this point in time. He knew one day there would be bigger things, but right now he knew what he wanted to give. Keeping his hand on Blaine's chest, Kurt moved up so his head was right next to Blaine's. Blaine rolled onto his side and, still acting almost on impulse, Kurt pressed their foreheads close together. He could feel Blaine's breath hitting lightly against his face, something far more comforting than he ever thought it would be.

They stayed that way for a few seconds, staring into each other's eyes, until Kurt tilted his head and leaned in closer, pressing their lips together. It was soft, sweet and the absolute definition of perfection. Kurt forgot that he had never done this before properly, forgot all of his fears about losing the beauty of relationship to something different and all _physical_. Blaine made him forget all of his worries. And when they pulled apart, staring at each other again, Kurt could see the same feelings in Blaine's eyes. No matter what was happening in each of their lives, no matter whether Blaine had to go back to parents who were fighting... they had each other in a whole new way now. That they could be sure of.

* * *

When Burt woke up the next morning and looked out his bedroom window, he immediately zoned in on the two figures wrapped in each other's arms on the trampoline. At first he thought it was Finn and Quinn until one of them shifted and he noticed the curly black hair.

Burt was halfway towards the door, ready to go down there and tear into the two for breaking the rules, before he stopped and let himself think about it. They were outside, not in Kurt's bedroom. A blanket was around both of them, but Burt could see that both of them were clothed. And he knew full well about Blaine's family situation.

After a few seconds, Burt turned back to the bed where Carole was still sleeping, smiling down at his wife. _A lie in won't hurt me for one day._

* * *

**(1) This was something I discovered. I went out to my friend's place which was ever so slightly out of town and the stars were _incredible_.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"And then he squealed and practically tackled me!"**_

_**"What did you give him, anyways?"**_

_**"Well, Tina helped me. It took a lot of thought."**_

_**"Yeah?"**_

_**"A bottle of hair gel. Don't tell him, but I stole all his other bottles and filled the gift one with water. Once you see his curly hair, there's no going back."**_


	150. Furniture

**I posted a new oneshot today called _Letters from Blaine _and every single reviewer has cried so far, I think. If that's not an incentive to read it, I don't know what is. It's not angst, I promise. **

**Thank you so much for all of the love the past few days. It's helped a lot, believe me, and if I could reply to every single lovely review, I would. I'm feeling a lot better right now, but I'm about to go on another long string of work in a few days and I'll probably end up just as exhausted again so apologies in advance. But seriously, I love you all _way _too much. **

**Oh, right. POST 150, WOO!**

**Seriously though, pretty awesome milestone right there =D **

**From **_**Klaineforthewin: On top of some furniture**_

**I totally wanted to do planking for this but I've already written a planking oneshot. And then I latched onto this idea of Blaine having a compulsion to jump all over furniture - there are **_**so **_**many good stories based around this out there - and this happened.**

**TGTDOSBDK. This also happens during Original Song and it's literally two days after the scene where they kissed, except Blaine just asked Kurt out this time.**

* * *

Furniture

The loud crash down the hall jarred Kurt out of his afternoon nap. Sitting up, he ran a hand through his hair before frowning as the sound of yelling echoed through his door. He could vaguely make out Wes's voice before his boyfriend responded, sounding defensive. Kurt sighed and checked his reflection quickly before leaving his room and heading down to the student room on his floor. "Okay, break it up," he said tiredly as he walked in, standing between the two boys.

Blaine immediately shot him a glance of relief, taking Kurt's hand. "Thank goodness, can you tell him to stop -"

"What did he break, Wes?" Kurt asked, completely ignoring Blaine who made a noise of disbelief. Wes sighed and gestured to the lamp on the ground. Kurt rolled his eyes, turning to Blaine. "What did you do this time?"

"I was just showing Wes my choreography ideas -"

Wes gave another loud sigh. "We're not going to have tables at Regionals, Blaine. Or _lamps_ for that matter. Face it, you have a problem."

Kurt stepped in before Blaine could comment, nudging Wes lightly. "Hey, I'll take care of it, alright?" He shot Wes a look, making it clear that it wasn't going to be swept under the rug this time. "Why don't you get someone up here to get rid of that lamp?"

As Wes disappeared, Kurt tugged on Blaine's hand and led him out of the room, mentally deliberating which room in the school would be the safest for his overexcitable boyfriend before deciding on the music room. Hopefully Blaine's appreciation for musical instruments would keep him from breaking any of them. Pulling up a stool, he gestured for Blaine to sit on the piano bench and positioned himself across from his boyfriend, taking his hands again. "Okay, let's just get this out in the open. What is it with your compulsion to jump on furniture?"

"I don't have a compulsion to jump on furniture," Blaine said immediately, clearly on autopilot, and pulled his hands out of Kurt's grasp. He glared at Kurt stubbornly who simply raised an eyebrow and waited. A minute passed in tense silence, neither boy wanting to back down and Kurt began to wonder whether this was going to be their first fight as a couple. _Wouldn't that be great - two days into a relationship and we fight over __this__?_

Kurt finally caved, mainly because he wasn't in a yelling mood and Blaine's glare was getting increasingly more stony. "Come on, just talk to me alright? You know I'm not going to judge you or anything, I just want to know what the deal is."

A few more seconds of silence later and Blaine sighed. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, holding out his hands again so Kurt could take them. "It's not even a big deal, it's just that everybody else makes it into one and thinks I have some deep set emotional trauma or a rebellious streak and want to break as many things as possible."

"I wouldn't put it past you," Kurt teased lightly. "So what's the story then?"

Blaine suddenly smirked. "You would have figured it out this weekend anyway." Kurt thought for a second before his stomach flipped as he remembered his invitation to visit Blaine's family that weekend. "You know we're well-off and I'm an only child. My parents were well used to living an extravagant lifestyle before I came along and didn't really want to refurnish for a child. So they had a child-safe room that I'd play in, which was all well and good until I was about five and got sick of it and wanted to play in the other rooms. The ones with the big leather couches and expensive looking vases that I was expressively forbidden to enter."

Kurt winced, already able to see where this was going. "So it was rebellious?"

"Somewhat." Blaine shrugged. "Mostly I just wanted to try jumping on furniture. I loved it, they hated it, I got grounded a lot because of it, I kept doing it. When I stared going to Westerville there was nothing fancy and everybody sat on the furniture anyway so it wasn't a big deal… but once I got to Dalton and saw all of the couches like the ones I used to play on, I just couldn't resist. I figured by working it into choreography I could still have fun."

Kurt laughed, running his fingers up Blaine's wrist unconsciously. "You are such a little kid. How'd you break the lamp anyway?" It took Blaine a second to reply and Kurt couldn't work out why until he looked down to see his fingers tracing small circles around Blaine's wrist. _Hm, better keep that one in mind… _

"Oh, I uh - I was jumping across the backs of the couches and knocked it with my foot." Kurt began to laugh again, Blaine following suit. "I'm just glad it wasn't the antique."

"So who foots the bill for any damages?"

Blaine shifted closer, bumping their knees together softly. "For something like that, Dalton will cover it. But I've had to pay for a few broken vases here and there and cleaning for the couches - muddy footprints along the backs," he added in explanation. "The Warblers are kind of used to it, or at least they say they are, but then something like that will happen. Generally it's Wes that snaps."

"Why am I not surprised?" Kurt deliberated for a second before deciding _to hell with it_. "So why is it fun anyway, climbing on furniture?"

Blaine literally froze in his seat, staring at him. "Not you too! You've never jumped on furniture?" Kurt shook his head. "Played 'The Floor Is Lava'? No? You _must _have at least sat on the piano while someone's playing? That's the best one, and the easiest."

"That was specifically banned at McKinley otherwise Rachel would have taken up permanent residence and serenaded Finn from it every lesson," Kurt said, not entirely joking. "So no, I haven't."

Without a word Blaine stood, tugging on Kurt's hands so he had no choice but to follow suit. As soon as they were standing, Blaine let go and turned to the piano, gesturing for Kurt to climb on. Kurt frowned, eyeing up the legs. "Will it hold me?"

"Course it will. Go on." Kurt looked at him dubiously and Blaine rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll do it." With amazing grace, he jumped on top of the piano and gestured for Kurt to sit down on the stool. "Do you take requests?"

Kurt smirked as he sat, glancing up at Blaine who was resting on one elbow across the piano. "Your options tonight are _Chopsticks _and the piece you taught me." Blaine pretended to think for a second and Kurt reached out to swat his leg lightly. "I'll just start playing then." Suddenly nervous, Kurt hovered his hands over the keys before beginning to play the short piece Blaine had been teaching him over the past few days. He knew it wasn't perfect by any means, especially since he couldn't stop looking up at Blaine who was watching him the entire time, a soft smile on his face. As soon as it finished, he was closing the lid to the piano, saying, "Well, there you go, I just ruined a piece of music for you."

"Not at all."

Kurt glanced up, surprised at the tone of Blaine's voice. It was soft and almost awed as if Kurt had just done something award worthy and Kurt almost couldn't take it. He stood and moved to the side of the piano where Blaine was sitting, putting his hands on his boyfriend's knees lightly and moving in as close as he could. Blaine gently took his hands, holding them in his own as he looked down at Kurt with a smile. "You're taller than me for once," Kurt said softly, mirroring the look.

"We might have to rectify that." Blaine stared at him for a few more seconds, his expression still serene. "Trust me?"

"Always," Kurt said without thinking about the consequences before realizing that there weren't any. He had told Blaine the truth after all, there was nothing he didn't trust his boyfriend with.

Blaine took Kurt's hands and placed them on his shoulders. "Hold on," he said. Frowning, Kurt obeyed before realizing what was happening as Blaine's arms curved under his legs, pulling him up onto the piano. And then he was sitting _in Blaine's lap_ with his legs around Blaine's back and his arms had somehow curled around Blaine's neck and if anybody had asked Kurt whether he would be able to sit like this in the middle of a _school _with his boyfriend a year ago, Kurt would have laughed in their face. It was almost too much, especially when Blaine was leaning in to press his forehead against Kurt's and Kurt had pretty much forgotten what breathing was.

"You are _so_ beautiful."

And now Kurt _definitely _didn't know how to breathe. Blaine was still staring at him with that same smile and his eyes were glittering with a myriad of colors that Kurt could lose himself in for hours. They were so close together already but Kurt needed to be closer, needed to somehow express these emotions swirling around in his heart that his words couldn't say.

So, considering everything else they had just done, it was only natural for Kurt to close that final distance between them and kiss Blaine. And clearly it was just as natural for Blaine to kiss him back, their lips fitting together just as perfectly as their hands had that first time on the staircase, the first time Kurt had known he needed to learn who this wonderful boy was. And now he knew.

_This is Blaine Anderson, my boyfriend._

Completely overwhelmed, Kurt broke the kiss and buried his head in Blaine's shoulder. Blaine was stroking his back softly but Kurt had felt him tense and a moment later he asked in a voice that was entirely too casual, "Did I do something wrong?"

"No," Kurt said, his voice muffled. "You did _everything_ right and I'm just waiting until the day I wake up and realize you're a dream and I'm back at McKinley pining over Finn again."

Blaine relaxed, tugging lightly at Kurt's shoulders so he could look him in the eyes again. "I'm very real, I promise, so you're stuck with me."

Kurt kissed him again quickly, taking Blaine off guard. "I'm glad."

They stared at each other for a few more seconds trying to speak without words before Blaine smiled. "Now that you've seen the perks of jumping on furniture, is there a chance you'll come and spend some quality time on one of the couches with me?"

Kurt snorted, effectively breaking the moment. "Such a charmer. But yes, I think I will."

Blaine helped him down from the piano and they left the room, their hands seeking each other out automatically. And Kurt realized that the moment hadn't been broken and probably never could, save breaking up or falling out of love. Because the moment _was _love and Kurt knew right there and then that he loved Blaine Anderson.

Furniture obsession and all.

* * *

**I've never done an overwhelmed by the moment Kurt before. _I'm _overwhelmed by this chapter. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"...For me and Quinn to practice cheerleading stuff."**_

_**"YOU...?" *choke***_

_**Later that day...**_

_**"Thanks for letting me join you. There really is no better seat to watch them practice cheerleading."**_

_**"No prob, bro. Just... Don't do anything in my room? I just got a new game... *mutters* a unicorn one..."**_


	151. Flowers

**Sorry for the late upload, I was just, y'know, buying my brand new white iPhone 4. **

**=D**

**This thing is beautiful. I'm off to download apps and stuff and enjoy the perks of being an iPhone owner for the night :)**

**From **_**-IrethR- Kurt gets a book on flower-readings and picks apart the meaning of every flower he sees. Blaine finds out, and plays into that.**_

**I adored this prompt but it took me forever to get written… probably because I had elaborate plans and it ended up running fairly long…**

* * *

Flowers

Kurt coughed as he lifted another box, sending a dust cloud flying. "We've been in this house for _two months_, Finn. Why didn't you unpack this stuff already?"

Finn sighed from where he was digging through a pile of old books. "Because unpacking is boring and I have everything I need in my room?"

"So why are we bothering to go through this stuff? Can't we just toss it?" Kurt ripped the tape off the box and opened it to reveal... surprise surprise, _more books_.

"Mom won't let me. She said there might be some of her stuff in here, or something I need to keep. Right now I'm just finding old textbooks... you?"

Kurt sifted through the box, nodding. "Same here... oh, what's this?" He lifted out a hardback book that looked like it had seen better days. There were pictures of various flowers on it but the title had almost worn past recognition. "Biology?"

"No... I don't recognize that." Finn crossed the attic, kneeling next to him to examine it. "Oh, right. Quinn bought that for me when we first started dating. I think she wanted me to be romantic and buy her flowers with meanings, but I couldn't get my head around it and I didn't really see the point. I still don't, why would you buy something for someone that's just going to die anyway?"

Kurt shook his head, wondering how his step-brother managed to have _two _girls fighting over him. "It's romance, Finn," he said as he flipped through the pages. "Do you want to keep it? I'll take it if you don't."

"It's yours." Finn stood, brushing the dust off his jeans. "Let's just say we went through the rest of it and throw it out."

"And that's my cue to leave." Ignoring Finn's whinging about 'only doing the easy job', Kurt headed back down the stairs and through to his room. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he opened the book and began to flip through again, stopping to read various pages that rang a bell.

What Kurt had chosen not to tell Finn was that his mom had been a florist and, as such, flowers had played a big part in his childhood. He knew the meaning of a handful of them, but never had the knowledge that his mother had. Whenever his dad would buy her flowers, she would pick apart the meaning (which he would make sure to get right for her) every time before taking care of them to make sure they lasted as long as they could. And when they were close to dying, she would press them.

Reaching under his bed, Kurt felt around until his fingers hit the edge of the small wooden box. Pulling it out, he opened it up to reveal the three fragile, perfectly pressed forget-me-not's, framed under the glass inside. He stared at them for a moment, letting the memories wash over him before grabbing the book again and flipping to the relevant page to read the story with a smile.

_According to legend, a young man and his sweetheart were walking beside the Danube when they came across some blue flowers that grew on an islet in the stream. The man leapt into the river to pluck them for her, regardless of the current and the protest of the girl. He crossed safely, plucked the flowers and was almost at the bank again when he was wrung by a cruel cramp, and could not hold his way against the whirl and surge of the rapid. He looked into the white face of his beloved and flung the bouquet at her feet with his last strength, cried "Forget me not!" and disappeared. She never forgot him and wore the flowers in her hair until her own death. _

And even though the story was traditionally a love story, Kurt couldn't help but remember his mother every time he saw the flowers. With a smile on his face, Kurt slipped the box and the book into his bag and started pulling his things together, preparing to head back to Dalton. It was time to pick up where his mom had left off.

* * *

"Kurt… what are you doing?"

Kurt raised a hand absently as he approached the cherry blossom tree. He knew the three boys were looking at him strangely as he dug his book out, flipping through until he found the entry. "Just a second," he murmured, plucking one of the flowers.

_The flower symbolism associated with the cherry blossom is education. In China, the cherry blossom is also a symbol of feminine beauty. It also represents the feminine principle and love. In Japan, cherry blossoms symbolize the transience of life because of their short blooming times._

Smiling, Kurt tucked the stem into his buttonhole and turned back. Nick and David still looked confused but Blaine was looking at him thoughtfully, glancing down at the book in his hands. "Any chance I could see that?" he asked. Kurt shrugged and handed it over.

"Can I ask?" David finally said.

Kurt just smirked. "Life is short," he said simply before turning to continue walking, waiting for the others to catch up.

* * *

"Uh-oh, Wes is in trouble!"

Kurt glanced up from his lunch to see Wes talking on his phone, looking apologetic. "What'd he do?"

"Probably forgot something to do with his girlfriend," David said around a mouthful of food. "I wouldn't have a clue."

Blaine sighed from Kurt's right. "Wes forgot their one year anniversary," he said to winces from the other boys. "So I kind of don't blame Jessica for being a bit upset right now. I would be too."

Wes finally joined them, pocketing his phone. "What the hell am I supposed to do now? She's considering breaking up with me or 'trading me in for something better' in her words. I'm no good at this romance thing, what do you do to fix things with girls?" He glanced around the table at the other boys who had girlfriends - of course they were all shrugging and looking confused.

Kurt finally took pity on him. "Buy her tulips. Red and cream ones. Get them delivered and make sure the company puts the meaning in the card and keep your own message simple - 'I'm sorry, I love you, I'll try to be a better boyfriend from now on'," Kurt waved a hand. "You get the gist." Wes was still staring at him like he had been talking French - and that was something Kurt needed to keep an eye on as he did accidentally lapse into the language on occasion - so Kurt sighed and pulled out his iPhone. "Here," he said, typing _tulip meaning _into Google and finding the appropriate website before handing the phone to Blaine. "Read that out."

"_Tulips are symbolic of fame and perfect love. The symbolic meanings also change with the color of the tulips. Red tulips mean "believe me," and are a declaration of true love… Cream colored tulips mean "I will love you forever." _Blaine handed the phone back, smiling appreciatively. "I think that'll get the message across, don't you, Wes?"

Wes was staring at him, his jaw open. "You… honestly, you don't even _like _girls."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "What on earth gave that one away, Wes?" he said sarcastically. "But I'm often told that I'd be the equivalent of a girl in any relationship I get into and, while I hate stereotypes, this is an exception. I _like _flowers and I'd love to receive something like that. So just do it."

If Kurt had glanced to his side at that moment, he would have seen Blaine looking at him thoughtfully before glancing down at the book peeking out of his bag.

* * *

Kurt had many gifts, some that he bragged about and others that he kept quiet. One of those gifts was the ability to tell if someone had been in his room while he was away, even if nothing had been moved. But Kurt knew he didn't need to engage the gift this time as he was currently staring at the single gardenia lying on his pillow, a small note underneath it.

Before he could bring himself to approach the flower, Kurt dug out his book and quickly looked up the entry.

_The flower symbolism associated with the gardenia is you're lovely, secret love, purity and refinement. Gardenia plants are prized for the strong sweet scent of their flowers, which can be very large in some species._

_Secret love? _Frowning, Kurt walked over to the flower and picked it up, sniffing it lightly. "Definitely fresh," he murmured before drawing his attention to the note.

_Dear Kurt,_

_I have seen how much you love flowers and your delight in picking the meaning out of them. I wish to give you a message through these flowers, a message I am too afraid to tell you face-to-face. If I've gotten the right flower, you already pretty much know what the meaning is, but there is more I want to elaborate._

_Enjoy the flower. It is almost as beautiful as you. _

_An admirer._

"Wow," Kurt breathed, twirling the flower between his fingers absently. Of course he had seen other people get flowers before and the occasional secret admirer, but he had never _dreamed _it would happen to him, and especially not in high school in _Lima_. But here it was - someone who clearly admired him and had noticed him well enough to see that he loved flowers. And by the tone of the message, there were more to come.

_Can't wait_, Kurt thought to himself as he filled a glass with water, sitting the flower in it next to his bed. _This is going to be interesting._

* * *

The second delivery arrived just a week later. Kurt had almost given up on getting more flowers, especially since he was headed back to Lima for the weekend, but he still wanted to figure out who it was. He was so distracted that he completely missed the slightly-longer than usual hug that Blaine gave him as they said goodbye and spent the entire drive home trying to work out who it could be. He was still out of options - apart from that _one _person who he wasn't letting himself dream of it being - when he arrived home to see his father waiting out the front, arms folded.

"Dad?" Kurt pulled his bag out from the front seat and walked towards him. "What's going on?"

Burt raised an eyebrow. "You have a delivery. I put it in your room." Kurt had an inkling of what was going on but nothing prepared him for walking into his bedroom to see a large bunch of gladioli lying on his bed with a small card attached. "I presume you know what this is about?"

"Not really," Kurt said, crossing the room to pick up the card. "I'm sure I will in time though."

"Kiddo, you got a secret admirer or something?"

Burt's tone indicated skepticism but Kurt didn't take it personally - it was a surprise after all. "I do," he said, turning around with the card in hand. "And yes, I know there's potential for someone to just be messing with me but I can look after myself if they are. Plus, I get flowers out of it… and they've got all the meanings down, Dad."

Burt's face softened at that, as Kurt had predicted. "Alright. When you do find out who this boy is, I'm expecting to meet him. It… it is a boy, right?"

"I think so, it's either someone at Dalton or someone with an insider. And I'll make sure to bring him over." Burt left with one last glance at the flowers and Kurt opened the note.

_Dear Kurt,_

_I hope you don't mind me getting these delivered to your house. Hopefully your dad doesn't get too suspicious. And while it may not mean much through a letter, I can promise this isn't some kind of joke - I really mean what I write. _

_You'll already have found the meaning of these, no doubt. I want you to know that from the moment I saw you, there was something about you that I knew I needed to get to know. I don't say love at first sight, not true love, but I loved what I saw and knew I wanted to get to know you properly. _

_I should have mentioned in the last letter - if you want this to stop, leave a message with Wes. He knows my identity and will let me know if you're at all uncomfortable by this. _

_I'll see you soon_

_An admirer._

Just as he finished reading there was a quiet knock at his door and Kurt turned to see his dad holding a vase. "Thought you'd like to make sure they don't die," he said, crossing the room to put them in it. "Any clues?"

"A few, but I can't be sure yet." Kurt folded the card and placed it in his wallet with the last one. "They did give me an out if I want them to stop though."

"Are you going to use it?"

Kurt shook his head. "I'd like to see where this is going."

Burt finished arranging the flowers and turned back to him. "Is there any chance that it's this Blaine kid?"

"I don't know and I don't want to get my hopes up." Too late, Kurt realized he had just admitted his crush to his father and was all set to take it back when he realized it hadn't phased Burt at all. _Guess I was a little obvious_. "Anyway, I'm sure I'll find out in due time who it is. Now, you mentioned you needed an extra pair of hands in the shop?"

Casting one last glance at the flowers, Kurt followed his father down the stairs.

* * *

"Hey, Kurt."

"Oh, hey Wes." Kurt closed his locker and balanced the stack of books in his arms neatly. "Good weekend?"

Wes nodded. "Yours?"

"Not bad. Can I help you with something?"

A flicker of - _what was that? _- appeared in Wes's eyes for a second. "Do you have any messages for me?"

_Oh, right_. Kurt smiled, shaking his head. "None at all. I presume that's a good thing?"

It was clear that Wes was attempting to hide a smile. "I'd say it's a good thing, yes. I'll be sure to pass on your lack of message."

"Can you give me any clues?" Kurt knew he was fishing for information that wasn't going to be given - Wes was loyal to a fault and wouldn't sell out any of his friends. Besides, Kurt felt like he was getting close to narrowing the mystery person down and was enjoying the challenge.

Sure enough, Wes shook his head. "Have fun," he said simply before leaving for his next class.

Kurt smiled, fiddling with the gladiolus in his button hole as he walked to Chemistry. "Hey, Blaine," he said absently as he walked past the boy, missing the way Blaine stopped and turned to stare at him.

* * *

The daffodil was probably the biggest surprise of all, especially since it was delivered to Mercedes's house when Kurt was there for a sleepover with the other ND girls - somehow they had managed to convince Quinn and Rachel to coexist in the same room without killing one another. They had been midway through a gossip session when the sound of Mercedes's mother coming up the stairs had been heard, the woman appearing at the door a moment later. "Kurt, a boy just showed up and asked me to give this to you," she said, holding out a pair of daffodils and a card. "He said he didn't want to stay or leave a name."

Ignoring the surprised looks from the girls, Kurt stood and took the items. "Oh, Kurt! Is this your secret admirer?"

The rest of the girls turned to Mercedes who had spoken. "Secret admirer?" Tina asked before turning her attention to the flowers as Kurt sat back down. "Since when?"

"A few weeks now," Kurt said absently, opening the card. "Mercedes can fill you guys in."

Mercedes began to tell the story while Kurt read.

_Dear Kurt,_

_I hope this isn't too forward of me but I know you've told the girls anyway and you'd probably like the chance to puzzle over it together, so what better than a fresh specimen?_

_I'm sure you know the meaning of the daffodil already - there's a few and they all apply but you know which one I'm thinking of. And I know it's a little depressing but it's how I feel right now. Maybe it's because I haven't gotten the nerve to tell you how I feel, maybe I feel that you're too amazing for me and you'd never settle for someone like me. Either way, it gets hard some times. But at least I can give you these._

_Enjoy your night with the girls._

_An admirer. _

Kurt frowned, tucking the card away with the others, and Quinn picked up on it immediately. "Not good?"

In response, Kurt pulled the book out of his bag - he had been prepared in case the girls wanted to discuss the meanings of the other flowers - and opened it to the page on daffodils. "Not particularly," he said, turning the book around so Quinn could read it out.

"_The flower symbolism associated with the daffodil is regard, unrequited love, chivalry, sunshine, respect and the sun shines when I'm with you… _Oh dear, he thinks you don't love him back?"

"Well how can he?" Tina asked reasonably. "After all, he doesn't know who the guy is."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Don't I?"

Mercedes and Rachel squealed then glanced at each other, slightly weirded out. "Okay, you have to spill!" Rachel finally said. "If you know who this boy is then we need to know!"

"I don't know if I know, but I've narrowed the suspects down. It's either someone who has an intimate knowledge of the location of both mine and Mercedes's houses… or someone who is close to someone who has that knowledge. I can only think of one person for the first, and the people for the second are all either straight or taken. So…"

Mercedes caught on first of course. "Blaine?"

"I didn't want to get my hopes up, but who else could it be?"

There was a moment of silence then general pandemonium ensued. Rachel was spouting off her usual drivel about 'dating the competition' but the other girls seemed genuinely happy for him. Kurt finally raised his hands, laughing. "Hey, we're not entirely sure, alright? For now, let's focus on something else."

Obediently the girls began to gossip again, Kurt fiddling with the daffodil. _He really thinks I don't feel the same? He must be blind._

* * *

More than anything, Kurt was just ready for Blaine to reveal his identity. While the flowers were lovely, it would put the boy out of his misery and then Kurt could make it clear that yes, he _did _feel the same way. _So hopefully he gets his act together soon._

And then the day came. After an extended Warbler rehearsal where Blaine was absent for some reason and Wes made everybody work twice as hard to fill the gap, Kurt was all set to go back to his room and collapse for the night. But when he pushed open his door, that urge was immediately removed as he saw the single red rose sitting on his pillow with a familiar looking card underneath. Kurt didn't even need to look at the book to know what this one meant. _Love. Pure and simple._

With shaking hands, Kurt lifted the card and opened it, feeling his breath catch immediately. While the rest of the notes had been written in block letters, this one was written in a print so unmistakable that Kurt knew he had been right. There was no doubt about it.

_Dear Kurt,_

_If you hadn't already worked it out, I think you know my identity now. _

_This rose is for you no matter what happens tonight. But if you feel the same by any chance, or even if you think you might and want to give it a try, I'll be waiting down in the courtyard. Bring the rose if you're interested - if you feel like letting me down gently or something and I can't convince you not to then come but leave the rose behind. _

_I love you, Kurt._

_Love Blaine._

It took reading the note three times for the words to penetrate Kurt's brain completely. Of course he had worked out that it _must _be Blaine already, but to have confirmation in front of him was like every one of his wildest dreams coming true. And now there was only one decision to be made, the most important decision in Kurt's mind right now.

_What am I going to wear?_

Kurt quickly threw together an outfit, not wanting to keep Blaine too long. Of course Wes would have let him know the minute rehearsal was out - and no wonder they had stayed behind so late! - so every second would feel like a second of rejection to the boy. Once Kurt had deemed himself presentable, he picked up the rose and inhaled, smiling softly as he left the room.

Wes was waiting halfway down the stairs, clearly not there by coincidence. When he saw Kurt walking down with the rose in hand, the grin on his face was bigger than Kurt had ever seen. "He's going to be so happy," Wes said simply, placing a hand on Kurt's shoulder. "And I can tell you will be too." And then Wes disappeared upstairs, leaving Kurt to continue down towards the courtyard. The courtyard where Blaine would be waiting for him.

Even though Kurt knew Blaine loved him - and that was something that would take a _long _time to get used to - he was still far too nervous as he crossed the foyer. Pausing in front of the door, he took a deep breath before gently pushing it open, his breath immediately catching in his throat at the sight in front of him.

Blaine was standing in the middle of the courtyard, dressed far better than Kurt had ever seen. The small garden lights were on and the sky was dim, leaving an eerily beautiful effect. But the best thing of all was the bouquet of red roses in Blaine's arms, perfectly matched to the one in Kurt's hand. Blaine was staring up at the sky and Kurt could see his lips moving - clearly there was a pre-prepared speech in there, something that Blaine would probably deliver flawlessly and near emotionlessly as he always did when performing, feeling like he had to get it perfect.

But Kurt didn't want perfect. He wanted _Blaine._

His soft footsteps echoed around the courtyard as he made his way towards Blaine but Blaine didn't notice until he was halfway there. Glancing down, Kurt saw Blaine's eyes light up when he saw the rose in Kurt's hands and he shifted the bouquet, clearly ready to give it to Kurt. As Kurt reached him, Blaine held it out and Kurt took it, holding it gently in one hand. "Kurt," Blaine began. "I want -"

The rest of his sentence was cut off as Kurt leaned in and kissed him, the arm not holding the roses wrapping around Blaine's neck. After a second, Blaine was responding and Kurt could feel him throwing all of the unsaid words into the kiss, a million times better than if he had tried to say them himself.

But there were a few words that Kurt needed to say. "I love you too," he murmured against Blaine's lips, causing Blaine to kiss him with more urgency. But finally, regretfully, Kurt pulled away, aware of the flowers in his hand. "You went to so much trouble for me."

"You're worth it," Blaine said simply. "You have _no idea _how terrified I was that you wouldn't feel the same and I'd make a fool out of myself."

Kurt tutted, rolling his eyes fondly. "Blaine, you do things like this for me. How could I _not _love you?"

Blaine's answer was simply to kiss him again.

* * *

**All of the entires from the 'book' were found online. I don't take credit for them and I would have linked every site they came from but this site hates links. If there's any issues I can gladly produce references.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Wes chose that moment to walk in... on Blaine and Kurt making out. It creeped David out slightly that Wes only went near the piano to scrub it with enough antibacterial spray that it would put Emma Pilsbury to shame.**_

_**Blaine and Kurt took this as a cue to make out on every surface Wes used often. They also might or might not have sent him a picure of the two of them simutaneously pecking The Gavel...**_


	152. Changes

**If anybody plays Wordfeud, I'm SarahFAWU on there and I'm really bad at it so you're kinda guaranteed a victory ;)**

**I've spent the whole day playing on my iPhone. It's a little sad but so much fun, except when it somehow recovers old contacts and notes that were on my iPod that I'd really rather stayed in the past. But yeah. **

**Also, for those of you who read my other stories, I know I've had a good run of uploading the past few days but that was a preemptive strike because for the next six days, I'm back in zombie mode. Work, covering at another store, training, more work... and then a weekend off! But there won't be chapters posted on anything in those days except _Kiss_. Thanks for your patience. **

**From **_**Blame-It-On-The-Alcohol: J'ai une petite idée...it's a variation of something I'm doing in one of my stories. Kurt and Blaine are doing the duet but they haven't kissed yet (this is right before they perform at Regionals). Ten minutes before, Wavid tell them the song has to be changed. They go for an emergency rehearsal, ALONE, ten minutes beforehand...and Klaine happens! :) But when they come out from makeout session, Wavid grin and say "You didn't actually have to change the song, we were just all dying of the sexual tension," or something along those lines.**_

**The song was actually sent to me by **_**Janitajasmin **_**in an entirely unrelated manner and it ended up being pretty darn well perfect ;)**

* * *

Changes

As Aural Intensity moved into their second number, Wes stood. "Emergency Warbler meeting in the green room!" he shouted across their row. "Now!"

Kurt frowned, glancing over at Blaine who was looking equally confused. "What on earth?"

Blaine shrugged. "No idea. Don't keep him waiting though, we'll pay for it later." The two boys quickly followed the rest of the Warblers out the doors and through to the green room. Up ahead, Kurt could see Wes and David talking quickly together, Wes's hands flying around. _This looks bad. _He knew it couldn't be a stolen setlist - New Directions were doing original songs as far as he knew, and they _certainly _weren't doing anything as cheesy as Aural Intensity had decided to do.

As Trent pulled the door shut behind them, Wes turned to face the group. "We need to change the duet," he announced bluntly.

Kurt's jaw dropped. "You're _kidding _me?"

"I'm afraid not, Warbler Kurt. You saw the judges reactions out there, we need something with a much more positive message. Considering we already have the heartbreak in _Misery_ and the party attitude with _Raise Your Glass_, we need something meaningful but in a good way. _Candles_ has too many negative connotations."

Blaine was shaking his head. "Wes, Kurt and I have been practicing that number all _week_. Do you really think we can get something together in ten minutes?"

Wes nodded to David who pulled a few pages of sheet music out of his bag. "We weren't sure what we were up against so this was our alternative. There's another room over there," Wes gestured to the door at the other side of the room. "We'll warm up out here, you guys give this a run through and get it as good as possible."

Kurt simply stared at him for a few more seconds before Blaine stepped forward, taking the music. "I don't like this at all," he muttered to Blaine as they walked into the other room. "I'm nervous enough, Blaine, I've never had a solo in front of a competition audience and now he wants us to change it and what if we can't make it good enough -"

"Kurt, hey. Breathe." Blaine's hands were on his shoulders, holding him in place. "If we can't make it work, we go out there and tell Wes that we can't change the song, then we do _Candles_. Let's just look at what he's given us."

Blaine pulled away to look at the music and Kurt sighed quietly at the loss of contact. Now more than ever, Blaine was confusing him. When Blaine had asked him to duet with him and they had talked about the song, Kurt had been so sure that something more was going to come of it. But when he had asked Blaine why he was the one to duet with him, Blaine's expression had changed and he had muttered something about Kurt's voice being exquisite. Which it was, but Kurt _knew _there had to be something else going on. But he wouldn't let his heart hope for more, not now.

"I don't believe this..."

Kurt snapped back to reality to see Blaine staring at the music. "What is it?" he asked, moving beside his friend to stare at it and suddenly seeing what the issue was. "Oh... wow. He really wasn't kidding about meaningful in a good way."

"_Alive? _I didn't expect that of Wes." Blaine shook his head, looking up to catch Kurt's eye. "And he's never exactly been a huge Natasha Beddingfield fan -"

"We're running out of time," Kurt interjected, glancing up at the clock. "Let's just try it. I'll take the first verse, join me at the chorus."

Blaine nodded, handing over the music. Kurt glanced down at the familiar words, then began to sing quietly.

"_Hands over my head,_

_Thinking what else could go wrong?_

_Would have stayed in bed,_

_How can the day be so long,"_

Kurt was already planning ways to kill Wes slowly and painfully once this performance was over. Not only had he sprung this on them at last minute, but he had picked a song that Kurt had placed in his 'Blaine playlist.' One of the songs that he felt summed up everything that had happened between the two of them far too well and coincidentally the exact song he had been listening to after the Gap attack.

"_Never believed that things happen for a reason_

_But how this turned out removed all my doubts, so believe,"_

Blaine's voice rose to join his, echoing around the room in their perfect, effortless harmony that they did so well.

"_That for you I'd do it all over again,_

_Do it all over again_

_All I went through lead me to you,_

_So I'd do it all over again for you."_

As Blaine took over the lead, Kurt saw something shift in his eyes and he almost stumbled over the first line. Kurt's heart suddenly jumped into his throat. _Could it be -?_

"_I missed the first train,_

_Stood out in the rain all day, little did I know,_

_When I caught the next train there you were to sweep me away,_

_Guess that's what I waited for."_

Blaine took a step closer, closing the gap between them and staring at Kurt with the same intensity he thought he had seen during _Blackbird_. That same stare that had given him so much hope... except this time, it was incredibly hard to mistake what was going on in Blaine's mind.

"_Never believed that things happen for a reason_

_But how this turned out removed all my doubts, so believe,"_

Kurt did his best to keep his voice from shaking as he joined the chorus.

"_That for you I'd do it all over again,_

_Do it all over again_

_All I went through lead me to you,_

_So I'd do it all over again for you."_

It wasn't as perfect as the first harmony, but Kurt knew neither of them could bother. He opened his mouth to begin the bridge before he felt Blaine's fingers gently touching his lips. Snapping his mouth shut, he looked straight into Blaine's eyes which were suddenly a lot closer than they had been before and - _oh_.

When Blaine's lips finally parted from his, Kurt blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "There is _no way _we can sing that up there."

"No," Blaine agreed, still looking slightly dazed. "Not unless you want that to happen in front of everybody."

Kurt grabbed the sheet music from where it had been tossed to the ground - _when did that happen? _- in one hand and Blaine's in the other. "Not in front of everybody," he murmured, watching the grin cross Blaine's face in response. "And we'll need to talk about this properly later, but right now we have," he leant back, "three minutes until we need to go on."

Blaine nodded, his grin still in place. As Kurt pulled open the door, he had to jump back quickly as Jeff and Cameron suddenly fell in. Nick backed away with a water glass in hand to where Wes and David were standing, whistling nonchalantly. Kurt stared at them all for a few seconds, and then it clicked. "I can't _believe you!_"

"What?" Apparently Blaine wasn't used to meddling friends, but Kurt had been at McKinley, he _knew _set-up guilt when he saw it.

Wes stepped forward a little, looking uncharacteristically apologetic but devious at the same time. "Um... no, you didn't have to change the duet. Sticking with _Candles _is absolutely fine."

"Yeah," David chipped in, leaning over his friend's shoulder and grinning gleefully at the two boys. "We were all just dying from the sexual tension. So now that that's out of the way," he broke off as loud applause rang out from the stage, "we need to get on."

As the group of boys rushed in, Kurt turned to see Blaine still staring, open mouthed, at the spot where Wes and David had been. "What - what just happened?"

Kurt shook his head, leaning over to kiss Blaine's cheek quickly. "Come on," he said, knowing he was blushing and _really _not caring. "We've got a performance to do."

* * *

**Mhm. This one I liked ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Ugh! Wes did it AGAIN."**_

_**"Broke your Katy Perry CD? Well, here's what you do..."**_

_***on Wes's pillow***_

_**3 dead wizzlenauts (grown exclusively in Kurtdom) and a note reading 'Although giving live wizzlenauts can mean admiration, giving dead wizzlenauts means revenge is to be taken. WATCH YOUR BACK, WESLEY. Signed, the evil llama that resides in your dreams.'**_


	153. Farewell

**Return of the Sarah Zombie. It was most apparent this morning when I was reading reviews for yesterdays chapter and couldn't for the life of me remember what it was about. That was confusing. **

**Posted a new 'written-in-half-an-hour-off-a-whim' oneshot last night. It's called _Hurt_ and it's one of the more angsty ones I've written, but it's not like relationship angst if that's keeping anybody away, okay? I know I often shy away from stories that are angst and Kurt and Blaine but it's not like that, or like _Edge of Glory. _**

**From **_**totallygilmore **_**and similarly prompted by**_** Embry Moonflower: Kurt and Blaine kiss in the airport before Kurt leaves for NYC Nationals**_

**This also allows me to cover something that I've often wondered about - when Kurt and Rachel are talking about moving to New York and Kurt says that he's asked Blaine and 'he's on board too,' in what way did he ask? And when did he ask? I put it in my Facebook fic a little bit too, but I like hashing out possible scenarios and at some point I'll probably write a oneshot for it. Just like all of the other oneshots I need to write...**

* * *

Farewell

"You didn't have to come, you know?"

Blaine attempted to reply but his yawn cut him off. "I wanted to," he said when his lungs were cooperating again.

"It's 5am." Kurt rolled his eyes but the effect was dulled by his own tiredness. "None of our _parents _even came. He gestured to the rest of the McKinley students who were sprawled around the airport in various stages of sleep - excluding Rachel of course who was pacing and rifling through what Blaine assumed was a large sheet music folder.

"I wanted to come," Blaine repeated, mainly because it was the only thing his sleep-addled brain could think to say. It seemed to work for Kurt who squeezed his hand again. "Nervous?"

Kurt thought about it for a few seconds. "About the plane ride, somewhat. About the performance, not in the slightest. About our ability to write three original songs in _New York _in three days… absolutely."

Blaine laughed but he shared the same concern. "Seriously, Wes would pitch a _fit _if he tried to get you guys organized. I get that you had the funeral to worry about, but you've known for ages now that you're going to New York. Why didn't they start writing songs the second they had won Regionals?"

"You'll have to ask them." A loud snore from Puck made it clear that Blaine wouldn't be getting any answers today and Kurt rolled his eyes again. "I don't know where Mr. Schue's head has been lately. I mean, yes, he's usually pretty crap at getting things organized but this is bad even for him. I'm starting to wonder whether he might have some kind of secret double life - and it wouldn't be his relationships, we all know _all _about them."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh as he drank Kurt in. "I'm going to miss you," he blurted out before he could stop himself, immediately proceeding to mentally kick himself. He had _promised _himself he wouldn't get all sentimental on Kurt unless Kurt was the one to initiate it. The last thing he wanted was to give Kurt the idea that he was clingy, especially with the way Kurt seemed to react to emotional situations by simply brushing them off if he wanted to. And Blaine had been sure that this was one of the times that Kurt wouldn't want to make a scene or be overly affectionate, especially not with all of New Directions just behind them.

But Kurt's eyes softened and when he did finally reply his voice was quiet. "I'll miss you too. I - Blaine, I love being back with these guys but I wish you could come. I really do."

Blaine swallowed the lump of moisture in his throat and nodded. "I wish I could be there. Nationals is going to be amazing and New York itself just looks incredible."

"I'm planning to move there as soon as school is over," Kurt confided, a small smile crossing his face. "That's the life for me."

"Same," Blaine said without really thinking about it. There was a heartbeat of silence where the two stared at each other then Blaine laughed, surprising them both. "We're both thinking it, aren't we? We've been together for a matter of weeks and I know we _shouldn't _be but -"

"But it's so natural," Kurt completed. "You know, if we're still together, we could do it."

A shiver ran down Blaine spine and he wasn't sure whether it was from the idea itself or the way Kurt had said the word _together_, setting it apart as if it were something to be cherished. Which, really, it was. Blaine was just glad Kurt felt the same about it, that it wasn't just a high school fling for either of them. They might break up at some point, yes, but neither of them were in it just for fun. Stepping closer, Blaine took Kurt's other hand gently. "If we're still _together_," he began, trying to put as much emphasis into the word as Kurt had, "I would love nothing more."

A second of relief flashed across Kurt's face, so fast that Blaine wouldn't have caught it if he didn't know his boyfriend's facial expressions very well by now. "Hold on, you thought I'd say no?"

"I wasn't sure," Kurt admitted. "I was afraid I was thinking too far ahead or speaking too soon -"

His words were cut off as Blaine placed a finger against his lips. "Never be afraid to speak your mind around me, Kurt -"

"Oh good. That sweater is hideous, burn it before I return please."

Blaine rolled his eyes, trying not to look down at his outfit self consciously. "Thank you but I was _trying _to have a nice moment there." Kurt mimed zipping his lips and Blaine sighed good-naturedly, taking his hand again. "As I was saying, I _definitely _don't have a problem with you thinking about us having a future together. It makes me feel much better about admitting that, with all of this Gay Equality Bill stuff going on in New York right now, I have thought about how amazing it would be to marry you some day."

Kurt's breath caught and his fingers tightened in Blaine's grip, making him worry that he had scared Kurt off by talking to far into the future. But then the death grip relaxed and Kurt smiled. "I imagine it too," he said quickly to Blaine's relief and surprise. "Of course the odds of us making it aren't high, but I want to be the ones to defy the high school stereotype. Along with Mike and Tina," he added both boys glancing over to the aforementioned couple who were curled up on a couch together. "They'll last the distance."

"I hope we do too," Blaine murmured, his voice dropping. It was a strange place to be having such an intimate conversation, with all of Kurt's teammates and his teacher present, but Blaine couldn't really imagine it any other way. It was just so _Kurt_.

_Kurt, who you might be living in New York with in years to come._

He could tell Kurt was thinking the same thing as their smiles mirrored one another. Blaine stepped forward again so their arms were touching, hands pressed between their bodies. "You'll have to tell me about all of the amazing places we're going to visit on our first trip over together," he said quietly.

Kurt nodded, leaning closer still so their foreheads were almost touching. "I will. It won't be the same without you though. Nothing ever is."

And Blaine knew he should have been sad at that, especially knowing what his summer had in store and how much time they were probably going to spend apart, but he couldn't bring himself to let anything ruin the moment they had built. "Well, make sure you come back to me then."

"Maybe you need to give me something to remind me of what I'm coming back to."

Blaine blinked a couple of times as he replayed the words, making sure he knew what Kurt was asking. But he was fairly sure that Kurt had just asked him to _kiss him…_

And then Kurt gave that half smile that spoke volumes and Blaine's breath caught because _holy crap, he __is__._

When Blaine had finally gotten his act together and realized that all of the things he had been looking for could be found in Kurt, he had wanted so badly to just kiss him right there and then. But patience and common sense had won out - the last time Kurt had been kissed hadn't exactly been a wonderful experience for him and Blaine wanted to make sure that this was what _Kurt _was ready for and wanted. So, about a week in to their relationship, he had sat Kurt down and laid the whole situation on the line. And Kurt's response had just been to give that little smile and tell him, "It'll happen when it happens. We'll know when the right time will be." And apparently this was it.

Taking a deep breath, Blaine took one last look into Kurt's eyes to be _sure_, then leaned in to gently press their lips together. Kurt immediately made a murmur of assent and tugged his hands out so he could put them around Blaine's neck, Blaine finding his hands drifting to Kurt's sides and pulling him closer.

"_Now calling passengers on flight AL7218 to New York, please proceed to the departure lounge."_

Kurt broke away with a sigh and they stared at each other for a few seconds longer before reluctantly letting go. Together, they roused the rest of New Directions and herded them in the direction of the gate. As soon as they were all through, Kurt turned to Blaine and threw his arms around him, almost knocking him off balance. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too," Blaine whispered, holding him close. "Have fun and good luck."

Kurt pulled away, tugging his bag higher onto his shoulder. "I will. I'll call you as soon as I can." Walking through the gate, Kurt turned and blew him a kiss which Blaine caught, both smiling half-jokingly, half-fondly. And with that, Kurt was gone. Blaine stared at the place he had been for a few seconds before turning away with his smile still in place. It was only a few days after all, and he had _plenty _to remember Kurt by. They'd be fine.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**The 4 steps to Mr. Hummel's revenge:**_

_**1. Hack Wes's phone so his background is a Zefron photo, and it plays HSM all. Day. Long.**_

_**2. David's dorm floor needs some redecorating. How about completely covering the floor with glass marbles?**_

_**3. Ah, Cameron. How I pity him. We have to take yarn and attach it from one wall to the next, crisscrossing it and making it impossible to move. Did we mention there were streamers too?**_

_**4. Nick and Jeff get a joint revenge. I feel almost sorry for them, getting their heads shaved.**_


	154. Friend

**To anybody waiting on _Straight Camp _or _Stalker._**** This is the official note to tell you that neither will be updated in about a week at least. I keep getting these reviews telling me to update and that I 'should' be updating and I can't. I only really have time to get on here and post this chapter every night and then try and keep up with my writing. So please just bear with me, they will be updated but not straight away. **

**Oh, and my folders of 'Completed but not published' and 'Incomplete' chapters of _Kiss _have evened out. Which means that before long, I'll be out of chapters to actually write. Which means... this story is drawing to a close. Somewhat. I mean, we still have three months, but for me it just got real that this will be ending. **

**I think I'm going to be calling a sick day soon. I think it'll conveniently be on the day that I'm meant to fill a shift at another and much bigger store. Seriously though, I feel awful right now. **

**From **_**Mrs. Malfoy-Goode: so Kurt's at Mercedes' house cuz shes getting ready for her 1st date w/ Sam and Blaine goes to pick Kurt up and seeing Kurt with Mercy made him a little jealous ;)**_

* * *

Friend

"I now call this Warbler meeting to order."

A loud banging noise filled the room and Wes's hand jerked up in surprise, as well as the heads of the majority of the Warblers, because _that wasn't Wes's gavel._

"Mercedes?"

Kurt was on his feet and Blaine leant forward, looking around Kurt to see the New Directions girl standing in the doorway. "Kurt! Good, I need to borrow you for a few hours."

Blaine frowned in confusion along with the rest of the Warblers, but Kurt barely batted an eyelid. "Am I to assume I need to bring the kit?"

Mercedes nodded. "Please. I signed you out already."

"How - no, I don't even want to know." Kurt shook his head, grabbing his bag and heading out the door. "So we'll have to swing by my room, it's just down.."

His voice trailed off abruptly as the door closed behind the two. Blaine turned his attention to the Council who were looking a bit shell-shocked - after all, nobody had ever just walked out of rehearsal before. Wes blinked back to attention, banging his gavel loudly as if to make up for being usurped earlier.

"First point of business. We seem to be facing an issue in regards..."

Blaine sighed, figuring he'd learn about whatever was going on with Kurt later. But try as he might he couldn't keep his focus on rehearsal, his eyes continuously flickering to the empty seat beside him.

* * *

Kurt waited until they had made it to Mercedes car before beginning the interrogation. "So, it's date night, I've got my makeover kit and you're torn between nervous-and-wanting-to-pass-out and excited-and-still-probably-wanting-to-pass-out. Without passing out, tell me what's happening."

"Sam asked me out."

There were a few seconds of silence before two twin squeals echoed through the car. "Details, girl!"

Mercedes could barely keep her eyes on the road as her words rushed out. "We're working together on this week's Glee project and we were sitting in the choir room at lunch and right after we'd gotten the song perfect, be admitted he'd asked me to partner with him because he wanted to get to know me better and asked me to Breadstix."

Kurt clapped his hands together, the smile lighting up his face. "I'm so happy for you, 'Cedes! You have to call me after and tell me what happens, okay?"

"I will." There was a few moments of silence where Kurt mentally ran through their time frame and how many treatments he could get done in that time before Mercedes spoke up again. "So, what's happening with your boy?"

Kurt sighed. "Nothing. I think he's oblivious. Short of getting in his face and screaming 'Hey, I like you!', I don't think anything's going to make Blaine realize that I'm crazy about him." He shook his head, refusing to let himself get upset on Mercedes's important day. "But who cares about that! What are you wearing?"

After a little while more of discussion about various outfits and hairstyles, they pulled up at Mercedes's house. As soon as they reached her room, Kurt wasted no time, ordering the girl into the shower as he scoured her wardrobe. By the time Mercedes had finished, Kurt had laid out four outfits on her bed and had ducked to the other side of her privacy screen while she changed.

"So, what's the assignment?" he called, flipping through one of the many magazines Mercedes had lying around.

"About simply being yourself, singing a song that reflects both people," Mercedes replied from the other side of the room and Kurt couldn't help but smile at the sound of her voice. He couldn't remember the last time Mercedes had sounded this carefree, and as long as Sam treated her right, Kurt was happy.

"So what song - that's a maybe," Kurt decided as Mercedes emerged in the second outfit. She shrugged, returning to her bed for another. "Anyway, who chose the song and what is it?"

"He did. And he picked Chances by Five for Fighting. It took a lot of reassembling but we got it to work for our voices together and it actually sounds really good."

"It's always a sign when your voices go well together," Kurt informed the girl, tossing the magazine back on the table. "I always wondered how you'd sound in a duet with him."

"You mean like yours and Blaine's voices fitting together perfectly?"

Luckily Kurt was spared from answering as Mercedes appeared again. "That's divine!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. "Time for hair."

It was only as Kurt had finished sweeping Mercedes's hair back and clipping it in place when the realization occurred to him. "So, how am I meant to get back to Dalton?"

Mercedes's eyes widened in shock. "I didn't even think about that! I'm sorry, Kurt, I should have."

"It's fine," Kurt assured her, moving across the room to his bag as Mercedes began to apply her makeup. "I'll just get Blaine to pick me up."

"Kurt, honey, did you notice what you just said?"

Kurt turned around, phone in hand. "That I'd get Blaine to pick me up?"

Mercedes nodded, applying her eyeshadow expertly as she stared at him in the mirror. "Most people would be asking. You're calling him and knowing that he'll pick you up."

Kurt shrugged, flipping through his contacts. "So he's a good friend. It doesn't mean he's into me, Mercedes."

Mercedes muttered something inaudible that Kurt figured he was better off not knowing. He hit Blaine's number, putting the phone to his ear and waiting for his friend - and only friend, no matter what Mercedes said - to pick up.

"Hello?"

"Blaine, hi!"

Kurt could almost hear the smile in his friends voice as he responded. "Oh, hey Kurt. What can I do for you?"

"Well you know how Mercedes kinda kidnapped me earlier?"

Blaine chuckled, Kurt trying not to think about how much it affected him. "I think everybody might have noticed that one, Kurt."

Kurt could feel himself blushing. "Right. Anyway, she's going to leave me stranded here with no car in a couple of hours, so is there any chance you could come and pick me up?"

Blaine responded instantly. "Of course. I'll just finish up with some homework and be on my way. How close does she live to your place?"

"Pretty close actually." Kurt gave some quick directions before hanging up with a promise from Blaine that he'd be there soon. As he turned back around he saw Mercedes staring at him in the mirror before pretending to finish putting on her earrings and Kurt sighed. "I saw that."

Mercedes sighed, spinning on the stool. "Kurt, I wish you could see what I see. You'd know that the way you two talk to each other is not the way two completely platonic friends talk. It's not just you who's into him, he's interested."

Kurt shook his head. "Let's not think about it, okay? Tonight's about you. Now, tell me more about Sam - how long have you been interested in him?"

His diversion tactics worked. Mercedes immediately began to gush about the blonde haired boy, allowing Kurt to just listen. The time flew by as it always did when Kurt and Mercedes were together, and just as they were discussing Rachel's fashion choices - "Honestly, will she _ever _learn that white tights should not be worn by girls under fifty?" - Kurt's phone buzzed with a text.

_I'm outside. At least I hope it's the right house! - Blaine_

Kurt smiled at the text and Mercedes giggled. "What?" he snapped, quickly typing a reply: _If it's two stories and white, you're at the right one. Come on up, door's unlocked. - Kurt_

"You. Your face. You are _so _smitten."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Mercy, _nobody_ uses the word smitten anymore." He heard the sound of the door opening and immediately changed the subject as footsteps began to ascend the staircase. "So what are you doing after the date?"

Mercedes turned bright red. "I - what do you mean?"

"I didn't mean it like _that!_" Kurt began to laugh before noticing Blaine in the doorway and gesturing him in. "I meant are you going to invite him in - for coffee, Mercedes! For goodness sakes girl, where _is _your mind?"

Mercedes joined his laughter. "Okay, okay!" she said, raising her hands. "I may have talked to Santana before I came to get you -"

"Bad move!" Kurt finally remembered that Blaine was still standing there, looking slightly out of place. "Sorry, Blaine. Sam will be here in about ten minutes, so come and sit with us."

Mercedes was torn between excitement and nerves and Kurt knew he needed to focus all of his attention on her. So, trusting that Blaine could look after himself, he turned to his friend and took both of her hands. "You are going to have an amazing time," he said slowly, making sure she was listening. "Just be yourself, because that's the Mercedes that caught his attention, understood?"

"Understood." Kurt pulled her in and kissed her cheek lightly. "Thanks honey."

The doorbell rang and Kurt and Mercedes were both on their feet. "Get that gorgeous body down there and get your boy!" And with that, Mercedes was gone, clattering down the stairs in her heels. Kurt crossed his fingers, listening as the door opened.

There was absolute silence, and then Sam's voce drifted up the stairs. "You look _beautiful_, Mercedes."

Kurt bit his lip to stop from squealing, clapping his hands together. Mercedes replied quietly and then the door was closing behind them. Immediately, Kurt crossed to the window and peered out, seeing the two walking down the path hand in hand. They climbed into Sam's car and then they were off. "That's gorgeous," Kurt whispered quietly.

Turning back around, Kurt was surprised to see Blaine - he had forgotten his friend was there. "Hey, sorry about that. Ready to go?"

Blaine nodded, standing quickly. He was already halfway out the door before Kurt had moved and he frowned. _What's wrong with him?_

* * *

Blaine was already halfway across the yard by the time Kurt caught up, grabbing his hand. "Blaine? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Blaine said quickly, trying to avoid Kurt's eyes. He knew he was being rather obvious, but he couldn't help his feelings. He also couldn't help what came out of his mouth next. "Good to see you had fun bailing out on us this afternoon."

Kurt's grip on his hand relaxed, probably in shock, and Blaine took the opportunity to pull away, jumping into the car. A moment later, Kurt joined him and before he knew what was happening, the keys had been snatched out of his hand. "Kurt!"

"No, you're going to talk to me." Kurt was frowning at him, looking confused. "Are you really that annoyed that I skipped rehearsal? Because you seemed fine when we were talking on the phone earlier." Blaine thought frantically, trying to think of an excuse. But then Kurt kept talking. "You do know I have a life outside of Dalton, right? If that's your problem."

"Of course I know that!" Once again, the words were escaping before Blaine could control them. "You just act different when you're with her. And I know she's a girl," he added as Kurt opened his mouth to speak, "but you said to me that Mercedes and I were your two best friends and you _don't _treat us the same."

Kurt stared at him for a few more seconds and then something flickered to life in his eyes, causing a pit of dread to settle in Blaine's stomach. _Does he know? _"Blaine, are you _jealous_?"

_Crap_.

Blaine knew there was no point in pretending now. After all, Kurt had just hit the issue on the head. "It's weird seeing you with her, Kurt. You're so touchy-feely and _flirty_ and ... and you're never that way with me." He knew he sounded ridiculous, but he couldn't help it. Seeing Kurt act that way with Mercedes hurt more than he had wanted to let on.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that's because she's _friend-zoned_, Blaine."

It took a few seconds for the meaning to sink in. "So.. so I'm _not _friend-zoned?" Blaine asked, his voice suddenly dropping, scarcely daring to believe what had just been implied.

"The only person that friend-zones you is _you_." And there it was, out on the table. Kurt's irritation was dying quickly and he began to look shocked at what he had said. Any minute now, the boy would probably disappear and with him any chance of their relationship. Blaine had _seconds_ to do something, anything...

So he closed the gap between them and kissed Kurt quickly. Well, he only _meant _for it to be quick, just to prove to Kurt that he didn't want to be in the friend-zone... but as soon as their lips met, he couldn't stop. Neither could Kurt for that matter.

Finally the need for oxygen became prevalent and they pulled apart. A second later, Kurt started giggling, the sound just about driving Blaine crazy with how cute it was. "What?" he asked, smiling softly.

"Oh, I just imagined what would happen if you were still friend-zoned. I can't imagine doing that to Mercedes as well." Kurt mock-shuddered, still fighting his laughter.

"You'd better not," Blaine growled playfully. "I'd like to keep you all to myself, thanks."

Judging by the way Kurt's lips were pressed up against his a second later, Blaine figured the other boy was _definitely_ okay with that.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***starts to board plane***_

_**"Kurt, wait!"**_

_**"Yes, Blaine?"**_

_**"I have something important to ask you."**_

_***excited and nervous* "What?"**_

_**"...Can you bring me one of those mini packs of peanuts when you come back?"**_


	155. Dream

**Got home from work and forced myself to stay up to watch the Emmy's. Firstly we had limited red carpet coverage so I didn't actually see Chris until the Emmy's started and didn't know Darren was there at all until I saw the photos on Tumblr. Sigh. And, of course, Modern Family cleaned out the comedy awards so Chris and Jane didn't get the awards for their categories. But we love them regardless :) I'm just thrilled that Jim Parsons got an award for Big Bang Theory, I _adore _that show and he deserved it =D**

**Oh, and Chris was _angelic _on the red carpet. Simply beautiful.**

**From **_**Penelope Fiction: a first kiss via a dream. Like, Kurt dreams his first kiss with Blaine or vice versa.**_

* * *

Dream

It had been a long day.

Exams were right around the corner, and Blaine could see that Kurt had been struggling to keep up with the workload. So he had offered the use of his dorm room and his own services as a tutor instead of Kurt going back to Lima for the weekend. Kurt had accepted gratefully, telling Blaine that there was no way he would pass Math or Chemistry if he didn't get some help from someone.

They had spent all morning revising Math, and Blaine was confident that Kurt would definitely pass, if not get an A, as long as he kept his cool. But then they had moved on to Chemistry and things had gone downhill. Blaine could see Kurt was struggling with the terminology and had told him to take a break while he ducked down to get food. And as Blaine came back to the room with a couple of plates from the dining hall, he found Kurt sprawled on the bed, fast asleep.

Smiling fondly, Blaine placed the plates on his desk and moved to sit back down at his seat. He knew he really _should _wake Kurt up so he could keep studying, but his friend had looked so exhausted lately that Blaine couldn't find it in his heart to wake him.

_Ten minutes, _he decided. _Then we'll have to get back to work._

* * *

_Walking down the halls at McKinley, Kurt couldn't shake the feeling of foreboding. The sun was just a bit too bright, the halls just too empty. Kurt knew he was supposed to be in a class, but he didn't know which one, so he continued to roam the halls, looking for someone who could tell him. The logical side of his brain reminded him that he didn't go to McKinley anymore, he was a Dalton student, but he was here, wasn't he?_

_Walking around the corner, Kurt froze as he saw a group of jocks standing in the middle of the hall - the entire football team sans the Glee guys. He turned to run but his feet were frozen, stuck to the floor. All he could do was watch as the team advanced on him, a faceless blur of letterman jackets, slowly morphing together until they were just one._

_Karofsky._

"_No…"_

* * *

Blaine frowned, looking up from his Literature book. Kurt had started shifting on the bed, murmuring something under his breath. His eyes were darting around frantically under closed eyelids and Blaine could tell something was seriously stressing him out.

"Kurt?" he murmured quietly, dropping the book on his nightstand and moving the chair a bit closer. Kurt refused to wake.

* * *

"_What did I tell you about coming back here?"_

_Kurt was shaking, trying to run but found himself stuck. "I - I didn't mean to. Let me go!"_

"_I told you what would happen if you told anybody, didn't I?" Karofsky took another step closer so they were almost toe-to-toe. "And you didn't listen, and then you came back here to rub it in my face."_

"_No, no, I swear. I didn't tell anybody!" Kurt shook his head frantically. "Please, Karofsky, just let me go, I didn't do anything!"_

* * *

"Karofsky… let me go…"

_He's having a nightmare._

"Kurt!" Blaine raised his voice a little, not wanting to scare his friend any further. "Kurt, it's Blaine. I need you to wake up."

But it was no use. Kurt suddenly whined low in his throat and curled in on himself, just as if he had been punched. Blaine's mouth ran dry as he tried to think of something to do, but there was nothing. All he could do was keep trying to wake Kurt up.

* * *

_Kurt tried to stay on his feet, his arms wrapped around his midsection as Karofsky geared up for another punch. "I told you I'd teach you a lesson, didn't I?"_

"_Please…"_

"_I told you I'd KILL you if you ever came back!"_

_Karofsky hit him again and Kurt doubled over, trying to breathe._

* * *

Kurt's breathing had run shallow and Blaine was freaking out. "Kurt, please! Kurt, you're not there, you're at Dalton, you're okay."

By now, Kurt was completely in the fetal position and Blaine couldn't see his eyes to know whether he was close to waking up or not. He deliberated getting someone to help or calling one of Kurt's McKinley friends or his father, but he didn't want to leave Kurt's side for a second.

He chanced taking one of Kurt's hands and felt the fingers twist around his tight, nearly cutting off circulation. "Kurt, he can't hurt you, I promise."

* * *

"_I'm going to hurt you so bad that your little prep school boyfriend won't want you anymore. And then I'm going to go through on that promise and I will kill you."_

_Karofsky's voice was low and rough as he moved in closer. Kurt was still struggling to breathe because he knew this was it, Karofsky was going to kill him and he'd never get to tell his father he loved him one more time or tell Blaine that he loved him full stop._

"_But first, I think I'm going to take something from you that you didn't give me properly last time."_

_Kurt froze before a single word finally escaped his lips._

* * *

"NO!"

Blaine jumped as Kurt screamed the word, his entire body shaking. All Blaine wanted to do was pull him into his arms and do anything to get him to wake up, but he knew that would just make things worse when Kurt did wake up.

"Somebody help me, please!"

"Kurt, I'm here," Blaine began to babble again, hoping the words would sink in. "I'm here and I'll help you if you let me, I just need you to wake up. It's not real…"

* * *

"_Get away from him!"_

_Kurt turned, suddenly freed from his invisible constraints. Blaine was standing in the hallway, radiating an aura of power. "You are going to leave him alone right now and walk away."_

"_And if I don't?" Karofsky sneered, but Kurt could see the fear in his face. Blaine was winning._

"_And if you don't, I'm going to hurt you. Simple."_

_Karofsky held onto Kurt's arm for another second before dropping it. Kurt collapsed to the floor, finally able to breathe._

* * *

Blaine sighed in relief as Kurt suddenly quietened, stretching back out on his back. The worry lines faded from his forehead and clearly whatever nightmare he had been having was gone, replaced with something else.

And then Kurt whispered under his breath, so softly that Blaine wasn't even sure if he had heard it. He was pretty sure he had imagined it, after all, why would Kurt be saying _Blaine's _name in his sleep?

* * *

"_Blaine…"_

"_It's alright, I've got you."_

_Karofsky had disappeared and Blaine's arms were around him, holding him close. "I'm never going to let you go, I'll never let him hurt you. I love you, Kurt."_

_Kurt sighed, lifting his head to stare into those beautiful hazel eyes. "I love you too, Blaine. Even if you only love me here."_

"_I love you there too, and you know it. You're just waiting for me to say something." Kurt nodded, knowing it was true but he would only ever admit it to himself in this place where he was safe. And because he was feeling particularly bold, he finally let himself do what he had always held back from doing in dreams. Taking Blaine's face gently in his hands, he leaned in and kissed him._

_Blaine was responding instantly, as if this was what they were born to do. And, at least in this reality, they were. Kurt knew if it felt this amazing here, in a world he knew he had to leave very soon - he could hear the real Blaine calling to him after all - then it would be so much better when he could experience it for real._

_And maybe, he thought as he broke free, running his thumbs over Blaine's cheeks one more time, maybe I will._

* * *

"Kurt?"

Blinking rapidly against the harsh light, Kurt forced his eyes open to see Blaine leaning over him, looking confused. His mind immediately went back to his dream and he had to fight his blush as he pulled himself into a sitting position. "Blaine? What happened?"

"I think you were having a nightmare." And then the rest of the dream came flooding back, the horror hitting Kurt hard. "You were, weren't you?" Kurt nodded shakily and Blaine immediately moved to sit next to him, wrapping his arms around him. "It's alright, whatever it was, you're safe here."

As Blaine's arms tightened, Kurt felt all of his worries fade and allowed himself to press his head into Blaine's shoulder, remembering the final moments of his dream, that kiss…

"Yeah," he whispered, so quietly that he wasn't sure if Blaine could even hear him. "I'm safe here."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Me and Blaine kissed!"**_

_**"Oh my gosh! Where? I want deets!"**_

_**"Um... On your bed?"**_

_**That weekend, Wes, David, Mercedes, and Finn held a bonfire in which they all burned their sheets. Along with all of ND and the Warblers...**_


	156. Lips

**Six thousand is quite a wonderful number. **

**Thank you, everybody. 6k is mind blowing! And there was a little bit of a battle to be the 6,000th review, I saw, but the title goes to _Tigrislupa_. If you want to contact me for a reward, feel free to :) I'm also posting a poll as of tonight about how many reviews you think this story will have when we reach Chapter 232, so go ahead and check that out :)**

**Just to let you know, by the way, when I reach 300 Tumblr followers (seven to go) I'm going to post a oneshot over there that won't be posted here. So if you don't follow me, you might want to ;)**

**From **_**IJustFellDownTheRabbitHole: You know when Kurt said "What do boys lips taste like" to Brittany, maybe he asks Blaine, they experiment and Blaine suddenly realizes he loves Kurt... or something like that**_

* * *

Lips

**Blaine Anderson **

Two words, one sign. Things that should _not _be making Kurt as nervous as he was right now. But he found himself wiping the sweat off his palms - and that was _gross, _thank you very much - before lifting a hand to tentatively knock at the door. It wasn't that Blaine ever made him feel unwelcome in his room; quite the opposite actually, he always encouraged Kurt to come over and hang out. But there was a _significant _difference between hanging out and what Kurt wanted to do today. Or namely what he wanted to discuss.

The door swung open and Blaine was smiling at him. "Kurt, you know you don't have to knock. Come on in." Kurt hesitantly made his way into the room, sitting on the edge of Blaine's bed nervously. Apparently it was obvious that something was up as Blaine sat next to him instantly, a hand on his arm. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about… it's just a bit weird." Kurt fiddled with the edge of his scarf nervously. "I don't want you to think I'm prying or being rude or trying to judge you or anything like that, and I really don't want you to think -"

"Kurt," Blaine interrupted gently, "why don't you just tell me what's going on?"

Kurt nodded, taking a deep breath. "I - I was wondering whether you'd had any boyfriends before?"

"No, I haven't," Blaine said immediately. "You'd know yourself that it's hard to find guys who are out and proud our age and the only two that are here except us are dating each other." He pulled a face and Kurt laughed, feeling a little more at ease. "So no, none. Why do you ask? Have you?"

Kurt couldn't quite read the look on Blaine's face as he asked that and decided against asking. "No," he said instead. "McKinley wasn't exactly teeming with anybody who would admit they were gay and my only experience with anything involving a guy was my slightly stalker-ish crush on Finn and… yeah."

Blaine's hand squeezed his arm reassuringly. "I know."

Kurt waited a moment before realizing he would have to spell it out and risk offending his friend. "So… do you have any experience?"

"No boyfriends -"

"Doesn't always mean no experience." Kurt cringed at the slightly affronted look he was receiving. "This is what I meant by not wanting to offend you, and I promise I'm not insinuating that you fool around or anything, I'm just curious. We can drop it if you want."

Blaine shook his head. "It's alright, I understand. You just threw me off guard a little there. No, no experience either… except when Jeff kissed me on the cheek, just playing around. But he was with Nick of course so that hardly counts."

Kurt nodded. "Okay," he said quietly, wondering where to go from there. The silence that filled the room was far too awkward for his liking - in fact, Kurt couldn't remember the last time he and Blaine had experienced an awkward silence in their friendship. It wasn't a good thing.

"So," Blaine finally broke it, his voice just a bit on edge. "Why did you ask all of that?"

Kurt sighed. "I was thinking about some of my McKinley experiences and - oh, I haven't told you about that yet… um. Do you count experience with a girl as experience?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "You have experience with a girl?"

"I might have made out with one of the cheerleaders - Brittany, you sort of know her - when I thought I had to be straight to get my dad to like me." Kurt resisted the urge to blush as he remembered the awkwardness of the whole situation, how incredibly turned _off _he had been by it all and the realization that he never had to try and change because his father had loved him just the same no matter what. It was a memory Kurt had always tried to put out of his head, but this time he couldn't.

Blaine's expression turned sympathetic and all the tension dissipated. "I never realized you had issues with your dad," he said gently. "I mean, I know it's all good now but I guess I thought it had always been good."

Kurt shrugged. "We were always good. I just got confused. Anyway, so I made out with Brittany and it did nothing for me at all. And when we were kissing, I may have asked her what boys lips taste like, awkward moment right _there_, and she didn't really give me a good answer. Brittany's been around all of the guys anyway, I don't think kissing means a thing to her anymore. So I thought… I thought I'd come and ask someone who would hopefully feel the same as me when they kissed a boy."

Somehow Blaine had followed along and understood. "I wish I could be of more help, but it's something I've found myself wondering about too. I've kissed a girl in truth or dare and, like you said, it just does nothing. It actually got me a bit worried that when I _did _kiss a guy for the first time, the same thing would happen."

"I know what you mean." Kurt was suddenly hyper-aware of Blaine's hand still resting on his arm and swallowed roughly. "Do… do you think it'll be alright for us?"

"Oh, I'm sure it will," Blaine said, just as Kurt realized how his statement could have been misconstrued and blushed violently. "After all, Nick and Jeff seem very happy together and they kiss a _lot_. I don't know why I've never thought of asking them…"

Blaine's voice trailed off and Kurt coughed sheepishly. "I may have asked Jeff, but the second I mentioned the words 'Nick' and 'lips' in the same sentence, he was on another planet and then disappeared shortly after in the direction of Nick's room." Blaine laughed, his hand tightening slightly on Kurt's arm in the process. "So that was no help."

"I don't think anybody else can explain it for you anyway," Blaine said slowly. "I think it's something you really have to experience before you can understand it."

_Don't think about how much you want to kiss him!_

"Yeah, I think so." Kurt sighed, looking down at the floor. "If it ever happens."

The next thing he knew, a pair of fingers were under his chin, turning his head to look at Blaine who suddenly looked fierce. "Believe me, you're going to find someone. Guys would have to be _crazy _not to notice you." A second later, Blaine's eyes widened, Kurt's following behind a moment later as he realized the implications behind what Blaine had just said. _Did he just… does he?_

Now it was Blaine's turn to sink into himself as if he wanted to disappear and Kurt's turn to pull him out. "Hey," Kurt said quietly, waiting until Blaine reluctantly looked at him, color flooding his cheeks. "There is one sure fire way we can find out how boys lips taste."

"What's that?"

Kurt sighed quietly but chalked Blaine's obliviousness up to embarrassment. "Well… you're a guy, I'm a guy, we both like guys… do the math?"

And before Blaine could say anything, Kurt was closing the gap between them and kissing Blaine softly on the lips. He was still taking a risk - after all, Kurt might have read the signs wrong and Blaine was embarrassed about something completely different - but when Blaine began to kiss him back, he knew he had gotten it right, thank _god_. It took a few seconds for Kurt to remember why he was supposed to be kissing Blaine and quickly focused on the task at hand; trying to work out what Blaine's lips tasted like.

When they finally resurfaced, Kurt just shook his head. "You really _can't _describe it, can you?"

"Not at all," Blaine murmured, slightly out of breath. "Not for lack of trying though. Is it good?"

Kurt simply rolled his eyes. "You tell me," he said, shuffling back so he was leaning against the wall. Blaine shook his head and joined him, leaving a small amount of distance between them as if he wasn't sure where to go from there. "That wasn't just 'practice' for you, was it?" Kurt asked, suddenly hesitant even though he _knew _the answer.

"Definitely not. You?"

Kurt pretended to weigh it up before laughing. "Not at all. Though practice is a valuable tool and we should never forget that and I'm quite content to spend _months _trying to work out what boys taste like."

"You know," Blaine mused, "someday we might get guys come to us and ask the same question. We _really _need to do our best to have an answer for them."

Kurt caught on instantly, winking at Blaine. "More practice required?" he asked innocently.

"Get over here."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"RAWR! Fear me, for I am Karofsky!"**_

_**"Ah! What ever shall I do?"**_

_**"Never fear, Captain Blaine is here! I'll save you with my powers of hair gel, Warbling, and cottage cheese!"**_

_**"...suddenly, I no longer want to be the Lois Lane to your Superman. Can we go back to the Victorian romance?"**_


	157. Blind

**I DONT WANT TO HEAR A WORD ABOUT 03X01!**

**I am dead serious here. If I get any reviews telling me what happened in the episode before I get to see it, I _will _boycott my own story. This is how much I do not want spoilers. You can obviously give general opinions ("I hated it," "I thought it was fantastic," "It wasn't what I expected,") and so on but nothing that will allude to anything, please. And a note to anybody who doesn't get Glee for a few more days/weeks/whatever, I will have an authors note coming up where I talk about the episode but I'll give plenty of warning about that, okay?**

**I had fire training today. I'm fire phobic. It was practical. You can just imagine my joy...**

**From **_**dadiva18: Blindfolded 7 minutes in heaven. Everyone knows who is in there, except for them two! :)**_

**Original Song happened, just not the Klaine stuff. So Kurt is back at McKinley, and the Warblers have missed him so they throw a combined party for him =D the rest, as they say, is history.**

* * *

Blind

**Kurt.**

"Alright... alright!"

Wes held up his hand, yelling above the chaos. The combined Warblers and New Directions group eventually settled, half-heartedly giving Wes their attention. "I have an idea."

Kurt raised an eyebrow as he stood. "If it involves your gavel, I'm not in."

Laughter filled the room and Blaine caught his eye, winking. Kurt sat back down with a smirk on his face. There was no alcohol - as much as Puck complained beforehand - but the level of crazy hadn't diminished at all. Once Kurt had ensured that none of the New Directions members were going to break anything, he had sat back and enjoyed hanging out with both of his show choirs. And Blaine, of course.

Wes frowned, but there were hints of a smile. "No, Kurt. New Directions on that side, Warblers on this side." As the groups split, Wes gestured to Puck to join him. Kurt watched Wes whisper in Puck's ear, shaking his head. _That is the weirdest bromance ever... _

Puck grinned, fist-bumping Wes before moving across to try and put his arm around Lauren again. The girl stepped aside, smirking and shaking her head. Wes stepped over to the Warbler side of the room. "You guys go out of the room, we'll stay here. Pick one person and blindfold them, then come back in." David began to laugh, gesturing for New Directions to leave.

As soon as they were out in the hall, Puck immediately turned to the others. "Alright, who's volunteering?"

"Are you going to explain what it is?" Lauren snapped her gum, looking bored.

"Seven minutes in heaven."

Tina clapped her hands together excitedly. "Awesome! Not in though, I don't want to kiss anybody other than Mike."

Puck nodded. "That's fair enough. I need to oversee things so it can't be me."

Santana looked like she was thinking. "There's really only a few hot guys in there and I think most of those were gay. Plus, I can hook up with whoever I want after the party." Kurt made a mental note to spread the word to warn - or inform - the Warbler boys later.

Finn and Rachel glanced at each other before shaking their heads. Sam was also backing out. "You know I don't have a problem with gays, but I'd rather not spend seven minutes in a closet with a guy." Mercedes simply raised her hand which was linked with Sam's.

And now all the eyes were on Kurt. He raised an eyebrow. "How did I know this would happen? Alright, I guess I know them best to avoid any potential awkwardness, though I think most of the other guys were hoping for one of you girls... probably Quinn."

Quinn ducked her head. "Flattered, but not interested. Plus, I'd probably start talking and mess things up."

Kurt sighed. "Okay, blindfold me."

Puck grabbed one of the Warbler ties Wes had given him and gestured for Kurt to turn around. The last thing Kurt saw was Mercedes grinning at him before his vision was completely gone.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

Kurt smirked. "Puck, if you haven't learnt how to count by senior year, I can't help you."

Santana snickered, and then Kurt felt a hand on his back. "I'll guide you in, bro."

"Thanks, Finn." Another arm - Mercedes, Kurt guessed - was linked in his and they led him into the room. There was a moment of silence, then the sound of laughter from both sides of the room. Kurt desperately wanted to ask what was funny, but stayed silent.

"Alright, person in the New Directions blindfold?" Kurt inclined his head slightly, indicating that he was listening to Wes. "And person in the Warbler blindfold?" There was a second of silence. "Good. You're going to be led into a closet on the other side of the room and locked in for seven minutes. That time is yours to do what you will with it, but of course you both know what you're _meant _to do with the time."

There was a noise that sounded like Puck had fist-bumped Wes again, then Wes continued. "Remember, no talking in that time. At the end, you can guess who you were with if you like. Understood?"

Kurt nodded, assuming the other person was doing the same. "Alright then."

Finn's hand was on his back again, leading him in the other direction where Kurt knew a closet was waiting. They stopped for a second and Kurt heard the shuffling sound that indicated that the first person had been led in. In the few seconds that Kurt had to think, he found himself mentally running through the possibilities of who he could have to spend the next seven minutes with. _Who would I actually be comfortable doing this with?_

As the gentle shove came to his back and he stumbled in, hearing the door close behind him, the answer was simple. _Blaine._

* * *

**Blaine.**

Wes stretched out the tie between his hands, glancing around the group. "Right, who's up for the challenge?"

Nick and Jeff were shaking their heads instantly. "Not happening," Jeff said, squeezing Nick's hand. Nick nodded his agreement.

"Okay, fair enough." Wes glanced around the rest of the group. "I'm assuming everybody with a girlfriend is out too?" After receiving nods from various members, Wes thought for a second. "That leaves Thad, Cameron and Blaine."

The three boys looked at each other. Cameron spoke up first. "I'd actually rather not, to be honest. I'd like to get to know Quinn better, and I don't think she's the closet type."

"You know I'm usually up for the challenge," Thad chipped in before Blaine could speak, "but there's a few girls - and guys for that matter - that I'd rather not chance it on."

Wes was now staring at Blaine who sighed. "You know there's a 95% chance that they're going to put up a girl because we're all guys?" He shook his head, glancing around at the other boys. "Fine, I'll do it."

He turned, allowing Wes to tie the tie around his eyes. Before anybody else could say anything, the sound of footsteps came from the doorway as the New Directions group re-entered the room. Blaine heard the sound of laughter - Nick in particular sounded rather amused - and Blaine presumed that one of the girls had been chosen. _But what if it's Finn or someone? _

"Alright, person in the New Directions blindfold?" A moment of silence, and then Wes continued. "And person in the Warbler blindfold?" Blaine elbowed him, smirking. "Good. You're going to be led into a closet on the other side of the room and locked in for seven minutes. That time is yours to do what you will with it, but of course you both know what you're _meant _to do with the time." Blaine could hear Nick and Jeff whispering softly behind him, but before he could pick anything out, Wes was talking. "Remember, no talking in that time. At the end, you can guess who you were with if you like. Understood?"

Blaine nodded, and then someone grabbed his arm, turning him in the direction of the closet. "Good luck," came David's voice, whispered in his ear before he was pushed in. Turning on the spot, Blaine had a few seconds to wonder just what he had gotten himself in for and then there was another person invading his space, right in front of him.

The door closed. "Alright, you have seven minutes starting now!"

Blaine took a deep breath, before reaching his hands out carefully. He wasn't sure whether it was a guy or a girl in front of him, so he had to be very careful about where he put his hands. As he reached out, he felt another pair of hands meet his, fumbling against one another for a second before closing instinctively over one another. Blaine ran his thumb over the skin. It was smooth and very soft - usually an indication of a girl. He couldn't stop the twang of disappointment when he realized this. Blaine had been hoping for Kurt - not that he would have told anybody that - but he was a good sport and figured he'd go for it anyway.

The person across from him moved forward slightly, and Blaine began to trail his hands up the slender arms, still trying to work out who it was. He had instantly ruled out Mercedes and Lauren - neither girl were quite skinny enough to fit this build. Praying that it wasn't Santana, Blaine continued moving up to the shoulders, continuing to eliminate people as he did. It certainly wasn't Rachel, she was a lot shorter than whoever this person was.

Blaine knew that the best way to figure it out was to continue moving upwards, so gently ran his hands up the sides of the person's neck before freezing. His thumbs brushed against a lump that certainly didn't belong on a girl's throat.

_That means this is a guy._

_Alright, _Blaine thought to himself, _you already know this isn't Puck or Finn. Sam plays guitar so he'd have callouses... so it's either Mike or - or Kurt._

Blaine continued to move his hands up, running them through the soft hair on the sides of the face. As his hands brushed over the boy's cheekbones, there was a quiet inhalation and Blaine's heart jumped. He knew that sound, and he should have known it from the second their hands touched...

_This is Kurt. I'm in a closet with Kurt._

* * *

"Can you hear anything?"

Puck shook his head, pulling away from the door with a glass in his hand. He walked back across the room to where the others were sprawled on the couches, sitting next to Lauren. "Not a thing. I don't know whether that's bad or ... _good_."

"Wanky!"

Mercedes rolled her eyes, glancing over at Wes. "How much longer?"

"Five minutes."

* * *

**Kurt.**

As soon as the hands touched his, fingers lacing automatically, Kurt knew.

Oh, he had hoped, of course, but there was no denying the feeling of the other boys hands in his. The callouses from guitar playing, but with skin still at least relatively cared for. The hand that had reached out to him on the staircase and had been entwined with his as they ran through the halls.

_It's Blaine._

Kurt instinctively shuffled a little closer, before stopping. _Wait... what exactly am I meant to do?_

He wasn't sure whether Blaine knew who he was, but since Blaine's hands were currently ghosting up his arms, he figured the other boy wasn't sure. And he didn't know whether he wanted Blaine to figure it out or not. On one hand, Kurt could take the opportunity to do some things he'd always wanted to do with Blaine and then escape before the other boy could learn his identity. But he also wanted to know what Blaine's reaction might be to finding himself locked in a closet with Kurt.

Blaine's hands were running up his neck, before freezing. Kurt knew Blaine's mind was narrowing things down, working slowly towards the only possible candidate. And then the hands were moving again, running through his hair and across his face...

Kurt gasped quietly and Blaine stopped again. And this time, Kurt knew that he knew.

_Now what, Blaine?_

Ever so slowly, Blaine's fingers moved down his cheekbones, Kurt resisting the urge to tilt his head back at the sensations overtaking him. As they drifted across his lips, Kurt's breathing grew shallow and a shiver ran down his spine. Blaine pulled away and Kurt heard a whimper before realizing it came from himself.

And then Blaine was back, but this time it wasn't his fingers against Kurt's lips.

Kurt was instinctively kissing back before he even realized what was happening. By the time his brain had caught up, his arms were around Blaine's waist, pulling the other boy closer to him as they kissed hungrily. Blaine's hands were in his hair, running his fingers through and occasionally tugging at strands lightly in a way that only made Kurt kiss him more.

Kurt's hands were now running across Blaine's back, as if taking in everything for memory. He wasn't sure what was going to happen once their time was up, whether Blaine was just doing this for the fun of it or actually _wanted _to be with Kurt, but he was going to make the most of it either way. After all, the boy he was in love with was kissing him like there was no tomorrow.

And then, somehow, Blaine had Kurt's bottom lip and was nibbling on it gently and Kurt stopped breathing. As soon as he remembered that _hey, oxygen is our friend_, he pushed Blaine back up against the wall and attacked his lips, only hesitating for a second before letting his tongue slip through into Blaine's mouth. Blaine _growled _against his lips, drawing him closer.

Kurt knew this was the kind of making out that he had always figured would be sloppy and gross and unappealing. So maybe it was just Blaine that made this the best thing he had ever done. He didn't know and really couldn't care.

"One minute left! Make sure you're decent!"

Kurt pulled away, sighing. _Puck will pay for that later,_ he decided, smoothing down his hair and clothes. He stepped back to give Blaine some room to do the same, and began to shift from foot to foot nervously. Now that they had stopped attacking each other's faces, Kurt realized that they were about to go out there and actually look at each other. Just as he heard the sound of footsteps making their way over to the cupboard, Blaine's hand was in his, squeezing gently before releasing it as the door opened.

A hand was on Kurt's shoulder, guiding him out of the closet. He heard someone else move in behind him and bring Blaine out, and both boys were moved into what must have been the middle of the room.

"Welcome back." Kurt could hear the smirk in Wes's voice. "Now I have to ask you whether you'd like to reveal who you are to the other person. Just nod or shake your head."

Kurt didn't even have to think about it. No matter what happened, that had been one hell of a kiss and he wanted Blaine to know who was responsible for it.

"Okay then." Wes spoke a second later. "Take off your blindfolds."

Kurt fumbled with the knot in the tie, ripping it off his head and slowly opening his eyes.

* * *

**Blaine.**

"One minute left! Make sure you're decent!"

As Kurt pulled away, Blaine resisted the urge to groan or do something equally as embarrassing that would show just how disappointed he was that their time was up. He flattened his hair and tugged at his shirt, trying to look like he hadn't just made out with his best friend who he was also kind of completely in love with.

Blaine wasn't sure what was going to happen once they were back in the room. He and Kurt had never talked about their feelings - and why would they have? As far as Blaine had known, Kurt only saw him as a friend. Except friends don't _make out _with friends like that unless they want more... do they?

Blaine could hear the sound of Kurt shuffling and knew his friend would be pacing if there was enough room. Reaching out, he somehow managed to find Kurt's hand and squeezed it quickly. The door opened and he quickly let go, waiting for someone to lead Kurt out before another person grabbed his shoulders and guided him across the room. He could hear Kurt just in front of him and just wanted to reach out...

"Welcome back." Blaine jumped slightly, unaware that Wes had been right next to him. "Now I have to ask you whether you'd like to reveal who you are to the other person. Just nod or shake your head."

_Can you risk it? _

There was only one answer that Blaine could give.

"Okay then. Take off your blindfolds."

Blaine ripped the tie off straight away, forcing his eyes to adjust to the light. For a few seconds right at the end, there was a moment of panic thinking _what if it's __not__ Kurt?_

And then his eyes adjusted fully to see Kurt standing in front of him, holding a tie loosely in his hands and blinking furiously against the light. Blaine knew the second his eyes adjusted - the moment of shock followed by a hesitant happiness.

"So, did you guess -?"

Puck's words were cut off abruptly as Blaine reached out, grabbing Kurt and pulling him towards him again. They kissed for a few seconds before Blaine pulled away, smiling at Kurt innocently. "Did we guess, Kurt? Personally, I thought you were Finn."

"I had my hopes set on Thad... but I guess you'll do." Kurt winked, lacing their fingers together as he leant in for another kiss. There was a moment of stunned silence, then;

"WANKY!"

* * *

**I sent this fic to Angela as I was writing. About halfway through, I decided to be cruel and sent her an 'alternate ending' as the real thing. So this is what she randomly got sent.**

_**"Okay, take off your blindfolds."**_

_**Kurt pulled his blindfold off, turning to smile knowingly at ... THAD?**_

_**"Oh, hey, Kurt. Did you like it?" Thad winked and Kurt's jaw dropped. He searched the room frantically, only to see Blaine sitting on a couch next to Jeff and Nick, looking at him curiously. **_

**She kinda hated me for a little bit there...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Warblers, junior members Kurt and Blaine have a duet they have been practicing."**_

_**"Um, we're not ready-"**_

_**"Just do what you practiced all week."**_

_**"Alright..." *starts making out with Kurt***_


	158. Escape

**So... TPPP.**

**Yes, I've seen it. No, I'm not talking about it because I've had some requests to wait another day before I do. So it'll be tomorrow's authors note where I flail madly over the episode, okay? If you have me on Tumblr, you've seen me reblogging the hell out of everything anyway so you know how I feel about certain parts of it and Angela and I have already analyzed it within an inch of its life. But I won't say any more than that because you guys were so good at keeping it a secret for me, I don't want to be the one to ruin it for others.**

**From **_**MusicalEscape: Pav escape from her (his?) cage and Kurt and Blaine runs around Kurt's dorm trying to catch her(him). While running around frantically, they somehow manage to hook up.**_

**This prompt was apparently due to the result of MusicalEscape eating sherbet and dropping a blob in the shape of Pavarotti accidentally. Which I thought was pretty cool.**

**And I'm pretty sure Pav is a boy, thinking back to the scene where Blaine is petitioning the Council for a duet and says, "I think Pavarotti would roll over in his tiny, tiny little grave." … and then I watched the rest of the scene and nearly swooned at that wink that Blaine does. Gorgeous walking, he is. Oh, and Jeff is the **_**biggest **_**Klaine shipper ever! Seriously, watch that scene and you'll see it ;)**

**(this prompt is from MusicalEscape, called 'Escape' and has MusicalEscape's section at the bottom...)**

* * *

Escape

"Blaine, don't open the door!"

Blaine froze, his hand on the bathroom door. "What? What's wrong?" he called, his voice echoing around the tiles. He had heard the sound of Kurt moving around the room almost rapidly while he was getting dressed but didn't think anything of it - considering he was only borrowing Kurt's shower because his was broken, he didn't know anything about the boys habits. "I am fully dressed," he said as an afterthought, just in case that was the issue.

"I'm aware, I just - oh for the love of Gucci!" Blaine heard a thud and winced, wondering what the hell was going on out there. "If you open the door, he's going to get in there and then he'll probably _drown _or something."

Blaine blinked a couple of times but the words still refused to make sense. "Uh… how about I come out really quick and you make sure… _he_ is nowhere near the door?"

Kurt sighed. "I could use an extra pair of hands," he admitted, Blaine desperately trying not to think of all of the meanings that could be behind that. "Alright… now!"

Yanking the door open, Blaine stepped through quickly and shut it. "What's going - oh."

"Yes, _oh_." Kurt gestured to Pavarotti who was fluttering around the overhead light, chirping madly. "Clearly he doesn't _want _to be up there, but he doesn't want to let me put him back in his cage either."

"How did he get out?" Blaine asked, watching the smallest Warbler flutter across to the TV and perch himself on it.

Kurt began to slowly inch in that direction. "I was feeding him and he slipped past… my… hand… damn it!" Kurt sighed, dropping his hands as Pav flew away, singing almost mockingly. "I thought I'd just be able to get him in but I think I startled him and now he won't trust me."

Blaine couldn't help but laugh. "Trent had the same problem when he first got Pav as well. It took four of us and a net, so I think it's an understatement to say he doesn't trust people when he's escaped. Have you tried singing to him?"

"I didn't even think of that." Kurt paused, clearly trying to come up with a song. "Do you think he'd like some funk? That's all that's been in my head lately."

"You… uh, you sing funk? Like, low range?" Blaine was trying really hard not to imagine it and failing.

Kurt nodded. "We did a funk number to psych out Vocal Adrenaline at the end of last year. That said, we didn't make it to Nationals so… you know. Funk probably isn't best anyway," he mused, turning back to the problem at hand. "He usually responds well to some _Wicked _ though."

Kurt began to hum the opening refrain to the musical and, sure enough, Pavarotti seemed to calm down a little, still fluttering out of reach. After a few seconds Blaine joined in, letting their voices mix together softly. Kurt offered him a smile which Blaine returned and there was a second where they simply stared at each other before Pavarotti chirped again, drawing their attention back. Blaine tried not to sigh at the loss of contact before returning to the task at hand. "Okay, how about this? I'll stand over by the door and you…" Blaine gestured with his hands. "You sort of shoo him over and I'll catch him. He can't land on anything there."

"I guess it's worth a shot," Kurt said dubiously, beginning to move slowly towards the shelf where Pav was currently perched. "Ready?" Blaine nodded and Kurt raised his hands as if to catch the bird. Pavarotti quickly flew away in Blaine's direction who jumped up, trying to catch him. But of course Pav was too smart for that and flew back towards Kurt.

After a few minutes of chasing the bird, Blaine couldn't help it any longer and began to laugh. "It's like Warbler ping pong," he gasped out, collapsing back on Kurt's bed. "I give up. He can roam free."

"And destroy my room? Not a chance." Kurt gave it one more shot before sighing. "I guess until we get a net or something, it's not going to happen. Bad bird," he said, shaking a finger in Pavarotti's direction.

Blaine couldn't help but laugh again. "You baby him a lot, you know?" Kurt fell back on the bed next to Blaine who was still tracking Pavarotti with his eyes. The bird finally settled onto the bookcase, still chirping lightly and Blaine shook his head. "I think he's mocking us… what?"

Turning on his side, Blaine noticed Kurt was staring at him. "I - I was just…"

"Staring?" Blaine asked quietly. He knew it was a risk, but considering they were lying on a bed together, out of breath after just chasing a _bird _around the room… well, why not? It was just so Blaine and Kurt that he couldn't not risk it. To anybody else it would sound almost crazy, but his and Kurt's friendship was like nothing else Blaine had ever seen or experienced.

Kurt swallowed. "And if I was?" he asked, propping up on his elbow.

"If you were," Blaine said, his voice still soft, "then maybe I could stare back. And maybe I could not feel guilty about the fact that I've been trying not to stare at you for the past _month_."

"Oh," Kurt said in a small stunned voice. "I - um. I need to catch Pav!"

Blaine blinked, trying to work out what he had done wrong. Kurt was already on his feet and moving slowly towards the bird who was staring at him, his head cocked slightly. For all intents and purposes, Kurt looked like the moment they had before hadn't happened, but then Blaine noticed the stiff way he was holding himself and the small deliberate movements and realized what was going on.

"Kurt. I'm not going to hurt you."

Kurt froze in the middle of the room, his back still to Blaine. "Well I should hope not," he quipped, his voice quivering slightly and betraying him.

Blaine sighed and stood. "I care about you, Kurt. I've always cared about you… but recently it's turned into something more, something that I think you feel too. And I know you're scared, I know you've been hurt and rejected many times before but I have no intention of doing that. I'd like to do the opposite of reject you, if you'd let me."

It took a few minutes of patient waiting but finally Kurt turned, his eyes suspiciously bright. "I - I'd like to try that."

Blaine smiled, stepping forward again slowly. "Don't be afraid of me, okay? I'd much rather hurt myself before hurting you. And if this doesn't work out, we can always be friends. That will never change."

Kurt nodded and Blaine watched most of his nerves disappear. "So what happens now?"

Blaine smiled. "Now I kiss you," he said before proceeding to do exactly that. The contact only lasted for a few seconds, Blaine pulling away when he realized Kurt wasn't responding, afraid he had crossed a line. "Kurt?" he said quietly, watching Kurt open his eyes slowly. "Was that - ?"

"Why did you stop?" Kurt asked.

Blaine paused. "Because you weren't kissing me back."

Kurt simply raised an eyebrow and leant in to kiss him, and this time there was no doubt that they were both equally involved in the kiss. It was just them and the silence of the room and - _hold on_.

Blaine broke the kiss regretfully, running a thumb across Kurt's cheek to show him that it wasn't his fault before turning towards where Pav had been before. "Kurt… where's Pav?"

"I don't know, he was - oh. Seriously?" Blaine turned to Kurt who was pointing behind him. Turning around, he couldn't help but laugh, Kurt joining in a second later. "How long did we spend chasing him?"

"I don't want to know." Blaine quickly and quietly slipped across the room, slamming the door shut on the cage where Pavarotti was sitting innocently as if he hadn't just tried for the escape of his lifetime.

Kurt joined him, staring down at the cage. "You are an awful bird," he said, taking on the slightly babyish tone he used whenever talking to the bird. "You're not getting out of there again, ever. I'll feed you through a tube if I have to."

"Maybe he realized that we weren't going to waste our time chasing him anymore." Kurt turned to Blaine, a silent question in his eyes, and Blaine smiled. "Maybe he realized that we have better things to be doing than trying to catch him."

"I like the way you think, Blaine Warbler." Kurt leaned in to kiss him quickly before pulling away at an afterthought. "Don't you fly away on me."

Blaine shook his head. "Never will."

* * *

**Blaine Warbler, you are so corny.**

**And MusicalEscape requested the ending of Pav being back in his cage when the boys are finished having their 'moment' ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Kurt: *stares at foraworldundeserving(Sarah)* "B****, I swear if you put me in there with Thad I will personally burn all of your clothes and then kidnap your computer."**_

_**Sarah: "Not the computer! Here..." *scribbles out Klaine ending***_

_**Kurt: "Thanks. I'm off back to Kurtdom." *rides away on a llama***_


	159. Cheater

**So I know a lot of you are expecting me to talk about TPPP today, but I don't feel comfortable doing that anymore due to a message I received earlier on today telling me that I'm pretty much misusing my authors notes. I am not calling the person out on it, but I don't feel like I can write my normal ramble of an authors note tonight. **

**From **_**StarkidGleek2011: At Dalton, a guy asks Kurt out but unknowing hes a cheater Kurt accepts because he thinks Blaine doesn't feel the same way, but Kurt gets cheated on and runs to Blaine for comfort and Blaine tells him he always loved Kurt and they kiss cause you know Klaine is endgame!**_

* * *

Cheater

"Hey, Kurt?"

Kurt looked up and immediately had to stop his heart from flipping as Lucas Wright walked towards him, grinning. Of course his reaction was perfectly normal - every gay or bisexual student at Dalton had at one point had a crush on the boy, and who wouldn't? While he wasn't a Warbler, he was a good looking senior, openly gay and one of the nicest guys around Dalton.

_Excluding Blaine_, his mind reminded him and Kurt sighed, pushing that thought away for later. "Um, hi Lucas. What - what can I do for you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about something actually." Lucas gestured towards one of the student rooms and Kurt followed him in, sitting down on the couch next to him. "So, I'll cut to the chase. I was wondering whether you'd like to go out for dinner tomorrow night?"

Kurt felt his eyes widen. "Like - like a date?" he managed to squeak out, Lucas nodding. The thoughts immediately began to rush around his head - _is he actually asking me? Someone wants to go on a date with me? I've never gone on a date before, what do you do, what will I say, what…?_

_What about Blaine?_

And of course there was the heart of the matter. Of course Lucas was a very nice guy, a very _attractive _guy, but Kurt couldn't ignore the fact that his heart was holding out for one person in particular. His crush on Blaine was still prominent, but Kurt had resigned himself to the fact that it was unrequited and refused to bring it up around Blaine again, not after the coffee shop incident.

_So why not date someone else, try to take your mind off Blaine? Who knows, you might just be able to get over this crush…_

"Kur-"

"I'd love to," Kurt said quickly, smiling back at Lucas. "But I've never done this kind of thing before."

Lucas placed a hand on his knee and Kurt resisted the urge to recoil, immediately wondering why. He chalked it up to not being used to being touched - _something else to work on. _"That's alright, there's nothing to it. Just be ready to go at six tomorrow. I'll pick you up." With that, Lucas stood and walked out of the room, humming something under his breath. Kurt stared after him for a moment before smiling. _I have a date! _

"Mercedes?" Kurt was saying a moment later, phone pressed to his ear. "You won't _believe _this…"

* * *

Two weeks after their first date and Kurt found himself 'going steady' with Lucas. It was quite the shock when it happened, especially since Kurt hadn't believed he would ever find anybody to love him in _high school. _And granted, Lucas hadn't said he loved him, but he clearly cared about Kurt and that was almost foreign too. They had gone on a few dates together but for the most part it was about learning about each other. Kurt hadn't even known the boy as much of a friend before they had started dating, something that bothered him if he let himself think about it for too long. Why had Lucas asked _him _out if they didn't know each other? But he pushed it aside - he had a _boyfriend _now, what did it matter?

The one thing that Kurt worried about was kissing. So far he hadn't let Lucas kiss him, something the boy had been very understanding about even though Kurt hadn't told him about the Karofsky incident. That was a story he had only told Blaine and planned to keep it that way. But he felt like if he didn't kiss Lucas, the boy would soon tire of him and move on to someone else who could give him what he wanted. Lucas didn't seem like that type but how could Kurt really compete against boys who already had experience?

Other than that, everything was going great. Well, excluding the fact that Kurt still found himself staring at Blaine when nobody was looking and, while on dates with Lucas, couldn't help but wonder what it would be like with Blaine there instead. He knew it wasn't fair to his current boyfriend but it wasn't like he could just switch the emotions off. His infatuation with Blaine would die out in time, he reasoned, and until then he would just focus everything he could on Lucas, spend as much time with him as possible and try to forget about Blaine. How hard could it be?

"Kurt?"

Kurt looked up from his textbook to see Wes standing beside him. "Oh, hey Wes. What's up?"

"Didn't expect to see you here, is all. May I?" Kurt nodded and Wes dropped his books onto the library table, taking a seat next to him. "I thought you'd be with Lucas, we normally don't see the two of you separated anymore."

Kurt felt himself flush. "We're not _always _together," he protested weakly. Wes simply made a mildly derisive noise, but Kurt could tell he wasn't really angry. "Besides, he's not here."

Wes raised an eyebrow. "Um... are you sure about that?"

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean? He told me he was going home for the weekend." He remembered it vividly; Lucas kissing him on the cheek as he headed out to the car park, telling him he'd be back on Sunday night and catch up with him then.

But the look on Wes's face definitely said that he had reason to believe otherwise. "Kurt... you might want to check his room."

And that was all it took for Kurt's blood to run cold. Without saying anything else, he stood and grabbed his things together messily. Shoving his books in his bag, Kurt left the library and quickly made his way down to the dorms, all the while trying to convince himself that Wes was wrong, Wes was mistaken, Lucas wasn't here because if he was that meant he would have lied to Kurt...

But as he neared Lucas's room, he heard the unmistakable sound of his boyfriend's voice coming from behind the door. "... believe I let it go this long without a hookup, baby."

_Baby? I thought he only called me that?_

And then the reply came and Kurt breathed out a sigh of relief at the first word. _Oh, it's a girl. It's just one of his friends, or his sister..._

"I know, I don't know how I lasted without your lips on mine. Does that kid you're seeing put out for you?"

Lucas laughed harshly. "Put out? He hasn't even let me kiss him yet! If he weren't so good for my reputation, I'd drop him in a heartbeat."

_Right... so he's either bi or straight and pretending to be '100% gay'. And he's cheating on me. That's good to know._

Kurt knew he should be far more upset, but right now he was in a strange state of calm. Slowly, he backed away from the door and down the hall. When he was a fair distance away, he began to sing _Defying Gravity_, walking back along the hall. It was practically his trademark song and, sure enough, the voices immediately stopped. Once he reached his boyfriend's door, he allowed himself to stop singing and knocked gently. "Lucas? You in there?"

There was silence, just as he had expected. "Lucas?" he tried again. "Wes told me that you're actually here and I saw your car out in the car park."

"Oh... Kurt!" Kurt shook his head in disbelief. Somehow Lucas managed to make it sound like he had just woken up. _The extent he'll to go to keep his lie intact. _"Just... just give me a minute, baby. I was just having a nap."

"Take your time!" Kurt called out cheerfully before grabbing his phone out of his pocket and setting it to audio record. He knew Lucas was well respected around the school and quite a few of the guys had a crush on him, so the last thing he needed was for the guy to get away with screwing over another innocent boy.

A moment later, the door swung open to reveal his boyfriend - _not for long _- rubbing 'sleep' out of his eyes. "Kurt, hey. Sorry, I know I should have told you earlier, but I only got back early this morning. Turns out my parents weren't home and I didn't have my keys so I had to come back."

_Wow, that's the best he can do_? Kurt knew full well that Lucas's house key was on the same chain as his car keys, but he still plastered his fake smile on. "That's alright. Can I come in?"

"Of course you can!" Lucas opened the door wider, allowing Kurt to enter. He glanced nonchalantly around the room, sizing up his options. The door was wide open and the bed was too small to crawl under, which left two places - the closet or the bathroom.

_Now, how are you going to play this one out?_

"You know I would have let you know but I got back around 6 and I just wanted to sleep." Lucas yawned again, clearly for effect and Kurt had to hand it to him - he was a good actor.

"Of course." Kurt ignored the way Lucas was patting the bed, clearly wanting him to sit. "Hey, can I use your bathroom?"

He knew it was a 50/50 chance. If the girl wasn't in the bathroom, Kurt would have to find an excuse to get into Lucas's closet, and that would be much harder. But judging by the suddenly shifty look on his boyfriend's face, Kurt knew this was it. "Um, it's a bit of a mess in there, baby. I'd rather you didn't."

"It'll be fine, I'll just be quick." Kurt was already heading towards the door, bracing himself for what was about to come. He heard Lucas begin to protest one more time before swinging the door open, revealing a blonde girl standing there, clearly looking for a route of escape. "Well... what do we have here? I'd say you were hiding my birthday present, _baby_, but I don't do girls. Clearly you do." He gave his best glare to the girl who actually looked afraid. "Leave, now." The girl darted out of the bathroom and disappeared out of the room. Kurt turned to Lucas who was trying to look brave but failing - clearly nobody had caught him out cheating before. "So, anything to say for yourself? You know, I might have accepted identity crisis or helping out a friend if you hadn't hidden her in the _bathroom_."

The expression on his face changed to one of indifference. "It's not my fault you wouldn't put out and I had to go to a girl. Honestly, if you hadn't _driven _me to this point -"

Lucas's pathetic excuses were cut off when Kurt crossed the room and slapped him across the face. Hard. "There's _no way _you're pinning this one me. You _cheated on me_, Lucas, and you just admitted it too. And now everybody's going to find out."

As Kurt spun to leave the room, feeling the tears begin to build, Lucas finally found his voice again. "You have no proof! Who do you think they're going to believe, Hummel? I've got the perfect reputation around here and -"

His sentence cut off immediately as Kurt pulled his phone out of his pocket, flashing it in his now ex boyfriend's direction without turning around. "Not anymore," he said quietly before hitting stop and walking out of the room and down the hall. He wasn't thinking at all, so when he found himself standing in front of Blaine's door Kurt automatically knocked before wondering what he was doing. But all he knew was he needed someone who would take care of him, and that was always Blaine.

The door swung open and Blaine's eyes widened. "Kurt, what's wrong?"

Kurt frowned before wiping at his face and realizing he must have started crying somewhere along the line. Wordlessly he held out his phone, the audio recording still on the screen. Blaine shut the door and guided Kurt over to his bed, sitting him down before pushing play. And the second Lucas's voice began to play, Kurt completely lost it as the enormity of the situation hit him. _My boyfriend just cheated on me with a girl._

Blaine pulled him into his side immediately, wrapping his arms around him as the audio continued to play. Kurt's parting remark finally played before the recording was cut off. After a moment of silence, Blaine pulled away to look at Kurt properly. "Kurt, I'm so sorry."

"Why did he do it?" Kurt whispered, knowing Blaine didn't have the answers but needing to ask anyway. "Why did he cheat on me? Is he just pretending to be gay? Am I - not good enough for him?"

"Oh, Kurt." Blaine shook his head, his eyes full of pity. "You're far _too _good for him, and I wish I had more answers for you but all I can say is that he's not the person you thought he was. I'm just so sorry you had to find out this way."

Kurt sniffed and wiped his eyes, willing the tears to stop. "I'm glad his reputation is out now, at least nobody else is going to get hurt like this. And I won't feel bad about spreading the audio around the gay community at Dalton… you don't think it's a bad thing?"

"No, you're not doing it to be malicious, you're doing it to protect other people. It's admirable, Kurt." Blaine wrapped his arms around him again and Kurt knew his brave face was still not quite up to par. "Is there anything I can do?"

"I don't think so. Just… I just want to stay here for a bit if I can?" Blaine murmured an assent and Kurt managed to smile a little, his face buried in Blaine's shoulder anyway. A second later he found himself freezing as a pair of lips pressed against his hair before moving away quickly. "Blaine?"

There was a moment of silence then Blaine sighed. "I'm sorry, that was out of line. I just couldn't help it."

Kurt lifted his head to stare at Blaine, immediately aware that their faces were a bit too close together but making no move to back away. "You… you wanted to do that? Blaine… do you _like _me?"

"Kurt, I didn't want this to come up now, or when you were dating Lucas for that matter. I didn't want to come across as jealous - even though I might have been, just a little. I wanted the best for you, no matter my own feelings."

"But you like me?"

Blaine sighed again. "Yes."

And despite the circumstances, Kurt couldn't help but smile. "Blaine, I like you too." Blaine raised an eyebrow and Kurt could tell he was just humoring him. "No, I'm serious. I dated Lucas because I thought it would help me get over you because I was so sure you didn't feel the same."

"Kurt… are you sure?"

Kurt nodded. "I never kissed Lucas, Blaine. I never felt comfortable with it and now I know why. Because I wanted my first kiss to be with _you_."

Before he could think it through any further and possibly realize what a _bad _idea it was, Kurt closed the small amount of distance between them and kissed Blaine. As soon as he did, a whole new set of feelings that he had never felt for Lucas were suddenly unlocked and Kurt _knew _that this was real, that Blaine might even be the one. And Blaine was kissing him back and Lucas was quickly disappearing from Kurt's mind and everything was perfect again…

And then Blaine was pulling away, the deepest look of regret on his face. "Kurt, you have no idea how much I want to let this continue, but I can't."

"W-why not?" Kurt didn't think it was possible for his heart to break twice in one day, but it was certainly trying.

"Because you've _just _come out of a relationship. You're hurting badly right now and you want someone to love you, and I'm not saying that what you told me isn't true, I'm saying that you can't be completely sure right now."

Kurt had to reluctantly agree that Blaine was right. "But even when I'm over him and what he did to me, Blaine, I'll still like you."

"Then show me that." Blaine squeezed his hands again before letting go. "Recover, and prove to me that I'm not rebound. Get over what this jerk did to you and do it for yourself first, not for me. Find your own feet, then come back to me if you still want to. And take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

Kurt nodded silently, letting the matter drop. But as Blaine steered the conversation into more neutral territory, his mind was already whirring.

_I'm going to get through this. I'm going to forget that Lucas ever had me or hurt me. And then I'll come back to the only thing that matters. _

_Blaine._

* * *

**I know it's a bit rushed but I can't comfortably write about Kurt being with anybody but Blaine for very long. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Dear Kurt,**_

_**As you probably know by now, I'm your BAMF bird that got you and Blaine to hook up. Apparently, in some parallel universe I did the same thing. But since I kind of died in that universe, I think you should double my payment here. I don't want much, just your soul. Joking! Blaine would never forgive me. Just gimme some of that gourmet bird seed, and maybe a tiny leather jacket and sunglasses. I expect them by morning, unless you want lover boy to wake up bald.**_

_**Your BAMF bird forever, Pav**_

_**P.S. I like Oreos, too. Hint, hint.**_


	160. Nymph

**We are all forgetting that last night's authors note (or lack thereof) ever happened, okay? I'm back, I'm continuing my authors notes and everything is fine. Which is very good timing because...**

**I GOT INTO UNIVERSITY!**

**I was so freaked about my application because I had to mail stuff off and I wasn't sure if it got there on time and then I got an email about correspondence and I'd lost my number to log in so I kept putting it off and finally I got in and I GOT IN. Most of you know I was planning to do journalism but I realized that I couldn't handle the complete factual nature of it. When I write, I write from the heart and my emotions are too much to suppress most of the time. So I'm actually doing Event Management instead which is something I've always loved and I don't regret a single thing. I'm going to be living on campus next year, I'm studying again which I love and I GOT IN! **

**Squee!**

**From **_**ArtisanBleu: Ever heard the interview of Darren call Chris a wood-nymph, and Chris responded by saying he was a "total snow-nymph"? Well, I was wondering if you could do either a one-shot or somehow fit it into "Kiss" the whole nymph thing, but apply it to Kurt/Blaine instead. Like, Blaine visits Kurt during winter break after they're done school, and he thinks of him as a winter-nymph when he sees Kurt in the snow.**_

**So this can be an AU. I wanted them to be together… so let's just say they got together during BICO. But didn't kiss. Clearly. **

**Also inspired by this picture: http : / sarahforaworldundeserving . tumblr . com / post / 9099476952 / allthingsdarrencriss-darren-is-a-little-kid-and**

**I started writing this when I first started night shift work and I kept trying to write it when I had a spare moment - problem being, I was so exhausted that I just couldn't keep writing which was such a pity because I was **_**dying **_**to write this.**

* * *

Nymph

Blaine blinked to awareness, frowning at the roof above him. He was instantly aware that this wasn't his bed, nor was it a bed of any variety. And that definitely wasn't his roof, or his family in the kitchen cooking breakfast. Propping his head up a little, he glanced right through to the kitchen where he could see his boyfriend standing, spatula in hand. And it all came flooding back - the movie night, the first light snowfall that he and Kurt had stood outside to watch quickly turning into something a lot stronger, the roads between Westerville and Lima being closed, having to spend the night on Kurt's couch. Which, clearly, was where he was now.

Sitting up, Blaine stretched his arms over his head and sighed happily when he felt his back crack a few times. His Dalton hoodie had been discarded by the side of the couch and he pulled it on, running his hands through messy curls for a few seconds before giving it up as a lost cause and standing. As he entered the kitchen, Blaine made sure Kurt wasn't doing anything flammable or dangerous before wrapping his arms around him quickly, causing Kurt to emit a squeak. "Good morning," he murmured softly in his ear.

Kurt sighed but Blaine knew he wasn't really frustrated. "You'll be the death of me one day, constantly sneaking up on me. But good morning to you too. Did you sleep well?"

Blaine rested his head on Kurt's shoulder, trying not to think too much about almost having to stand on his tiptoes to do so. "I did, actually, which is a surprise because I usually can't sleep in a bed that isn't mine without the surroundings getting to me. But I guess the snow cancelled out any noise - the snow!"

Blaine took off towards the door, pulling it open eagerly. Kurt called out something about being 'such a small child sometimes,' but Blaine was too busy admiring the blanket of soft snow that had covered Kurt's front lawn overnight. Footsteps echoed down the hall and then Kurt was the one wrapping his arms around Blaine, a much better fit for both of them. "Yes, it's snow."

"Can we play in it?" Blaine asked, turning in Kurt's arms and wrapping his own around Kurt's neck. "I _love _snow."

Kurt rolled his eyes but Blaine knew him well enough to see the excitement there. "I guess so… if you play your cards right, like coming to help me with breakfast. The others will be up as soon as I get the bacon started - Finn is like a _magnet _when it comes to his meat - and we can leave them to clean it all up and make the most of the winter wonderland out there."

Blaine leant forward to press a kiss to Kurt's cheek, knowing he was blushing as he pulled away, but it was something they were still getting used to after all. "I can definitely help cook up some bacon, as long as I get to eat it. Do you eat bacon?"

"Guilty pleasure," Kurt admitted as they walked hand-in-hand back to the kitchen. "I know the grease runs the risk of making me break out… but really it's just too good to pass up." Blaine nodded, completely understanding and filing the information away for later use. He knew he and Kurt were definitely still in the honeymoon stage and discovering everything they could about one another was a high priority. Every time Blaine learned something new about Kurt he found himself falling harder for the boy who was now his boyfriend, even if it was just as simple as Kurt liking bacon.

Re-entering the kitchen, Kurt directed Blaine to the frypan and set him to cooking bacon while he prepared the rest of the food. The silence was comfortable and Blaine couldn't help but imagine this same scenario in years to come; himself and Kurt cooking breakfast together, possibly in an apartment in New York City, completely comfortable around each other and still together. Of course they were images that Blaine was yet to bring up around Kurt for fear of moving too fast, but he could still indulge in them and just hope for the best, hope that they would come true. Stealing a glance at Kurt, Blaine noticed the half smile on his face and resisted the urge to ask what he was thinking about. For some reason he was happier not knowing right now.

The sound of footsteps could be heard on the stairs and Kurt sighed. "That'll be Dad. And Carole," he added as a lighter pair joined them, both sets disappearing into the living room.

They were joined a moment later by much heavier thudding which Blaine correctly identified as Finn who skidded to a halt in the kitchen door, rubbing at his eyes. "Bacon? I - Blaine? What are you doing here so early?"

_Oh, right. _Finn had been in his room already immersed in his X-Box by the time Blaine had been set up on the couch, and Blaine didn't know what to say in response. He already knew the double standard thing had been an issue for the two boys in the past and didn't want to say anything that would cause Finn to get over-protective of Kurt which would end up starting a fight. Luckily Kurt came to his rescue. "Look outside, Finn, we're completely snowed in. Blaine slept on the couch last night and you have to be nice to him; he's cooking your bacon."

Finn grabbed a plate and headed in Blaine's direction, clearly still half asleep. "Bacon?" he asked plaintively and Blaine chuckled, scooping out a generous portion of bacon and dumping it on Finn's plate. "Thanks dude," he muttered before turning back and trying to avoid Kurt who was attempting to put grapefruit on his plate. "Don't taint my bacon!"

Carole and Burt chose that moment to join them in the kitchen and Blaine quickly dished out two more serves for the adults, Kurt fussing over his father's plate and making sure he got a good amount of healthy food. Once they were all served and Finn had already come back for his second helping, Blaine split the rest of the bacon between himself and Kurt and joined his family to eat. Finn was done - and Blaine didn't even want to think about how that worked - and was about to head upstairs when Burt spoke up. "Don't even think about it. They cooked, you're helping clean."

Finn sulked but sat back down in his chair, waiting for the adults to finish eating. Blaine tried to eat slowly and use proper manners but his excitement about the snow waiting outside was threatening to overwhelm him. It had been _forever _since they had had a good snow day and this was the first one he would get to experience with Kurt - of course he wanted to make the most of it. The rest of them finished eating at the same time and Blaine and Kurt were both told kindly to get lost when it came to cleaning up. But as Blaine headed in the direction of the front door, Kurt tugged on his arm to stop him. "No way, you're not dressed warm enough to go out there."

Blaine glanced down at his outfit - hoodie and jeans. "I'll be fine. Come on, snow!"

"Not a chance. Upstairs. I think I have a jacket that will fit you and some gloves that are too small for me."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "I'm not that short!"

"Whatever you say, honey." Kurt led the way up the stairs, clearly taking Blaine's lack of response as an agreement and not as what it really was - surprise. That was the first time Kurt had ever called him by a term of endearment and Blaine was more amazed by how much he had liked it than the fact that Kurt had said it. It was something he wanted to hear more of, even if Kurt had been half-patronizing when he had said it.

They entered Kurt's room and Blaine hovered awkwardly by the door. He was allowed in Kurt's room as long as the door stayed open, but there was just something about being in his boyfriend's bedroom and knowing that his family were home that put Blaine a bit on edge. Kurt pulled a thick blue and grey snow jacket out of the closet and tossed it to Blaine who replaced his hoodie, placing it on the end of Kurt's bed and wondering what would happen if he 'forgot' to take it home with him. Despite all of the jokes, they were essentially the same build and Blaine would love the chance to see Kurt in some of his clothing - even if Kurt did have the same Dalton-isused hoodie, just the fact that it was _Blaine's_ was a totally different matter.

"I don't think I have a spare pair of gloves," Kurt muttered, digging through the drawer. He had already pulled on his own jacket and gloves as he turned back to Blaine apologetically. "I can get you a pair of Finn's but I can guarantee they'll have holes in them."

Blaine held out a hand, grasping Kurt's gloved fingers in his own. "That's what you're for, to keep my hands warm." And if that wasn't the _sappiest _thing that had ever come out of his mouth, Blaine didn't know what could top it. But Kurt didn't pull away, blushing slightly as he shut the closet door with his other hand before the two made their way downstairs, passing Finn on the way up. "Are you coming outside?" Blaine asked out of idle curiosity, sort of hoping the answer would be no. It wasn't that he didn't like Finn, but the chance to spend some uninterrupted time with Kurt just being teenagers was something they had been sorely lacking.

Finn thankfully shook his head. "X-Box is calling. Puck's setting up a live game with some of the other guys and if I don't get in first, I'll be put on Mike's team again." He pushed past them lightly, making his way towards his room. "For someone who can dance so well, he sucks at video games," he muttered just before the door swung closed behind him.

Kurt shook his head. "I fail to see how video games and _dancing _are linked," he said, staring at the door for second before turning back to Blaine. "Okay, tone it down a little there. It's just snow."

Blaine frowned before realizing that he had started bouncing on the balls of his feet. He quickly stopped, smiling sheepishly at Kurt. "Come on, it's not _just _snow. It's snow! But I guess if you need me to act like an adult..." Blaine trailed off reluctantly.

"It's alright." Kurt smiled at him and Blaine was relieved to see the humor in his boyfriend's eyes, reminding him once again that he had picked possibly the only boy who would put up with his childish ways without complaint. "How about we just go be teenagers and throw lumps of ice at each other?"

"You have such a way with words, Kurt Hummel," Blaine teased lightly. "Such a poet."

"Poet?" Burt poked his head out of the kitchen. "Kurt, you're not pulling out the poetry of 2009 are you?" Blaine raised an eyebrow and Burt caught his eye, chuckling. "I came across some poems to an unknown 'football playing Glee singer' which he didn't exactly want released to the public. Or Finn - especially not Finn for that matter."

Kurt groaned, covering his face with his free hand. Blaine was doing a similar gesture in an attempt to hide his smile. "I thought we talked about this one - it is _not _a bargaining chip to embarrass me in front of any boyfriends I may have. Plus, I am fairly certain I destroyed it _all_."

"That's what you think." Burt took another look at Kurt and immediately turned back into the kitchen. "Have fun in the snow!"

Kurt stared after him for a few seconds then turned back to Blaine, his jaw set. "If he managed to keep any of that to bring out to embarrass me on my 21st or when we get married or something like that, I won't hesitate to run away from home."

It took Blaine a few seconds to find his words again and by then they were already leaving the house. "M-Married?" he managed to get out, closing the door behind them.

Kurt's eyes grew wide. "I - I didn't mean to… I'm not saying - I'm going to shut up forever."

"Hey, no, come on." Blaine spun Kurt to face him lightly, taking his other hand. "You think about the future with me?" Kurt nodded slowly, still looking scared. "Me too, more often than I should probably, but I do too. Don't be afraid of saying things like that, okay?" Kurt nodded, his hesitance fading away and Blaine smiled. "Okay, serious moment over? Can I go be a kid now?"

Kurt laughed which had been the desired effect. "Go, roam free."

That was all Blaine needed. He took a second to admire the pristine, untouched blanket of snow before running across it, laughing in delight. The snow was still falling lightly and he tilted his head back and stuck his tongue out, catching small snowflakes on his tongue. A couple of curls flopped over his eyes and he brushed them away, noticing the snow that had gotten in his hair. Spinning around, Blaine noticed Kurt was still standing where he had left him, shaking his head. "Come on!" he called out, holding out a hand to his boyfriend who rolled his eyes. "Please?"

Kurt crossed the yard, stopping a few feet short to kneel down and scoop some of the snow in his fingers. "_Walking in a winter wonderland,_" he sang lightly before falling back on his back.

"What are you doing?" Blaine asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kurt looked up at him like it should be obvious. "Snow angel?" he said, beginning to move his arms and legs. Blaine couldn't help but laugh - it wasn't that it was funny but Kurt was so damn _cute _when he was acting like a kid, especially with his hair sticking up and getting coated with snow. "What's so funny?"

Blaine held out a hand to help Kurt to his feet, carefully as to not damage his snow angel. "Just you," he said, pulling Kurt into his side. "You're gorgeous. And you're like a … I don't know, a snow-nymph?"

"A _snow-nymph_?" Kurt stared down at him incredulously before his expression softened a little. "Well, it could be worse. But I'm taller than you, how am I a nymph?"

Blaine shrugged. "Maybe I'm a nymph too. Can I be a nymph too?"

Kurt turned to face him, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck. "You can be a nymph, as long as you're _my _nymph." Blaine resisted the urge to shake his head at the corniness, instead wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist and pulling him closer. As Kurt stared back at him with a soft smile, Blaine found himself wondering whether this might be the moment… "I mean, it's better than hobbit."

"Hobbit?" Blaine wasn't sure whether to be insulted so settled for confused. "Who's a hobbit?"

"You, according to Coach Sylvester."

Blaine groaned quietly. "Kurt, we were having a moment and you bring up your _cheerleading coach?_"

"I - oh, we were?"

Kurt appeared to be blushing but it may have just been the cold. Blaine chuckled nonetheless. "We were. Or maybe we were about to, because I was just about to tell you that you have snow in your hair." Blaine automatically lifted his hand to catch Kurt's wrist lightly. "And before I could let you brush it out, I was going to do _this_." Dropping Kurt's hand, he lifted his own and gently brushed the snowflakes out of Kurt's hair.

"And what was going to come next?" Kurt's voice was low and breathy and sent a shiver down Blaine's spine in the best possible way. "If we were re-creating this perfect moment of yours?"

"Ours," Blaine corrected quietly. "It's our moment. And I believe I was probably going to tell you that your lips look cold and," he moved his hand lower to touch Kurt's lips gently, feeling his boyfriend shiver, "I might have thought to suggest a way to warm them up?"

It was a risk, but it paid off. "Well it is _very _cold," Kurt said, deliberately slowly. "I can't say I'd have an aversion to that. But is there any way I could warm your lips up at the same time? You're looking awful cold too."

"Tease," Blaine whispered softly before leaning in to kiss him.

Just like everything else had been that day, it was slow and soft. The snowflakes continued to fall around them, landing on them as they stood wrapped in each other's arms, just kissing and touching and learning each other in a whole new way. And when they finally broke apart, breathless, Blaine rested his forehead against Kurt's and whispered the words he had been thinking for so long; "I love you."

He knew he had caught Kurt off guard but his reply when it came was nothing short of sincere. "I love you too."

Blaine managed to extricate himself from the embrace, Kurt looking at him in confusion, and took a step back. "There's just one thing I need to know," he said before dropping to one knee.

Kurt's jaw dropped. "Blaine… are you… aren't we a bit yo - HEY!"

"Still love me?" Blaine asked teasingly, standing back up and watching Kurt wipe the snow off his face. "And don't say you don't because I can tell if you're lying… oh crap." Blaine took off, Kurt's laughter ringing in his ears a second before the snowball hit him in the back of the head. "Oh, you're in for it now, Hummel!"

"Bring it, Anderson!"

And Blaine couldn't hide a smile.

* * *

**"And I thought this would be the the perfect moment to... PROPOSE!"**

**=D**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"He... He cheated on me?"**_

_**"'Scuse me, BAMF bird coming through. *clears throat* Mr. Whatever your name is, I heard you not only disrupted Klaine, but cheated on my awesome owner, Kurt. For that, you must serve the ultimate punishment- posting a Night Troll as your facebook photo. Oh, and leaving Dalton forever, or something like that."**_


	161. Misunderstood

**Apparently I just passed _Dalton_ in review count. Does that mean this is the highest reviewed story in the Glee category, or is there another I haven't heard of yet? **

**University terrifies me, only because of the obscene amount of money I have to fork out that my loans won't cover. I need to save like a fish this year and then find a job when I get there as well. **

**I just want to put a general note out there. Most of you are fantastic about this but there's a couple of people who will message me and then get a bit annoyed if I don't reply instantly. Yes, it seems like I have the time to be replying to messages since I post a chapter every night, but the truth is that I really don't. I love hearing from you guys so never stop messaging, but it may take me a few days to get back to you is all. And I understand that you guys want me to read your stories or stories you love but I don't have as much time for reading as I used to which is unfortunate. So please just bear with me on that one :)**

**From **_**lunanoxmoon: the speech Blaine gave in Original song is amazing, there is just something that buggs[sic] me about it. after Kurt asks why Blaine wants to sing a duet with him the ONLY reason Blaine give is that he wants to spent more time with him. Well what if that insults Kurt very deeply and insulted. you know 'cuz Kurt is so crazy tallented[sic] and all. or even let Kurt just tease Blaine by getting "mad".**_

* * *

Misunderstood

"You... you moved me, Kurt."

Kurt felt his face break, because he honestly couldn't believe the words coming out of Blaine's mouth right now. He had waited for this moment for so long and now that it was here, he just didn't know what to do with himself.

"And this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you."

_Wait, what? _

Kurt knew they were having a romantic moment. He knew he was supposed to be flattered and accept Blaine's duet proposal and hopefully eventual boyfriend proposal. But really, Blaine thought the best way to get to Kurt was to tell him that the reason he picked him as a duet partner was to spend more time with him? Not for, you know, his _voice _or anything?

Oh, he wasn't really annoyed. But after everything that had happened with Jeremiah and Rachel, Kurt didn't feel quite as bad about messing with Blaine a little.

"Excuse me?"

Blaine froze. "I - I'm sorry?"

"That's the _only _reason you chose to do this duet with me?" Kurt put on his best bitch glare, doing his best not to laugh at the complete confusion on his friend's face. "Usually you decide to sing with someone because you like their _voice_, Blaine. Not just them. I'm not charity, you know."

Blaine's mouth worked a couple of times before he managed to find the words. "I - I know that, Kurt. And you know I love your voice -"

"Then why didn't you say that in the first place?" Kurt raised an eyebrow, waiting for Blaine to explain. And he knew Blaine's explanation - or at least hoped he did - and this was something he had been waiting a _long _time for. So damn it all if Kurt wasn't going to make Blaine actually say what was going on.

"Kurt... there's more to this than just the song." Blaine ran a hand over his face, looking frazzled. Kurt couldn't blame him - after all, he had probably done his best to plan this moment out and now Kurt was ruining it. But maybe Kurt didn't want a planned moment. Maybe he wanted to hear what Blaine had to say in the moment. "It's about _you _... about us."

Kurt considered letting him off the hook there, but curiosity got the better of him. "What about us, Blaine? You want to sing a song about what good friends we are? About how we've both gone through difficult times? How about -"

"How about I'm crazy about you and I've finally worked it out!" And finally Blaine just exploded. "Kurt, I want you to sing this duet, first and _foremost _because your voice is exquisite and I think we could win Regionals with it. But I want to sing _with _you because I realized that I don't want to spend any more time wondering what life _could _be like with you." Kurt tried to cut him off but Blaine was on a roll now. "I told you I didn't want to screw things up in the coffee shop, Kurt. I said that because I wasn't one hundred per cent sure about how I felt about you and I knew if I was the one to screw up our chance at a relationship, I would never forgive myself. But I'm putting myself on the line here now, I'm giving you my _heart _here and telling you that yes, I'm interested, very much so."

"Blaine..."

"And I know I'm not good with words, but damn it, I _tried_! I hoped this would be romantic enough for you, that we'd be able to sing this song together now and ... and I was going to _kiss _you and everything and -"

Blaine kept talking but Kurt's thoughts had derailed at that point. _Blaine was going to kiss me?_

And Kurt suddenly realized why his friend had been so nervous after all, why he had been stumbling over his words. It wasn't because he didn't know what to say or because he just wanted to ask Kurt to duet with him. It was because Blaine knew what was coming next and he was clearly trying to prepare himself for it.

"... so maybe I'll never be good enough for you, especially after everything I've done..."

Kurt knew he had put Blaine through enough now, especially since the boy probably thought he had been rejected. Unfortunately, Blaine wouldn't stop rambling long enough for Kurt to explain that, no matter how much he tried.

So, drastic times called for drastic measures, and the next time Blaine stopped for breath, Kurt was leaning in, connecting their lips in the long awaited kiss.

Blaine stilled, as if he wasn't quite sure it was real. But Kurt just kept kissing him, waiting, and after a few seconds he felt Blaine begin to kiss him back, one hand snaking up to rest lightly against his cheek. And if Kurt had known how _amazing _it would feel, he would have just shut up and let Blaine kiss him in the first place, because this was worth so much more than Blaine saying the right things or Kurt sticking up for himself and making Blaine work for it.

As they broke apart, Kurt finally saw Blaine without words, staring at him like he wasn't sure whether that had just happened or not. Kurt interlaced his fingers with Blaine's carefully and said, "Well, now that that's out of the way, I'd love to be your duet partner. And boyfriend, if that comes with the territory."

Blaine blinked at him a couple of times before practically lunging across the table, meeting him halfway in their second of what Kurt knew would be many kisses.

_I'll take that as a yes._

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"You're like a snow nymph."**_

_**"Hmph! Well, I-"**_

_***door is broken down* "Well, Frodo, if Porcelain here is a nymph, then you're a hobbit that injects enough lard into his hair to feed a family of 10. Now, go back to your prep school or I'll shave your hair and use it to make a coat for Patches."**_


	162. Version

**I need some volunteers to help me out with a task in regards to this story. I'd like to take ten people who have the time to go back and at least skim read every single chapter and can give an unbiased opinion in regards to writing, plot and so on (not on every chapter, don't worry). Preferably those who have been around since at least Chapter 50 (from the start would be amazing) but I'm not too picky. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in, please send me a PM and I'll make the decision from there and we'll talk details if you're selected :) there's a few people I have in mind so I'm hoping I hear from you guys. Hopefully by now you know who you are ;)**

**From **_**ShezzaMezza: How about Kurt is going on about how he really is the female[male?] Rachel (he totally is) when he finds out that they both sung the same song in their separate glee clubs in the same week (or something). And then Blaine realizes that the only reason he didn't enjoy dating Ravhel[sic] is because she is a girl. So he kisses Kurt. You get the gist.**_

**I struggled writing this a bit, mainly because the scene from Duets kept going through my head where Rachel walks up to Kurt's locker and says they're more alike than Kurt thinks and he gives her that 'look' and says, "That's a horrible thing to say." I'm a Rachel hater and I adore Kurt so much, I just can't see them alike.**

* * *

Version

As of the beginning of Junior year, Blaine Anderson was the name to be feared around Dalton.

Of course he wasn't the residential bully - they didn't have one of those after all - or the guy to avoid. No, he was perfectly friendly and a very kind person. But Blaine Anderson was also the Floor Monitor, in the running for a Prefect position and a complete stickler for rules. He was obsessive over his homework and making sure everything was done at the right time. And when he was studying, nobody dared to interrupt.

So if anybody had walked into his and Kurt's dorm room during 'Homework Hour' that afternoon, they probably would have dropped their jaw on the floor. Because Blaine was sitting at his desk working, of course, but Kurt was draped off the edge of his bed, one hand brushing against the floor and the other holding the phone to his ear. The phone he was talking and laughing uproariously into.

And Blaine didn't even _mind_.

"Rachel, that is _not _an outfit. That is a combination between a wardrobe malfunction and an identity crisis. If I have to tell you again that white tights are a no, you're going to get a visit from me in the middle of the night where I steal them all and _burn them_. Understood?"

Blaine shook his head, unable to hide a smile. Honestly, he couldn't find it in his heart to ask Kurt to keep it down or try to convince him to do some homework when they had only just mended bridges between them, and it seemed that Kurt was doing the same with Rachel. Plus, after the stony silence that had been in their room the past few days, hearing Kurt's voice was a very nice change.

"Yes, I am the king of fashion. I'm glad we've settled that." Kurt rolled onto his back and Blaine could see that his face was slowly turning red from hanging upside down. "Who's my queen? I have to say Quinn. She's got the best fashion sense of all of the girls - yes, I know she has the most money. That's part of fashion, darling." Kurt winked at Blaine who shook his head, still smiling. He knew Kurt's favourite pastime was to wind up Rachel and he couldn't blame the boy - it was easy to do after all, and fun. "So, what was happening in the New Directions world this week?"

And apparently Rachel was off now as Kurt rolled his eyes and began mouthing along, clearly mocking the girl. Blaine had to stifle a laugh at how well Kurt was doing it, that was until Kurt suddenly sat bolt upright and immediately fell off the bed. "Kurt, are you okay?"

"Fine, fine - oh, no, that was to Blaine. He wanted to know if I was alright because I just stacked it off the bed… yes, I _know _it wasn't very smart, thank you Rachel." Kurt picked himself back off, rubbing the back of his head. "Don't you want to know _why _I fell off the bed." Rachel must have agreed, because Kurt proceeded to explain. "Your song choice for this week - _The Wizard And I_?"

And now Blaine understood perfectly and decided that Kurt's reaction had been perfectly justified. "Put her on loudspeaker?" he whispered to Kurt who rolled his eyes and did what Blaine had asked.

"… rest of the club didn't seem to appreciate my interpretation, naturally, as they haven't with any other song I've performed this week. But I thought you of all people would appreciate the raw beauty of a song such as -"

"Believe me, Rachel, I appreciate the beauty. In fact, I appreciated it so much that I performed it in Warbler rehearsal this week." Kurt smirked at Blaine as they waited for a response. For once, the diva had actually been shocked into silence. "I should do that more often," Kurt muttered quietly and Blaine had to suppress a snort of laughter, agreeing fully.

Rachel finally replied with only a hint of surprise evident in her voice. "Did they appreciate it this time or was it another _Don't Cry For Me Argentina_ debacle?"

Kurt shot an apologetic look in Blaine's direction. "Well, I wasn't auditioning for anything this time, they just opened the floor and I took the chance. I think it was mostly well received?" This question was directed at Blaine who nodded immediately. _Of course it was well received, he has the voice of a freaking angel!_

"Well, I can't say I'm surprised," Rachel replied. "After all, it was only a matter of time before our muses collided and we had to perform the same number."

"That's true actually," Kurt said, tapping the edges of his phone idly. "I'm totally just the male version of you. But more fashionable of course."

Rachel said something in response - probably another defense against her outfits - but Blaine had stopped listening. Most likely because his brain had gone into overdrive at that one sentence and things were finally clicking together for what felt like the first time in weeks.

Ever since Valentines Day, Blaine had been completely lost when it came to his own feelings. He knew he had felt _something _for Jeremiah, but his main feeling after the rejection had been embarrassment - thinking about it later had led Blaine to realize that he didn't actually feel _rejected_ or heartbroken. And then Kurt's confession had plagued him for _days_ and he didn't know what to do with it. Kurt had always been more important to him than any of his other friends, but Blaine had always thought that it was because they had been through the same things, because they understood each other. But Kurt's own romantic feelings drove a bit too close to home for Blaine's liking, making him wonder if he had his own.

But after the Jeremiah incident, Blaine hadn't wanted to think about boys for awhile. So he focused on Warbler practice and school and his friends - Kurt included of course, but strictly not thinking about any possible romantic attachments. For awhile, that worked well, and Blaine could think straight again.

And then Rachel's party came around and Blaine had allowed himself to have a few too many drinks than he should have. A lot of the night was a blur and he honestly had no idea how he ended up in Kurt's bed, but he could distinctly remember kissing one Rachel Berry and realized that it had felt _good_. So when Rachel had called to ask him on a date, he figured what the hell? Might as well go for it, right?

If he had known that it would nearly cost him his friendship with Kurt, he never would have gone. The night was a lot of fun, yes, but there was definitely no romantic spark there and Blaine couldn't figure out why - Rachel was into music, a bit bossy on occasion yes, but a lot of it was to cover up her own insecurities. So why hadn't he liked her?

Well, now he knew that it was definitely because she was female. But now that Kurt's words were playing around in his head - _I'm totally just the male version of you_ - so many more things were making sense, especially since Blaine knew Kurt was a _lot _more than just the male version of Rachel. He had all of the qualities Blaine had liked in Rachel and so many more that made him … well, _Kurt_.

_How did I not let myself see it before now?_

And thanks to his mess of Valentines Day, Blaine now knew that Kurt liked him back and if he wanted to act on his feelings - which he _did _- then he could. Right now if necessary.

"Rachel," Blaine found himself saying, interrupting the girl's rant about something. Kurt frowned at him but Blaine shook his head.

"Blaine? Is that you? Kurt! You're letting him spy on our conversation? What if I had revealed Regionals song selections?"

Kurt sighed. "I'm a Warbler too, remember? Besides, I know you guys, there's no way you have songs chosen yet."

"That's irrelevant," Rachel said angrily. "You should have told me he was there."

Blaine coughed loudly. "If you don't mind, I'm cutting you off now, Rachel. There's something I need to talk to Kurt about."

Rachel let out a loud huff. "If I find out that you've been leaking secrets, Kurt, you're go-" Blaine ended the call and handed the phone back to Kurt who was looking completely confused. Raising a hand, Blaine went over to the door and closed it before returning to his chair, changing his mind to sit on the bed next to Kurt a moment later.

"Blaine, what's the deal?"

Blaine took a deep breath and then realized he had no idea what he was going to say. So in a very un-stereotypical move, he just let himself speak without thinking. "Kurt, I like you."

Kurt stared at him for a few seconds, clearly not believing the words. When Blaine made no indication of changing his words or adding something to it, his eyes widened. "You… but you said you didn't…"

"I didn't want to think about it so soon after Jeremiah. But I've realized that I went on that date with Rachel because she's a lot like you. Of course you have a lot of other qualities that she doesn't - you're a lot nicer for one, and you dress better and you're more attractive and your jokes actually make people laugh and… I'm rambling, aren't I?"

"Uh-huh," Kurt said, smiling. "I quite like it. Continue to tell me how amazing I am."

"Can I show you?" There was that talking without thinking thing again, but judging by the way Kurt's eyes widened in a good way - and how Blaine knew that he had no idea - it was a good thing. And when Kurt nodded, Blaine was already closing the gap between them to kiss him.

And _oh_, there was another difference immediately. Kissing Rachel had been like… well, a leech would be putting it nicely. There was absolutely no spark at all when they had kissed and it wasn't something Blaine had been eager to repeat. But kissing Kurt was something Blaine could do _all _day if he had been able to.

Except Kurt was pulling away, his smile still firmly in place. "Am I a better kisser than Rachel too?"

"No question about it…" Blaine cut himself off, shaking his head. "I mean, I'm not sure. Care to show me again?"

And when Kurt, instead of groaning about how bad the joke was and how Blaine should never try to say things like that, simply smirked and leaned back in for another kiss, Blaine knew he had hit the jackpot.

_There's no way Rachel could ever compete with this._

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"How about I'm crazy about you and I've finally worked it out!"**_

_**"Blaine."**_

_**"Kurt, I want you to sing this duet, first and foremost because your voice is exquisite-"**_

_**"Blaine!**_

_**"and I think we could win Regionals with it. But I want to sing with you because I realized that-"**_

_**"Shut up or I'm taking all of your Redvines!"**_

_**"...Yes Kurt?"**_


	163. Check

**In regards to last night's authors note, I have chosen the ten people I'd like to help me out and I'll be notifying them shortly. To all of those who weren't chosen, I'm sorry, but I did definitely get more than ten people reply and I want to stick to that number to make things easier. Once they've started working on the task, I'll let you all know what it is that they're doing because it affects all of my readers when this story ends :)**

**I don't do this often but I really want to plug my story, _Straight Camp_. I know it's not Klaine, it's under the category of Angst, it's kind of the opposite of anything I've ever done... but for me, that means I'd really like you guys to give it a chance. If you've tried it and don't like it, that's completely understandable. But if you haven't tried it because it's not Klaine, please don't let that deter you. There is Klaine, they're just not the main focus. There's no character death, no breakups, nothing like _that _kind of angst, if that's what's deterring some people. I know occasionally that will deter me. There's three chapters up, just give it a try. If you don't like it, forget it exists, okay?**

**From **_**Broken Gold: Do you like me? Check yes or no.**_

* * *

Check

Kurt raised an eyebrow at the note that had been flicked idly onto his desk. Blaine was studiously taking notes - on what, Kurt couldn't tell - but Kurt knew his friend had been the culprit. Checking to make sure the teacher was occupied, Kurt unballed the note and smoothed it out.

_**This is the most boring class ever.**_

Shaking his head, Kurt picked up his pen and scribbled back a response before sliding it under Blaine's elbow.

_It's study hall. It's not meant to be exciting, which is why Cameron's sleeping. _

He attempted to continue working on his pre-calculus homework, but the note returned just a few moments later.

_**Well I don't have anything to study, nobody gave me homework this morning. Wanna play a game?**_

Kurt couldn't stop the smile crossing his face at his friend's childish antics. It seemed nowadays that every little action that Blaine did only endeared him to Kurt even more, which was a problem because it seemed that Blaine was only interested in being friends. Granted, Kurt hadn't _asked_, but it was Blaine. Lead soloist Blaine, out and proud Blaine... too far out of Kurt's league Blaine. And he just had to get used to that.

Realizing that the letter was still in front of him, Kurt scrawled down his response and handed it back.

_How old are you again?_

And Kurt found himself learning new things about Blaine every single day. Like the way Blaine wrote with his tongue sticking ever so slightly out of his mouth when he was concentrating, like he was now.

_**Seven, of course. Please?**_

And how even his _writing _could have the puppy dog eyes effect. Definitely not fair.

_Fine. What kind of game?_

Kurt couldn't help but remember all the note-passing games he and Mercedes used to play back in elementary school. Quinn would join in on occasion - this was back in the days before popularity mattered after all - but for the most part it was just the two of them, playing whichever game had caught their attention that day.

Apparently Blaine had the same fond memories.

_**MASH!**_

Below the word, Blaine had already set up the game. Kurt tried not to snigger at the thought of himself being a psychologist with eleven kids before choosing the number eight and handing the paper back to Blaine.

Three minutes and four math questions later, the paper returned.

_**So, you're marrying Tom Felton, living in a shack, having two kids by the miracle of surrogacy and you'll be a stay at home... husband.**_

Kurt shook his head, setting up his own game for Blaine to play. As he passed it over, he glanced up at the clock to see that they were close to the end of the period, but strangely enough Kurt didn't want it to be over.

Blaine gave back the paper with the number _**12 **_scrawled at the top and Kurt rolled his eyes. _Of course he would be difficult. _He began to count around in a circle, keeping an eye on the teacher. Somehow he didn't think he could explain MASH as homework for any subject in particular…

As he reached his answer, Kurt bit back a laugh.

_Jeff's now going to be out for your blood, especially when you have twenty children with his current boyfriend, and somehow manage that in a tiny New York apartment while you work as a piano teacher. Great stuff._

Blaine's eyebrows rose when he read that and he sent Kurt a cheeky grin that made his heart flip.

_**Protect me from the jealous wrath of Jeff?**_

Kurt glanced over at the boy in question who was writing studiously, one hand linked with Nick's under the table.

_You're going to need it. Do you think they'll last beyond high school?_

Blaine took a little longer with his answer, giving Kurt time to watch the couple a few rows in front of them. Nick and Jeff had been together since before Kurt arrived - apparently they were coming up on their one year anniversary. There was just something about their relationship that made Kurt think that if just one relationship would survive out of school, it would be theirs. Like the way they were now, both working on separate things, hadn't said a word to each other in the past half an hour, yet linked.

_**I hope so, not just for their sakes but for everybody. They are an inspiration for gay couples everywhere that they can make it last and they're perfect for each other. My only fear is that they haven't had to deal with a great deal of bullying - they've been at Dalton for a long time and I'm worried that when the first real attack comes, they'll fall apart. But we have to trust that they can last. They inspire me.**_

Kurt read the words a few times, nodding. Apart from the fact that Blaine definitely had a way with words, Kurt understood and felt the same way. He was rooting for Nick and Jeff to last because it gave him hope that he might find someone who he could connect to in that way.

Or, that he had already found them and just hoped that someday they might feel the same.

_Me too._

There were a few minutes of 'silence' and Kurt managed to finish his homework before the next note came.

_**So, what note-passing games do you know?**_

Kurt swallowed, suddenly feeling a little warm. He could only think of one, which had actually been the first one to enter his mind when Blaine had suggested games, and after talking about Nick and Jeff, he was almost wondering whether he could… but it was a risk. A risk with a chance of heartbreak.

A risk he just couldn't resist taking.

_Just one. _

_Do you like me?_

_Yes __

_No __

Kurt slid the note back slowly, immediately regretting it the second he had. He couldn't bear to look at Blaine, knowing his friend was reading the note _right now _and was going to write something that could either lift his hopes or break his heart and it was all too much. Standing, Kurt quickly made his way to the teacher's desk and requested a bathroom pass. Still not looking at Blaine, he disappeared out of the room and straight down to the nearest bathroom where he collapsed against the wall, breathing heavily.

_What were you playing at, Kurt? Do you want to be hurt again?_

But a part of him knew that Blaine was worth risking it over. Blaine wouldn't let their friendship be ruined if he didn't feel the same way after all, at least Kurt hoped. So really, hiding out in the bathroom was a bit stupid and he should just go back in there and face his fears.

Kurt stayed in the bathroom until he heard the bell ring for last period. Quickly heading back to the room, he returned the pass as the rest of the students were leaving. Blaine was one of the first out the door, brushing past him just close enough that their arms touched, but not saying anything. Frowning, Kurt returned to his desk and packed up his books, only to notice the note sitting under his book.

_Do you like me?_

_Yes __**100% - did I not make it obvious enough?**_

_No __

_**Do you like me?**_

_**Yes _**_

_**No _**_

It was only when his teacher shooed him out for his next class that Kurt allowed himself to absorb the words on the page. His joke had actually _worked_, and Blaine liked him back. But now it was Kurt's turn to play and he needed to think of something good.

Well, no. Now he needed to get to class before he landed himself a detention for being late. Quickly heading down the hall to French, Kurt's mind was already formulating a plan. Luckily he never had to pay attention during the class, only responding when he was called on for a translation that nobody else could get.

The lesson dragged on far longer than study hall had, but finally the bell rang and Kurt was out of there straight away. He knew Blaine would be headed down to Warbler rehearsal, leaving his dorm room empty and unlocked. So it was a simple matter to head up to his room, place a certain piece of paper in the middle of his bed and go back down to Warbler rehearsal, arriving just before Wes and taking a seat in the far corner of the room.

Rehearsal was just as boring as French had been, so Kurt amused himself with watching Blaine who was trying to watch Kurt and not make it obvious. Clearly he was waiting for a reaction of some kind, and Kurt remaining impassive was probably making all kinds of thoughts run through his head. It was mean, but it was far too much fun to pass up.

"Meeting dismissed!"

Kurt immediately turned to Jeff and engaged him in conversation, signaling for him to play along. The bemused boy continued the conversation until Blaine left, looking slightly dejected. "Thanks for that," Kurt said, unable to hide his smile any longer.

"What on earth was that about?" Nick asked from the other side of Jeff, clearly having been watching.

"In about five minutes time, Blaine will be back down here to hopefully become my boyfriend. I just needed to stall."

Jeff immediately held his hand out for a high-five which Kurt gave happily. "We should probably be going then, don't want to interrupt your little moment." Nick stood and offered Jeff a hand off the couch, giving Kurt one last wink before they left the room. And now all Kurt could do was wait and hope he was right. He dug through his bag for something to do before giving up halfway - there was no way Kurt would be able to focus on anything right now, he was too jittery for that.

He was wrong - it only took Blaine three minutes to return, slightly out of breath as if he had run the whole way which Kurt imagined he had. Kurt simply raised an eyebrow then looked down to the piece of paper in his hand. "Something you'd like to share with the class, Mr. Anderson?"

Blaine crossed the room in four quick strides, knelt down in front of Kurt and kissed him. And Kurt _hadn't _been expecting that but really wasn't going to complain any time soon, especially not when Blaine's lips were soft and sweet and against his like they were made for kissing Kurt. "You are a _tease_," Blaine broke apart long enough to murmur before their lips were colliding again. Kurt would have broken apart to give some kind of witty retort but he was too absorbed in kissing Blaine to think of anything else.

The piece of paper slipped out of Blaine's hand and drifted to the floor and Kurt only spared it a glance before returning to the task at hand, smiling softly.

_Yes __**100% - did I not make it obvious enough?**_

_No __

_**Do you like me?**_

_**Yes _**_

_**No _**_

_Why don't you come back down and find out?_

* * *

**Oh look, another item I'd love to own if it actually existed outside of my mind. Sigh.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"What happened last time someone interrupted Blaine during Homework Hour?"**_

_**"Oh, he dyed all their clothes neon orange, hacked their computer to forever play kiddie tunes, and glued Legos into their hair and hands."**_

_**"And he stole their baked goods."**_


	164. Horror

**Glee in a few hours. I've already gotten a distinctly negative vibe about the episode so I'm a little apprehensive... nobody say anything yet, okay? I'll comment on it in two days as per request :) **

**From **_**TimeFlow(Anonymous): Kurt and Blaine watch horror film. [not boyfriends yet]**_

**Okay, I cannot do horror films myself. I get nightmares really badly. So I'm not going to describe an actual horror film that you can go out and watch, simply because I haven't watched one recently and I don't plan on torturing myself just to write a story. Pretend it's a new release or something.**

**Oh, and because I always seem to be doing vulnerable!Kurt... have some scared!Blaine =D**

* * *

Horror

"So, you're welcome to pick whatever you want." Blaine gestured to the large rack of DVD's next to the television. "We've got… well, kind of everything."

Kurt pulled himself off the couch and wandered over, Blaine settling himself in more comfortably and watching his friend sort through the expansive DVD collection. One of the perks of his father's business trips to China meant cheap (although slightly illegal) DVD stores and they had an up-to-date library of every decent movie produced in the last ten years, plus a good handful of classics. It was the first time he had brought Kurt over to his house - usually they would go to the movie theatre but at the moment it was too overrun with Twihard fans - and Kurt seemed rather impressed with the collection so far.

Blaine had anticipated a musical afternoon so expected Kurt to choose something like _Hairspray _or _RENT_. So when Kurt returned with the remote in hand and turned on the DVD to reveal a blood-dripping menu screen, surprised was an understatement. "I haven't seen a good horror in years!" Kurt explained, tucking his legs up underneath himself and grabbing a cushion to wrap his arms around.

Blaine attempted to plaster a smile on his face as Kurt turned to him expectantly. "Yeah. Me either."

And that at least was true. In Blaine's opinion, he had _never _seen a good horror movie. In fact, he made a rule of never watching horror movies since the time he was seven and was forced to watch _I Know What You Did Last Summer _with his cousins and had nightmares for _weeks_.(1) It wasn't something he admitted frequently… or ever for that matter. After all, who would believe the boy who preached courage could be afraid of horror movies?

Usually it wasn't an issue. Blaine could get away with saying he'd seen the movie before or it didn't look very interesting, and none of his friends were huge horror movie junkies anyway. But somehow Blaine couldn't find a way of wording it that Kurt wouldn't see right through - the result of Kurt being his closest friend meant that he knew Blaine far too well. Hopefully this wouldn't be one of those situations where Kurt could read him easily as Blaine had no intention of appearing weak in front of Kurt. Not over a horror movie.

The first fifteen minutes weren't so horrible - at least this movie had some semblance of a plot that Blaine could follow. But that made the movie all the more dangerous, he realized too late, because now he was invested in the characters. So when the first girl entered the building in an oh-so-cliched move, Blaine felt himself tense up. Ever so casually he tucked one knee up against his chest, resting his chin on it and pretending to be engrossed in the screen in front of him. A sideways glance revealed Kurt still looking casual as he stared at the screen in interest. "Wait for it," he murmured a second later. "And… now."

The girl on the screen screamed at the top of her lungs and Blaine jumped, immediately cursing himself for it since Kurt hadn't moved a muscle, except now to turn and face him curiously. "I just wasn't expecting it to be that loud," Blaine offered lamely. Kurt gave him a skeptical look but returned his attention to the screen as Blaine did, just in time to see blood begin pouring out of the gaping hole in the girl's stomach. Blaine couldn't help but shudder, clutching his leg a little tighter and deciding Kurt had the right idea with his pillow. Not that Kurt seemed to need it as it was still loosely grasped in his arms, Kurt's grip not even tightening when the 'villain' made his first on screen appearance.

By now Blaine was biting his lip so hard that he could taste blood and his eyes were just a bit too wide to give the impression of calm. _Luckily Kurt's not paying any attention to me right now._

"You know you can just admit you're scared, right? Then I can do something about it."

_Damn it._

Blaine was all set to deny it - even if Kurt did know the truth, they could both still pretend otherwise and keep Blaine's pride intact - but his curiosity won out. "What exactly would you do?" he asked, cringing at how small his voice sounded.

In response, Kurt dropped the pillow onto the couch and wriggled an arm around so it was wrapped around Blaine's waist. Blaine's surprise at the gesture meant he only flinched slightly as the next scream rang out. "Feel free to look away during the scary bits."

Blaine wanted to retort that the whole damn _thing _was scary, thank you very _much_, but refrained. After all, he wanted some credibility as a teenage boy to remain intact. Plus, his crush on the boy was at just the right stage for him to take any chance he could get at physical contact with Kurt. But Blaine still refrained from getting too much closer - after all, he was fairly sure Kurt didn't want him to _cuddle _with him.

It only took a few more flinches for Kurt to sigh and look at him again. "Come here," he said, tugging Blaine closer so Blaine had no choice but to rest his head on Kurt's shoulder. "Come on, you're safe. I've got you."

Blaine froze for a second before letting out a breath slowly and fighting with everything he had to stop the tears from welling up. And it was such a _stupid _thing to cry over too but Blaine couldn't remember the last time someone had said that to him. Yes, Wes had looked out for him in his first few weeks at Dalton but his catchphrase had always been, "I've got your back." To have someone tell him that they _had him_, it was a strangely intimate phrase and so powerful in Blaine's mind, even if it was over a stupid horror movie.

And then all fond thoughts were struck from his mind as haunting music began to play - the exact music that came before the most horrifying scenes. "Oh god," Blaine heard himself whimper without really being aware of it. "Please, no, don't put me through this."

"Shh." Kurt wrapped his other arm around Blaine who found himself clutching to Kurt, inwardly hating how pathetic he was being. But there was something different about Kurt's voice when he finally spoke. "Do you want me to turn it off?"

Blaine hesitated for a second, weighing up the options. Turn the movie off and go back to how they were before, sitting a few inches apart and watching something they could both enjoy? Or staying like this, allowing Blaine to stay curled into Kurt's side, feeling closer to the boy than he ever had before?

_Well, that's a no brainer._

"It's okay," Blaine murmured into his shoulder, trying not to read into the way Kurt's arms tightened a little at that. "You keep watching. I'll just - just stay here."

Blaine couldn't shake the feeling that they were moving into dangerous territory, into that area where there was a very fine line between acting like friends and acting like more. And as much as Blaine _wanted _to act like more, he was painfully aware that Kurt didn't feel the same. Except for the part where Kurt had _initiated _their current position. Kurt was the one holding him, quite tightly Blaine might add.

And Kurt was the one who had just begun to slowly run his fingers through Blaine's hair.

Blaine's breath caught in his throat and Kurt stopped, his hand still resting on the back of Blaine's head. "Too far?" he asked, the nuances in his voice _just _a little too clear to miss the intended meaning and Blaine continued to forget how to breathe as he realized.

_Oh, hey, this means something to him too._

"Uh, no. No, it's… it's good."

This time Kurt was the one catching his breath. "Good?" he asked carefully, his voice slightly higher than usual which Blaine knew happened when he was excited or nervous.

"Good," Blaine repeated.

One of Kurt's hands was disappearing from his waist and Blaine heard a fumbling noise before the movie stopped. Blaine waited a second before lifting his head, just as Kurt turned to face him and _oh hey_, if their proximity was close before, this was a whole new level of closeness because Kurt's face was _right there_. "Uh, hi," Blaine said stupidly because what was he meant to say in a situation like this?

Kurt smiled softly. "Hi yourself," he whispered back. There was a moment of silence and Blaine could almost see the struggle in Kurt's eyes. "I kind of like you, you know?"

"I didn't, no." Blaine pushed back his internal elation, there would be plenty of time to celebrate later. Right now, Kurt had just laid his heart on the line and Blaine couldn't let the moment pass without doing the same. "If I'd known, I would've told you that I liked you too."

So maybe when Blaine had imagined this moment, it wouldn't have happened this way. It was more like they were talking about the _weather_ than about their feelings and Blaine had never thought that their feelings for each other could be discussed this casually. But maybe it was a mark of their friendship, and a sign that this impending relationship could never destroy that friendship, only make it a million times stronger.

Kurt was still smiling and his eyes were glittering with a myriad of emotions and Blaine had never thought he was so beautiful in his life. And now it was just so _easy _to lean in and kiss him. Clearly it was the right move too as Kurt practically _melted _into his lips, kissing him back softly and almost lazily, like they had all the time in the world and it was the best thing Blaine had ever done in his life, hands down.

And then Blaine opened his eyes slightly because he wanted to _see_ Kurt, to see what he looked like like this… only to jump back, breaking the connection with his heart beating wildly. "Blaine?" Kurt asked, his eyes flickering open with a mixture of confusion, hurt and worry reflected in them. In response, Blaine pointed to the image that he had caught out of the corner of his eye - the movie, paused mid shot of a girl getting stabbed. "Oh," Kurt said, clearly resisting a smile.

"That's a mood killer and a half." Blaine continued to stare steadfastly away from the screen until Kurt laughingly switched it off completely. "Come on, I don't want to be thinking about blood and gore when I'm kissing you."

Kurt pretended to be thinking about it before smirking. "Honey, if you're thinking about blood and gore when I'm kissing you, I'm clearly not doing it right."

"Well then, better try again."

Kurt rolled his eyes but the smile on his face said it all. And, if it hadn't, the way he was kissing Blaine a few seconds later was all the words Blaine needed.

* * *

**(1) This was me.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Do you like me? Yes_ No_**_

_***tosses to Kurt***_

_***gets tossed back a minute later***_

_**Dude, I hope this was meant for Kurt. Wrong person. -Jeff**_

_**Hey, Blaine, this is Nick now. I peeked over Jeff's shoulder and saw this. I swear to whatever holy being you believe in, if you try to take him from me I will cutabitch. -Nick**_


	165. Bill

**I have seen IAU. I do have opinions on IAU. If you follow me on Tumblr, you'll probably know a bit about those opinions. And, due to popular demand, I will be talking about those opinions _tomorrow_. So tomorrow's authors note is one to avoid if you won't be seeing the episode until later, okay?**

**From **_**Violethillbeautiful: Maybe you could do one where they aren't dating yet, and they're watching the Gay Marriage Bill on TV, then when its passed, they kiss?**_

**AU. They're friends and have never talked about emotions towards each other. AU because I'm pretty sure the bill passed at the end of Season Two.**

**I am well aware that this is rushed. But I know for a fact that I have friends who have spoken like this this early in their relationship so it's actually not all that 'out there'. I much rather would have had them dating but I had to follow the prompt. **

* * *

Bill

"So, what else is on?"

Kurt sighed, flicking channels. He and Blaine had been planning to just hang out and watch a movie, but neither of them had thought to rent anything. So instead they were channel surfing and trying to find something good on TV that they could agree on.

"Hold on, what's that?" Blaine grabbed Kurt's wrist to stop him from flicking channels. "Is that... oh my god, have they decided?"

"Decided what?"

Blaine turned to him, eyes wide. "You haven't been following? Kurt, they're trying to pass the Gay Marriage Bill in New York!"

Kurt froze, still staring at Blaine. "W-what? How did I _not _hear about this?"

"My dad's a lawyer so he told me. I guess it's not big news in Ohio..." Blaine trailed off, reading the words going across the screen. "They're still deciding, but apparently it should be any time soon - Kurt, we _have _to watch this!"

"Of course." Kurt dropped the remote, his heart pounding. "Do you think they will?"

Blaine shrugged, and Kurt realized his hand was still clenching into his wrist. He adjusted it so their fingers were clasped, noticing Blaine's hand shaking and figuring his friend needed some comfort. "I hope so. This - this would mean _so _much."

"I know," Kurt murmured, eyes glued to the screen. "I know."

The crowds featured in New York were enormous, and Kurt couldn't help but wish he was there to be a part of it all. There were hundreds of same sex couples openly showing affection as they waited for what could be the most monumental event of the year - excluding the Royal Wedding of course.

The reporter on the screen suddenly pressed her fingers to her ear. "I've just heard that a decision has been made!"

"Oh my god, oh my god..." Blaine's hand was practically cutting off circulation to Kurt's fingers. Kurt could feel himself start to shake as well and tugged Blaine closer, their arms detaching to wrap around each other's waists unconsciously. As much as Kurt loved every chance he had to touch Blaine, he couldn't focus on that right now. His entire focus was on what was going to come out of the reporter's mouth next.

"And it's official. The Gay Marriage Bill has been passed!"

The crowds in New York went crazy, but the two boys in the living room were frozen, staring at the screen in shock. "They... they did it," Blaine finally whispered. Kurt just shook his head, feeling his eyes well up. "Kurt, they did it!"

And then Blaine was practically in his lap, both arms around Kurt's neck, his laughter mixed with the sound of sobbing. Kurt's own tears were streaming down his face, the event finally catching up with him. "It passed," he whispered, clutching onto Blaine tightly.

"What's going on here?"

Kurt pulled away, wiping his eyes. Blaine was still in tears, and the suspicious look on Burt's face faded away to a look of concern. "Boys, what's wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong Dad!" Kurt couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face. "Look!"

He gestured to the television set which still had people celebrating. Burt watched it for a second, frowning, before the words came up at the bottom: THE PUBLIC REACTION OF NEW YORK TO THE PASSING OF THE GAY MARRIAGE BILL.

"Dad... I can get married."

Burt just shook his head. "Well, I'll be. I never thought it'd happen so soon." He glanced across at the two boys again and Kurt could see the pride shining in his eyes. "I'm real happy for you boys. I'll - uh, go tell Carole."

As Burt left, Kurt turned back to Blaine who was finally getting himself under control, wiping away the last of his tears. "I just can't believe it, Kurt."

"I know. Someday, we can get married." It took Kurt a second to realize what he had said. "I mean, you know, when we meet people... to marry."

Blaine suddenly reached out to take his hands. "Kurt, I don't know if you did the same thing, but when they said that it had passed," he paused for a second, clearly still unable to believe it was real. "When they said that, I imagined it. Getting married someday."

"Same." It had been the first thought on Kurt's mind actually, especially with Blaine in his arms. But considering the two weren't even dating, he had to push it away.

And now Blaine was looking nervous. "Well... the first image that came to my mind was..." he hesitated for a second. "You."

"Me?" Kurt frowned, not sure what Blaine was getting at. "Me getting married?"

"You getting married... to me."

Kurt's jaw dropped, an action he instantly regretted as he watched Blaine shut down. "I'm sorry, I know that was forward, I just… the emotion of it… it doesn't matter. Not important."

Blaine dropped his hands and stared down into his lap, clearly uncomfortable about what to do next. Kurt gave him a moment - and himself a moment to process the words and make sure they were actually _real _- before giving in and laughing lightly, even though he knew it would probably just hurt Blaine more. "Not important?" he said quickly. "Our potential marriage isn't important to you? Because it's _very _important to me."

Blaine's head whipped up to stare at him in disbelief. "You mean…?"

"First thought that came to mind," Kurt said lightly. "I can't believe we've gone this long as two gay teenage boys without considering that we might feel the same way about each other."

"And that we somehow skipped the whole conversation about feelings and jumped straight to _marriage_," Blaine murmured, a soft smile crossing his face. "There's something wrong with us isn't there?"

Kurt laughed again. "Many things," he admitted. "One of those being that we aren't dating yet."

"Easily fixed. Be my boyfriend?"

And even though he knew it was coming, the words still took Kurt's breath away. "I - yes. Of course."

Blaine smiled. "Good," he said, giving Kurt's hands a squeeze gently.

Kurt looked down at the way they were sitting and resisted the urge to laugh again. "It's like we are getting married now," he said, lifting their clasped hands lightly. And then the previously humorous situation suddenly really hit home for him. "Blaine… we _could _be someday. We could be standing right here like this-"

"Except we're sitting."

"Shut up," Kurt said absently, still in his fantasy world. "We could be standing here with rings on our fingers, promising to love each other forever and all that other stuff - I'd be writing my own vows of course." He glanced up to see Blaine smirking and blushed. "I'm thinking too far ahead, aren't I?"

Blaine nodded. "Yes," he said matter-of-factly. "We're seventeen and we've been dating for about a minute. And it's a high school relationship, the odds are against us straight away. But if you don't dream of the future, how are you going to get there?" He smiled almost sheepishly. "I mean, I admitted that I think of it too, didn't I?" Kurt nodded. "So, back to our vows?"

"Well, you can use the traditional ones if you like but I want to write something that's actually about _you_. I'm still going to take you in sickness and health after all but I'd prefer you healthy… and rich."

"Such a charmer." Both boys were smiling almost crazily at the ideas being thrown about. "And then we'd swap rings and I'd put the perfect and elegant ring that you picked out on your finger." He brushed his thumb over Kurt's ring finger, Kurt doing the same. "And you'd have picked my ring because you wouldn't trust me to pick something in a checked pattern."

Kurt stared down at their hands, imagining how it would look. "And we'd say 'I do'."

"And then…" Blaine let his words trail off and Kurt glanced off to find his face much closer than it was before. "Then we'd kiss."

Kurt had imagined this moment many times over in the past but nothing had quite prepared him for the feeling of Blaine's lips against his, how it would not only feel but _taste _and there were no words for it because he was _finally _kissing Blaine and he could get _married _if he wanted and it couldn't get any more perfect than this.

A cough from the door broke them apart and Kurt turned to see his dad and Carole standing there. Carole was clearly thrilled while Burt was unreadable. "I don't think I need to ask what's going on this time, do I?"

"We were… celebrating?" Kurt tried, hearing Blaine snort very lightly beside him and elbowing him in the ribs. "It's a very exciting day after all."

And that _was _true. Burt simply raised an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. Try to keep the _celebrating_ to a minimum under my roof." He turned to leave then paused. "Blaine?" he called without looking back. "If you're dating my son, I expect you to ask my permission. And we need to have a little _chat_ before I can grant that."

As the adults left, Kurt turned back to Blaine who was wide-eyed, staring at the empty door and couldn't suppress a laugh. "Hey, it'll be fine. Better to get it out of the way now." Blaine cringed, getting to his feet and heading towards the door. "Hey, Blaine?" Kurt called after him just as he was about to leave and Blaine turned. "Just don't tell him that we just got married."

And Burt's cry of, "_What?_" from around the corner just made the whole thing worth it.

* * *

**I really wanted to write this one with them as a couple. I'm considering writing a oneshot along those lines but don't hold me to it!**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Kurt..."**_

_***Kliss***_

_***from TV* "IT'S THE DEATH EATERS! RUN!"**_

_***breaks apart quickly***_

_**"Stupid Death Eaters..." *throws remote at screen***_


	166. Finn

**Okay, my thoughts on IAU. I'll make it quick. My main issue is that Glee is trying to put way too much into each episode - I feel like I've already watched a month of Glee and I have to re-watch to try and work out what's going on. Which I have to do to write FOIDH anyway but still. And cliffhanger? Really? I feel so so awful for Kurt, I think Blaine should audition for Tony and Kurt should _not _walk away but actually stay and hear what Blaine says and then the two of them can talk about it reasonably because their whole relationship has been reasonable to date. Quinn bugs me, Schuester bugs me, Puck is too gorgeous for words, Beth is_beautiful_ and I died when Kurt sang and then spontaneously combusted when Blaine sang. I'm not sure how I'm even here writing this because _guh._**

**Bring on Asian F!**

**From **_**Violethillbeautiful: one where they kiss for the first time and Finn walks in XP**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

* * *

Finn

Blaine Anderson was currently sitting in Kurt Hummel's bedroom.

Of course it wasn't the first time. Blaine had slept in his _bed _after all, after Rachel's train wreck of a party. And Blaine had sat by his vanity, trying to teach him how to be sexy and leaving memories that_still _made Kurt cringe.

But it was quite a different story when Blaine Anderson, his _boyfriend_, was sitting in his room. Very different.

"Kurt?" Blaine said softly, reaching out to brush soft fingertips against the back of his hand. "You okay?"

Kurt nodded, forcing himself to meet Blaine's eyes and smile. "My boyfriend is in my room," he murmured, hoping Blaine would understand.

He did. "It's big, isn't it? We're still in high school, still in Ohio, and I'm sitting in my boyfriend's bedroom… on his bed to boot."

"It'd almost be risque if the door wasn't wide open." Kurt gestured to the aforementioned object which, per his father's rules, was indeed sitting wide open. This wasn't the first time Kurt had had Blaine over as a boyfriend, they had done the obligatory dinner and 'talk' last week, and Blaine had been over on Tuesday afternoon when Kurt had needed to pick up a few things and they had discovered the simple beauty of holding hands while driving.

But now it was a Sunday afternoon, Blaine was here for the _whole day_ and, after they had done the family thing and had lunch, Kurt had casually taken Blaine's hand and told his father they'd be upstairs. Finn had immediately turned to Burt, waiting for him to object - there was just something about Kurt dating someone that the boy didn't seem to be comfortable with (and Kurt really hoped it wasn't his now-closeted homophobia returning). Burt had just given Kurt a look and said, "Door open."

So the door was open, but that didn't change the fact that Blaine was in his room. On his bed. With him.

"So… now what?"

Kurt shrugged. "I don't really know." He had given Blaine the grand tour, receiving hums of approval at the design scheme, but really there wasn't anything else to do except talk, which Kurt wasn't at all adverse to. "We don't get much time to just be together anymore. So let's just… be together."

Blaine nodded, still completely understanding him. "Does Finn have an issue with me?" he asked out of the blue, and Kurt noticed the flickers of worry in his eyes.

"I don't think so," Kurt said honestly. "I don't think it's you as a person anyway. You and Finn got along well before we were dating, so I think it's just the idea of someone dating me. He'd never admit it but he's gotten pretty protective of me."

Blaine laughed quietly. "So he thinks I'm just here to steal your virtue, does he?"

"That would be hard," Kurt blurted out before he realized what he was saying. As soon as he did, his face flushed and he tried to figure out how to salvage the situation. "I - I mean…"

"I think I know what you mean." Blaine's hand pulled away. "But I want to hear it from you."

And now Kurt wanted to cry because he had just _ruined _it all. They had this opportunity to spend time together, uninterrupted by Warbler rehearsals or crazy roommates, and he had blown it because he couldn't _keep his mouth shut. _But now that it was out there, Kurt realized it was probably better to talk about it instead of letting it bounce around in his head like it had been the past few weeks.

"Why haven't you kissed me yet?"

There it was, out in the open. Kurt couldn't dare to look at Blaine, afraid of what he would see in his boyfriend's eyes. Instead he stared down at his fingers, twisting them together and trying not to cry.

And then another hand was over his, gently tugging his hands apart. "Look at me?" Kurt looked up to see Blaine… _smiling?_ "It's alright. I'm not going to get mad at you for asking questions… perfectly valid questions at that. I guess I've owed you an explanation for awhile now."

Kurt absently threaded their fingers together. "Okay?"

Blaine took a deep breath and began to talk quietly. "If I kiss you, it's going to be your first proper kiss. Your first kiss that means something. And after what you've been through, I wanted to make it the best experience I could. So I've been racking my brain trying to work out how to make it perfect and I just haven't been able to come up with anything yet."

There was a second of silence and then Kurt couldn't help himself; he laughed. Blaine immediately reared back, looking hurt and trying to pull out of Kurt's grip but Kurt wouldn't let him. "No, no I wasn't laughing at you, I promise!" he said quickly, realizing his mistake. "It's just… Blaine, it's _you_ and you're going to be _kissing me_. I can't think of anything _more _perfect."

"Really?"

And Blaine looked so shocked that Kurt wanted to laugh again. _He really has no idea about romance. _"That's only been my dream since Christmas."

Blaine looked at him sheepishly. "I'm kind of oblivious, aren't I?"

"I know how you can make it up to me," Kurt murmured, his voice suddenly dropping low as he shuffled a little closer towards Blaine. And really, this _was _what he had wanted for so long now that he didn't even care that his dad or Finn could walk in and see them. He just wanted Blaine to kiss him more than anything.

Thankfully this time Blaine wasn't so clueless. "I think I do too," he whispered before leaning in to finally - _finally _- kiss him. And it was everything Kurt had wanted and nothing like he had expected and so many things that he couldn't stand it. All he could do was keep kissing Blaine like he was his oxygen.

And then the sound of footsteps could be heard and Blaine quickly pulled back before Kurt stopped him, taking his face in his hands. "No," he said quietly. "Finn's coming to 'check up on us', so let's get this out of the way."

With that, just as the footsteps echoed down the hall towards his room, Kurt leaned back in and pressed their lips together. After a moment of hesitation Blaine began to respond, just as Finn reached the door. There were a few seconds of silence where Kurt pretended he hadn't noticed Finn, then the eruption came. "Dude, get _off _my brother!"

As they separated, Kurt could already hear the sound of his father making his way up the stairs. "Step-brother, Finn," he said to kill time, dropping his hands from Blaine's face to join with Blaine's hands again.

"I don't care, he's not allowed to do that kind of stuff to you!"

"What kind of _stuff_?" Burt appeared in the doorway, looking pissed. His expression quickly changed to surprise when he saw the sight in front of him: two boys sitting together, holding hands and looking the same as they had when they went upstairs. "Finn, what did you see?"

Finn gestured to them roughly. "Ask _them_."

"That's fine," Kurt said quickly. "You are more than welcome to ask us. In fact, because I know you both want to so badly, ask Blaine."

_Sorry_, he mouthed at his boyfriend, but he knew it was the only way it would get the two men off their case. Blaine got it though. "What Finn saw was nothing more than myself and Kurt kissing. For the first time, I might add."

Burt stared at them for a second then turned to Finn. "And what's the issue with that?"

"But… he was…" Finn whirled to Kurt. "His tongue was down your throat, wasn't it?"

Kurt shook his head. "First kiss, Finn, remember? Which you just ruined, thank you very much. And if his tongue does end up down my throat at some point in the near future, what business is it of yours?"

As Finn began to protest, Burt overrode him. "Are you telling me that when you and that Quinn girl go into your bedroom, you just sit there and _talk? _There's no double-standard here, Kurt made that clear when he and Blaine started dating. If you and Quinn can kiss, so can they. Door's open, I trust they won't be doing anything more than kissing, and now we're going to walk away and leave them alone."

_Thank you, Dad_. Kurt gave his father a smile which was returned before he grabbed Finn by the arm and pulled him away from the doorway. "Well, that worked well… Blaine, what's wrong?"

Blaine lifted his head, looking dejected. "You said our first kiss was ruined."

_Oh_. "Blaine, I didn't mean it, I said that to wind up Finn. It was _perfect_ I promise. In fact," Kurt leant in closer, untwining his hands from Blaine's to wrap around his neck, "how about I _show _you what I thought?"

* * *

**Couldn't resist bashing Finn a little.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***somewhere in Dalton...***_

_**"Wessie, they passes the bill!"**_

_**"I know, Davie!" *squeal***_

_***epic running hug***_

_**"...are you sure you guys are straight? That's kinda pushing the boundaries of a bromance..."**_

_**"You're just jealous of our epic bromance that is Wevid!"**_


	167. Gone

**I broke my toe last night. Always fun. And then I went to work and I figured it would be fine to walk around on because it was just a toe, it didn't matter. But last night was deliveries so I had to unload them and by the time that was finished, I was hyperventilating from the shock of it - it wasn't even the pain, just the feeling that something wasn't right. Has this happened to anybody else?**

**Oh, and on spoilers for 3x05... yeah. That's going to be one heck of an episode if every spoiler is correct, which I severely doubt. This is why I stay far far away from spoilers and unconfirmed rumors whenever I can. **

**I'm two followers away from releasing another exclusive Tumblr story - this time, the request was for a version of the Gay Marriage Bill chapter where Kurt and Blaine are actually together. So check out the link on my profile for that one, hopefully going up soon. **

**From **_**Annika Annabellina: kurts car is found and no one knows were[sic] kurt is. blaine thinks hes dead and confesses his love for him at dalton in kurts dorm. take it from there?**_

* * *

Gone

"Hey, Blaine?"

Blaine glanced up from his textbook to see Kurt standing in his doorway, overnight bag slung over his shoulder. "I'm off for the weekend."

Rubbing his eyes tiredly, Blaine gestured for Kurt to come to him, hugging him awkwardly without standing. "Have a good weekend," he said softly.

"You take it easy on the studying." Kurt stepped back and looked down at him, clearly concerned. "And get some sleep. I'll text you tonight and make you go to bed."

Blaine laughed. "I'll be waiting. See you on Sunday." Kurt waved and and left the room, Blaine watching him go before turning back to differential equations with a sigh. _Am I ever going to get my act together and tell him how I feel? _

An hour later, it was a more than welcome distraction when Jeff knocked lightly on the door and let himself in. "That chapter's hell, isn't it?" he said sympathetically, Blaine nodding his agreement. "Do you know where Kurt is? I need his help with some conjugations."

"Oh, he's already gone for the weekend. Left about an hour ago, I believe."

Jeff frowned. "Then why is his car still here?"

Blaine mimicked Jeff's frown, standing and crossing over to his window which looked over the student car park. Sure enough, Kurt's Navigator was still sitting in the same spot. "Maybe someone picked him up," he said, grabbing his phone and punching in Kurt's number only to receive no reply. "I'll call his stepbrother." Finn's number had been in his phone since their second meeting and Blaine called it, trying to convince himself that everything was fine.

"Hello?"

"Finn, hey, it's Blaine. Quick question, did you pick Kurt up?"

There was a second of silence. "No, crap, was I meant to?" Before Blaine could reply, Finn was talking to someone on the other end. "Were we meant to pick Kurt up?" After a few seconds of silence, Finn returned. "Kurt's supposed to be on his way."

Blaine bit his lip. "Finn, I need to talk to Kurt's dad."

Luckily Finn had the sense to just hand the phone over instead of asking questions and Burt Hummel was on the line in seconds. "You telling me Kurt hasn't left yet? He sent me a text, told me he was on his way, he's not hurt or anything is he?"

Blaine swallowed hard. "Mr. Hummel, Kurt's car is still here but he isn't."

There were a few seconds of absolute silence, then; "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Kurt came by about an hour ago and told me he was leaving but his car is still in the car park. He's not answering his phone together." Blaine hesitated a second. "I can pull the boys together and get Dalton searched but we might have to involve the authorities."

Jeff was already pulling his phone out as Burt replied, "Do it. We'll be there as soon as we can."

The line went dead and Blaine turned to Jeff who was texting. "I've told everybody to meet us in the choir room in ten. That gives us time to check Kurt's room again and go down to his car to see what's going on. And then, if we still need to, you can call the police."

Blaine was already halfway out the room, Jeff jogging to keep up. Nick joined them halfway, beginning to ask what was wrong but quickly silenced by Jeff as Blaine strode ahead, opening Kurt's door and stopping dead in the doorway.

"Blaine? What is it, is he there?"

"No," Blaine said softly, stepping in further to let the others in, knowing they were probably confused by his sudden change in demeanor. After all, there wasn't anything in the room to startle him or give him a reason to believe that something was wrong. It was just Kurt's room which was empty but so unbearably Kurt that Blaine felt the reality of the situation hit him hard.

_Kurt's missing. Kurt's missing and I don't know where he is and he might be kidnapped or dead or injured and I can't do anything about it and this is serious and I love him and I might never see him again._

"Oh my god."

Blaine felt his legs give out, a pair of arms catching him as he fell and quickly getting him on the bed. "Blaine? Blaine, can you hear me?" came the worried voice that Blaine remembered as Jeff's. "I think we need to get him some help."

"No," Blaine managed to say, exerting all the force he could to sit back up. "I'm fine. Honest," he added as he took in the dubious expressions of the boys kneeling in front of him. "We need to focus on finding Kurt right now. Let's go to his car."

Nick insisted on helping him up, stopping him before they could leave the room. "You love him, don't you?"

Blaine had thought he would be more annoyed by the interruption - after all, this was time he could be spending looking for Kurt. Instead he nodded softly. "Yes, I do."

"Well, let's go find him then," Jeff said simply, as if he had known all along. Blaine wouldn't put it past him - Jeff could always read people better than they could read themselves.

The three boys quickly headed down to the car park, checking to make sure Kurt wasn't around. They were just about to head out to the actual car when Blaine froze, throwing out an arm to stop them. "Look," he said quietly, pointing to the ground in front of them.

It was Kurt's phone.

For a few seconds, nobody moved. Then Nick slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out a tissue. "I'm going to pick up the phone in this," he said quietly, "then we're going to go back inside as quickly as possible. And as soon as we're in, Jeff will call the police." The two boys nodded and Nick knelt down to pick up the phone quickly before gesturing to the others. They walked back into the building briskly, Jeff stepping away once they were inside to make the call. "Blaine, I'm going to alert security and put the place into lockdown."

"Kurt's family are on their way," Blaine heard himself say, hardly aware of the words leaving his mouth.

"We'll let them know. You can ID his family?" Blaine nodded, staring blankly at the wall in front of him. A few moments later, Nick's face was right in front of him. "Hey, breathe. Come on, Blaine, no panic attacks on me. You've done this before, you know what's going on. Breathe."

It took a few seconds for the words to penetrate and then another few to remember how to breathe, but finally Blaine managed to take a breath. "That's it," Nick coaxed gently. "It's all going to be fine. The police will be here soon and," Nick paused, glancing over Blaine's shoulder and nodding. "Jeff's going to call security and tell the other Warblers what's going on right now and we'll all wait down here for Kurt's family. Alright?"

Blaine nodded, his head clearing. "Thanks. Sorry about that."

It took a few more minutes for his breathing to even out completely and Blaine could fell himself shaking. Nick put a hand on his shoulder gently. "It's been a long time since you've had a panic attack like that."

"To be fair, it is worth panicking over, Nick."

"He's going to be okay."

Nick's tone was warm and reassuring but Blaine couldn't let himself be tricked into that. "You don't know that. You don't know where he is or who he's with or what's happening to him."

The sound of footsteps could be heard on the steps and Blaine turned to see Jeff returning with Wes and David in two. "Security has been alerted and the rest of the Warblers are searching Dalton," Wes reported. "If he's here, we'll find him."

And then everything seemed to happen at once. Security arrived and began to lock down the campus. The police showed at the same time as Kurt's family and the foyer was suddenly full of people asking questions and getting statements. Kurt's phone was surrendered, access was given to his room and the police began to investigate the car park. Throughout it all, Blaine stood in exactly the same place, answering any questions given to him in a monotone. Nick and Wes were standing on either side of him protectively, answering as many questions as they could on his behalf.

It was only when the police were finished with Burt and he made his way over to Blaine that the boy showed any emotion. "Mr. Hummel, I'm _so _sorry. I should have checked, I should have walked him out to his car -"

"Stop." Blaine was instantly silent, fearing the worst. "Blaine, this isn't your fault in the slightest so don't start telling yourself it is. There was no reason to believe that anything was going to happen to Kurt and you gave the cops a real good description to send out, better than I could have given. All we can do is wait."

Blaine let out a shaky breath. "I know," he admitted. "I just feel so helpless."

"You and me both, kid." Burt hesitated for a second, glancing at the boys on either side of Blaine who quickly took the hint and stepped away. "You would've told me if that Karofsky kid had been calling Kurt or bugging him, wouldn't you?"

"Absolutely," Blaine said immediately. "I just don't know whether he would've mentioned it. He usually tells me what's going on but occasionally he decides he's being a burden and stops. He hasn't seemed worried or anything lately though."

Burt nodded. "That's what I thought. I let them know anyway, just in case, so they can follow it -"

A sharp burst of conversation over the walkie talkies in the room interrupted him and Blaine's heart leapt into his throat because _that was an address. _"Have they found him?"

Burt was already halfway to the nearest police officer as a group headed out the front door. He returned to Blaine a few minutes later. "It's possible, they're going to check it out and let us know, but we have to stay here." Blaine nodded reluctantly and Burt moved away to his family to relay the information. Finn was on the phone, probably talking to Mercedes and Blaine cringed at the thought of how far the gossip would have travelled by this point. He sighed and rested his head back against the wall.

"How are you holding up?"

Blaine shrugged without looking up. Nick's hand slipped into his and he squeezed it involuntarily. "How would you feel if it was Jeff?"

"Exactly the same."

And for some reason that comforted Blaine more than anything else could.

The wait was excruciating. Blaine had no idea how long had passed, how long he had stayed in that same spot just waiting for that radio call to find out what was going on. The first announcement was a negative - the police had checked on Karofsky and found he was at work and had been there all morning. Blaine didn't know whether this was good or not. On one had, it wasn't the person who still gave Kurt nightmares… but now it had the potential to be much worse.

The majority of the Warblers had joined them in the foyer by now and were milling around trying to find a way to be useful. But there was nothing anybody could do but wait.

And then the static burst came. "Victim has been located, uninjured, returning now."

Kurt's family were clutching each other in sheer relief and Finn looked close to tears. The administrative representatives all breathed a sigh of relief and many of the Warblers were hugging each other and finally smiling again. The story was quickly released - someone had noticed a boy taking someone of Kurt's description into a house in the Lima area and police had entered to find him there, clearly being held against his will but thankfully not hurt. The name of the boy was yet to be released.

Blaine sunk slowly to the floor, shaking. The boys were surrounding him immediately, offering as much support as they could as Blaine finally allowed himself to cry the tears he didn't know he had been holding back. Nick's arms were around him and he kept talking softly. "It's alright, they've got him, he's safe, he's coming back."

If the time had been going slowly before, it was nothing compared to now. Every eye was trained on the door, waiting. All Blaine knew was that Kurt wasn't hurt physically but that didn't mean anything - words could hurt just as much as punches, especially in this town. And the same question kept running through his head and probably everybody else's; _who did this?_

And then security was opening the doors and two policemen were walking through with Kurt between them, small and pale but _safe_.

Kurt's family were first, of course, which gave Blaine time to get his legs working and stand again. The rest of the Warblers melted away, leaving Blaine standing on his own across the room and just staring at Kurt as he hugged his father, clearly assuring him that he was fine. A few seconds later, Kurt turned around and his eyes locked on Blaine.

Blaine didn't even remember moving but suddenly he was in the middle of the room and Kurt was there in his arms and Kurt was _there_ and Blaine knew he was crying again but it didn't even matter. Nothing else could. "You're safe," he whispered, his voice shaking. "You're safe, you're here, _Kurt_."

Kurt didn't say a word but Blaine could feel him shaking and tightened his grip. He didn't know what had happened to Kurt and didn't want to ask. Not yet, not while it was still raw. All he could do was hold him and know that right now he was safe.

"I'm okay," Kurt finally whispered, his head still buried in Blaine's shoulder. "I just… I needed…"

"I know. Take all the time you need, I'm not going _anywhere_."

Kurt sighed brokenly and wrapped his arms tighter around Blaine. "I've never wanted to see anybody more in my life than you and my dad."

Before Blaine could let himself absorb the words and what they meant, the doors opened again to reveal another set of policemen with another boy walking between them, a figure Blaine recognized far too well from his brief experience at McKinley - a jock who had seen them walking together after confronting Karofsky and gotten in their way, threatening to hurt them if they didn't get their 'homo' out of his school.

Azimio.

Blaine growled and Kurt glanced up, his eyes wet. "What is it?"

"Don't turn around."

Kurt tensed instantly. "He's in here, isn't he?"

"Yes, but he's not coming anywhere _near_ you." As Blaine spoke, he noticed the other Warblers moving to surround them, clearly making a protective barrier between Kurt and Azimio. Out the corner of his eye, Blaine noticed Burt glaring daggers at Azimio and knew the man would have gone after him if it weren't for the police present. But right now his only priority was Kurt. "It's alright, you're completely safe here, I've got you."

"I trust you."

But Kurt was still shaking, his head buried again and clearly terrified. "Is there anything I can do?" Blaine asked, worried and feeling utterly useless.

Kurt shook his head. "Just this. Just protect me." The next two words were muffled as if Kurt hadn't wanted them to be heard, but Blaine did. "Love me."

"I will… and I do." Kurt tensed again but Blaine knew it wasn't out of fear this time. "I do," he repeated. "I love you, _so much_."

He didn't know how it was going to be received - there was every possibility that Kurt hadn't meant that kind of love. But Blaine _needed _to tell Kurt, not just for Kurt's sake but for his own. He couldn't go another day without Kurt knowing how much he meant to Blaine.

Kurt slowly lifted his head, all the fear completely gone. "Really?"

"Really."

And then Kurt was kissing him, half frantic like this was what he needed more than anything and half like he had been waiting to do this forever. Blaine kissed him back desperately, needing it just as much as Kurt to know that Kurt was here and _all _of Kurt was here. Nothing had been scared out of him and nothing ever could.

There was a choked-off sound from across the room and the two broke apart, both turning to see that the Warblers had conveniently moved while they were kissing so Azimio could see what was going on. Blaine was about ready to kill them until he glanced at Kurt and saw the determination shining in his eyes, completely overriding the fear and Blaine suddenly realized why they had done it. "I told you!" Kurt called out to him, his hand finding Blaine's and gripping it tightly. "It doesn't matter what you threaten to do to me, you will _never _stop me from being who I am. You can call me every derogatory name under the sun, you can call me an abomination, a _freak_, whatever you want! In the end, I am who I am and so are you - an ignorant _child _who doesn't know what love really means! This is love, I love him and he loves me and that's something you'll never change."

Kurt's voice lowered but still easily carried across the now silent foyer. "I almost feel sorry for you because you'll never experience anything like this. You can't let people in so you keep them out with your words. I hope some day you'll realize that you don't have to do this."

"I don't need advice from a _fag _like you."

Kurt shrugged but Blaine felt the way his grip tightened on Blaine's hand. "So be it," he said simply.

As Azimio turned back to the police who were still questioning him, Blaine noticed Burt staring in their direction. Mentally preparing himself for the glaring of a lifetime, Blaine turned to the man, only to find him… _smiling? _

"He approves," Kurt said quietly, also looking at his father. "He always told me to stick up for myself no matter what, that nobody pushes the Hummels around. And he likes you. He always has." Kurt turned back to Blaine. "I'm going to go home for a couple of days. I need some time with my family and some time to just…" He waved his free hand around lightly, clearly looking for the words.

"I know." Blaine leaned in to kiss his forehead. "Take all the time you need. Just promise me something?" Kurt nodded. "Call me if you need _anything_. I don't care what time of the day or night it is."

"I will." Kurt leaned in again, brushing their lips together softly. "I love you."

Blaine smiled for the first time in hours. "I love you too."

Kurt paused, his hand still loosely linked with Blaine's. "Will you love me when I come back, when all of this is over and there's no panic and -?"

"Always," Blaine murmured softly, cutting Kurt off. He paused, making sure he had Kurt's complete attention. "_I love you._"

Kurt kissed him one last time before releasing his hand. "I'll call you," he said simply before turning and walking towards his family. As Blaine watched him go, he couldn't stop the tears from welling up again as the enormity of the day hit him.

Wes joined him a second later, wrapping an arm around him. "He'll be back," he said simply. "And he'll be okay."

Blaine smiled. "I know. He will."

* * *

**Just as a note, I was listening to As If We Never Said Goodbye as I wrote Kurt's confrontation with Azimio. Inspiration right there.**

**I know there's a sequel in this because people probably want to know what actually happened when Kurt was taken, right? Can't make any promises, as per usual, but I'll do my best. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**3 Ways to Get Revenge on Finn:**_

_**1. Find his Xbox. Steal said Xbox. Tie Xbox to a place he can see but can't reach. Like the top of the flagpole!**_

_**2. While he's asleep (sleeps like a log, might I add) piant the room a different color, exchange all the furniture, and have your accomplices act like his family to creep him out. Don't forget the camera!**_

_**3. Risk your soul byndoing the unforgivable- steal his candy.**_


	168. Drunk

**So I slept until 8:30pm tonight which is fantastic for someone on shift work. I woke up to find a Chris Colfer sex riot on Tumblr had just pretty much finished. Sigh. **

**Anyway, I did reach my 350 followers and posted that Tumblr exclusive story. If anybody missed it, PM me and I'll link them to it. **

**Oh, and by the most recent of spoilers (which I'm not going to name), I feel the appropriateness of this chapter. I really do. **

**From **_**AliceinWarberland97: What if Kurt and Blaine went to a party of some kind(you could make if another Warbler party?:D) and Kurt got really drunk but Blaine only a little. When Blaine gets Kurt back to his room, he tries to get him to go to sleep and Kurt says he only will if Blaine gives him a kiss? Blaine, thinking Kurt won't remember in the morning, agrees.**_

* * *

Drunk

It really was all Blaine's fault.

He should have known when Kurt said he didn't want to go to a party with alcohol, there would be a reason. But he had insisted, telling Kurt that he didn't have to drink after all and after a lot of persistence, Kurt had finally agreed. And once they had arrived at Nick's house and Jeff had pulled him away to hog the karaoke machine, Kurt had seemed very happy to be there. So much so that Blaine felt confident enough that he could accept a drink from Wes and engage in the conversation with the other boys. Kurt would be fine.

After half an hour, Blaine began to realize that maybe he should check what Kurt was up to and politely excused himself to head in the direction he had last seen Kurt. He wasn't sure what to expect but it definitely wasn't the sight of Jeff, Nick, Cameron and Kurt all taking tequila shots and laughing uproariously. "Blaineeeee!" Kurt yelled and Blaine winced; Kurt was only a few feet from him. "Come join us!"

"How much has he had to drink?" Blaine asked Jeff who appeared the most sober.

Jeff frowned, looking up at the roof. "Four shots and a few drinks heavily spiked with vodka. And he consented, before you ask."

"Was that before or after he knew the punch had vodka?" Jeff's mouth opened but he stopped, looking sheepish. "That's what I thou- Kurt?"

Kurt was draped around his shoulder, his head resting up against Blaine's cheek. "You need to get drunk, Blaine. It's so much fun!"

Blaine shook his head, guiding Kurt through to the other room and seating him on a couch. "Someone has to be able to drive us home and that's definitely not you. Or… anybody else here," he realized, glancing around at all the half-drunk Warblers.

Nick had followed them, swaying slightly but definitely in better condition than Kurt. "Didn't I tell you? You're all more than welcome to stay the night." He raised his voice above the music for the rest of the room. "There's room for all of you to stay tonight!"

Cheers rang out and Blaine saw a couple of the Warblers who had been avoiding the alcohol quickly make their way over to get drinks. Blaine was tempted to follow suit but another glance at Kurt told him that the two drinks he had already had would be more than enough. "Has he had more than you guys?" Blaine asked Nick who was sitting on the arm of the couch, surveying the party.

Nick glanced down at Kurt and snorted. "Less actually. He's a lightweight."

"I know," Kurt sang out. "This is why I don't drink, Blaine. I can't hold my li - that stuff that tastes good. Threw up on someone's feet last time."

Blaine subtly moved his feet as far away from Kurt as possible - not that he needed to be subtle, Kurt was definitely out of it. "Okay, we might keep you away from the alcohol for the rest of the night, hey Kurt? You can stick to water."

"But water's booooring!" Kurt attempted to grab the cup out of Nick's hand and overbalanced, falling off the couch. Blaine immediately grabbed his arm and tugged him back up, but Kurt refused to sit down, instead taking off in the direction of Wes who was also starting to look a little worse for wear. With a sigh, Blaine stood and followed, resigning himself to being Kurt's caretaker for the night.

_Well, at least he's having fun._

* * *

Blaine stared around the room at the drunken Warblers, shaking his head. Yes, they had had a fantastic time but everybody would have killer hangovers in the morning and Blaine would probably end up taking care of them all, regardless of his own impending hangover which, thankfully, would be less severe. Blaine also knew he would be the one taking care of Kurt who had been sneaking alcohol any chance he could get throughout the night and was well and truly drunk. Speaking of Kurt…

"Blaine, I think you might want to get Kurt to bed." Jeff perched on the edge of the chair and nearly fell off, Blaine catching him quickly. "He's gonna pass out any minute… or make out with my boyfriend and I can't be held responsible for what I do if he does. I'm drunk after all."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Jeff, you're the most logical drunk person I know." He sighed and stood, making his way across the room to where Kurt was practically lying in Nick's lap. Nick was laughing at nothing which was always amusing to watch, but right now Blaine needed to do something about Kurt. "Okay, Kurt, it's time for you to go to bed."

It took Kurt a few moments to focus in on Blaine. "Blaine!" he said happily, holding his arms out and clearly expecting Blaine to pick him up. "Carry me?"

"Oh… really?" Kurt nodded enthusiastically and Blaine sighed. "Come on then."

The height difference made it a little difficult but Kurt was a lot lighter than he looked and before long they were making their way along the hall to one of the guest rooms. Blaine chose the one next to the room he normally stayed in, checking to make sure nobody was already occupying it before awkwardly flicking on the light with his elbow and gently depositing Kurt on the bed. "Where's my phone, Blainey?"

"In your bag. I guess you need to tell your dad you're staying the night?" Kurt nodded. "Wait here then." Blaine quickly returned to the other room and grabbed Kurt's bag, not trusting Kurt alone in his current state for long. But when he came back it was to find Kurt standing in the corner with his hands over his eyes, clearly trying not to laugh. "Um, Kurt, I can see you."

"No you can't!"

Blaine couldn't suppress a smile. He took advantage of the moment to quickly text Kurt's dad - _Hey, it's Blaine, just letting you know Kurt's staying the night at Nick's place. He's already out for the night so I thought I'd tell you. _After all, the last thing he wanted was for Burt to think he was taking advantage of Kurt, or that Kurt was drunk off his face. Even though the latter was absolutely true.

"Okay, Kurt, do I have to come and find you?"

"Yeah!"

Blaine chuckled. "Okay then." He quickly crossed the room and pulled Kurt's hands from his eyes. "Found you."

Kurt began to giggle uncontrollably. "Can we play again?"

"Kurt, listen to me." Blaine sat down on the edge of the bed, feeling his head start to spin a little. He knew he would be out like a light the minute he got back to his own room, but right now he couldn't trust Kurt to be alone. "I need you to lie down." Kurt continued giggling, and Blaine couldn't help but notice how incredibly cute it was. "It's time for sleep."

Kurt skipped over to the bed, bouncing onto it. "Are you sleeping with me, Blaine?"

_Oh, if only I had a tape recorder... _"No, I'm going back to my bed, Kurt." Blaine tried not to read too much into the pout he received as a response - Kurt was drunk after all. "But you need to lie down and go to sleep."

Kurt obediently flopped back, kicking the blankets to his feet. Blaine waited a moment then sighed. "I'm going to have to do everything for you," he muttered, grabbing the blankets and tucking them up around Kurt's shoulders. "Okay, ready to sleep now?"

"No."

Blaine sighed again. "What is it?"

"I need a goodnight kiss."

Blaine choked. "You - you _what_?" he stammered when he could breathe again.

Kurt shrugged, unperturbed. "I won't be able to sleep unless you kiss me goodnight. Like Sleeping Beauty except... not."

_Ah, drunken logic. _And really, Blaine couldn't think of a good reason to say no. After all, Kurt wasn't going to remember it... and he didn't specify where the kiss had to be. "Alright, I'll give you one kiss and then you go to sleep?" Kurt nodded eagerly. "Okay," Blaine murmured, before leaning in to kiss Kurt on the cheek.

"Hey, _that's _not a kiss!" And before Blaine knew what was happening, Kurt had grabbed his hair and pulled him back in, forcing their lips together.

Blaine froze, before instinct took over and he found himself kissing Kurt back. It was sloppy, yes, because of their intoxicated states, but it was still something quite incredible in its own right, and Blaine found himself disappointed when they finally broke apart before remembering the situation. "G'night Blaine," Kurt whispered before curling into a ball and closing his eyes.

Blaine stood, touching his lips lightly as he stared down at his friend. "Goodnight, Kurt," he whispered back before killing the lights and heading off to his own bed.

* * *

The loud knocking jarred Blaine into consciousness and his head immediately made it clear that this was _not _a good thing. "What?" he called irritably towards the door, regretting it a second later when Kurt entered. "Oh... sorry. Just - headache, you know." Then the events of the previous night came back to Blaine and he realized that Kurt did know. Or at least _should_. "Hold it, how are _you_ not hungover?"

Kurt smiled tiredly, holding up a pill bottle. "These are miracle workers. Got them off Puck when I learned what this party was going to be like - I just didn't expect to need them for myself." He tossed the painkiller bottle to Blaine who scooped a couple out and downed them before struggling into a sitting position.

"So, good party then?"

Kurt chuckled lightly. "I guess you could say that. That's my second experience being drunk and at least I didn't throw up... did I?"

Blaine shook his head before wincing at the action. "No, not that I saw anyway, and I stayed with you once you veered on the wrong side of tipsy."

"Did I make a total fool of myself?" Kurt asked anxiously. "I can remember bits and pieces, but not everything."

Blaine deliberated for a second with how mean to be - after all, the opportunities were endless. Then he realized the truth was probably mortifying enough. "Well, you serenaded Cameron, told David exactly what you thought of his girlfriend and then tried to make everybody else play 'The Floor Is Lava'."

Kurt looked horrified and mildly curious. "Um... the first two are kind of awful... but did anybody play?"

Now it was Blaine's turn to laugh. "We all did. It was a lot of fun."

"I'll bet." Kurt shuffled a little closer, turning his full attention on Blaine. Now that his headache was staring to melt away - and Blaine needed to track down this Puck and thank him - he saw the serious look on Kurt's face. "We need to talk about last night."

_Okay, play it cool. He might be talking about something totally different._

"What about last night, Kurt?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "The part where you kissed me."

_And… no he's not._

"Well if you want to be technical about it, you kissed me," Blaine said without thinking, before realizing that would probably make things worse. "I mean, I just wanted to kiss you on the cheek but…" He stopped digging his own hole and looked up at Kurt. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, no," Kurt shook his head. "It is my fault, I was the one who threw myself at you after all."

Blaine shrugged uncomfortably. "Well, you were drunk after all," he reasoned, hating himself for not trying, not asking, not _hoping_. "I know it didn't mean anything."

He glanced back over at Kurt just in time to see something flicker and die in his eyes. "Yeah. Of course. Well… uh, I might let you get presentable and then we can go and see how hungover everybody else is."

Blaine gave Kurt a weak smile. "Not a problem. Just give me a few minutes."

Kurt obligingly left the room but Blaine stayed in bed for a moment longer, allowing himself to drop his head into his hands and have three seconds of self pity before getting up and plastering his best fake smile on. It was time to go out there and be in control and pretend that nothing was wrong other than a slight headache, and ignore the words rolling around in his brain.

_Face it, the only time he's going to want you is when he's drunk. _

_You're never going to get Kurt._

* * *

**Aw, bb's! I've had people asking if I was ever going to do another kiss which didn't result in them getting together, so here you go.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"I HATE Azimio! I will grind his bones to make my BREAD!"**_

_**"Blaine, you're not an evil giant. You're too dapper."**_

_***snicker* "And too short."**_


	169. Ploy

**To everybody who's been asking about my Tumblr exclusive stories, they're now linked on my profile here on the site. And you all owe me, it took a lot of work to find the earlier ones. **

**So I've gotten a _lot _of comments on the last two chapters saying things like I have to write sequels for them. I understand that you want them, but I can say right now that _Drunk _will not be getting a sequel. Imagine what you will for what might have happened. _Gone_ might get one but it won't be any time soon. I've got enough on my plate right now I'm afraid. **

**From **_**Broken Gold **_**and similarly prompted by**_** kuroxdoragon: Actually, fun fact, King's Island used to have a Christmas Spectacular- several years ago! It's been canceled for ages. All it would take for Kurt to figure that out is a quick Google search, now isn't it?**_

**Bless you both for this one. All the love to this idea. I hope I did it justice. **

* * *

Ploy

As Mr. Schuester left the room with a promise to send a photo of the tracksuit he decided on, Kurt allowed himself to sit back on the couch with a wistful smile, thinking back over the duet he and Blaine had completed a few minutes earlier. It was one of his favourite Christmas songs of all time and to sing it in a duet with the boy he was in love with managed to fulfill at least three of his romantic fantasies in one go.

_But of course it didn't mean the same thing to him as it did to me, _Kurt reminded himself reluctantly. _It was just a rehearsal for him._

Come to think of it, Kurt didn't know that Blaine actually performed outside of the Warblers, especially not in commercial shows. In fact, Kurt didn't know that Kings Island had a Christmas Spectacular - if he had, Kurt probably would have auditioned for the part himself. Digging out his iPhone, Kurt quickly pulled up the page for Kings Island, searching for Christmas related events. He was surprised to see nothing come up on the main page and continued to search. When that failed to yield results, Kurt pulled up Google and typed in 'Kings Island Christmas Spectacular.' Google had never failed him before after all.

"Kings Island Christmas Spectacular," Kurt murmured to himself. "A timeless show celebrating the joy of Christmas… blah blah _blah_… performed from 1986 to… what?"

Kurt stared at the page, frowning, before deciding that perhaps all of those warnings about Wikipedia being inaccurate were right. After all, how could the show have ended in 2007? But the more Kurt searched, the more he had to admit the truth to himself. Kings Island had _had _a Christmas Spectacular… three years ago. Which meant there wouldn't be one this year, which meant Blaine wouldn't be performing at Kings Island this year.

_That means Blaine lied._

That realization hit Kurt a lot harder than the others. He thought he and Blaine were always honest with each other - sometimes painfully so, like when Blaine told Kurt about the seventeen uniform rules he was breaking on his first day or the time Kurt had helpfully advised Blaine to throw out anything checkered in his wardrobe and most of his cardigan collection - but it didn't appear to be the case this time. But Kurt's hurt quickly gave way to confusion. "Why would Blaine lie to me about something like this?" he said to himself absently, getting up to throw another log on the fire. "What's really going on?"

Sitting back down, Kurt began to think about the events of the evening. Blaine had _definitely _said that he had a gig at Kings Island, a duet that he had wanted Kurt's help to rehearse for. And that was weird in itself, come to think of it. Yes, Kurt's voice was feminine but if Blaine was performing with a girl in the no-longer-real show, then wouldn't he have been better off to wait until morning and ask one of the Songbirds to come over? Of course that would ruin his whole pretense… and here Kurt came full circle. _Why did he pretend?_

There were only a few options that Kurt could think of. One, that Blaine had some kind of superiority complex and needed people to think that he was important and wanted at all times - and Kurt really hoped that wasn't the case, he didn't need another Rachel Berry in his life. Or, two, that Blaine had had an ulterior motive behind wanting to sing the duet with Kurt.

Quickly deciding on the second option, Kurt was left with that question to ponder. _Is there any chance the Warblers might be considering it….? _But Kurt knew the Warblers weren't meeting again until early January and no Christmas performances were scheduled or needed. Maybe Blaine was performing for something else, something more embarrassing and he didn't want to admit what it was?

_Maybe Blaine wanted to sing the song because it's a romantic Christmas duet and he sang it with you because - _

Kurt cut the traitorous thought off quickly as he always did when his mind began painfully bringing his hopes up about Blaine possibly reciprocating his feelings. But this time instead of submitting quietly, the thought continued to nag at him until Kurt had no choice but to consider it.

And as soon as he did, all the pieces fell into place.

There was absolutely no reason for Blaine to sing a duet with Kurt at that point in time unless he had feelings to back up the duet. And the only feelings that could make sense in that context were if Blaine was attracted to Kurt.

_Well, holy crap._

Kurt couldn't stop the ecstatic smile from crossing his face at that, but quickly extinguished it. He had seen Rachel jump to conclusions about Finn from his behavior too many times and really didn't want to make a fool out of himself. No, what Kurt needed to do was make a plan, which is why it was a good thing that planning was what Kurt Hummel did best.

* * *

Ever since his first week at Dalton, Kurt had acquired a detailed and not at all stalkerish knowledge of Blaine's schedule and classroom and locker positioning. Therefore, it was easy for him to be casually waiting outside Blaine's History classroom on a Friday afternoon, pretending to look up information on his phone as Blaine walked out. "Oh, Blaine, I'm glad you're here!"

"Well this is my History room, so yeah. What's up?"

Kurt gave Blaine his best smile, wanting to put the boy completely at ease before he sprung his plan. "So I was thinking about our duet, the one we did as rehearsal for the Kings Island Christmas Spectacular?" Blaine nodded, looking self-assured. "Well I never got the chance to tell you how fantastic you sounded."

Blaine looked away modestly. "Well, thank you. I hope it's good enough."

"Oh, it will be," Kurt said cheerfully. "Which is why I was hoping to come and watch it. He pretended not to notice the way Blaine froze up as he said that, casually leading them into one of the student common rooms. "The only issue is that I couldn't find any relevant information online - it's like they haven't updated their website in the last three years! Anyway, when is it and how can I come and watch?"

Kurt could see Blaine struggling. "I - uh, I was under the impression that you would spend the whole winter break with your family. And it's really not a big performance, you wouldn't be missing anything at all."

Kurt laughed. "Since when are any of your performances not a big thing? Come on, after singing with you I feel almost obligated to go to see whether that girl is better than me or not."

"She won't be."

Blaine's tone was cold and Kurt knew there was no way he wouldn't have been able to ignore it if he hadn't known what was going on. "Blaine? What is it, did I -" Kurt cut himself off, widening his eyes. "Do you not want me to come, is that it? You just don't want me there?"

And now he had Blaine stuck. The easy option would be to say yes and deal with Kurt's hurt, but Kurt knew Blaine better than that. His friend hated to lie and Kurt knew the current lie alone was hurting him too much to continue it. "Kurt, I would love for you to come along, it just… it can't happen. Nobody can come to the performance."

"Not even you, right?"

Three seconds later and Blaine's eyes widened. "You…"

Kurt nodded. "Blaine, I'm sorry but I don't know how you thought you'd get away with it. Did you really think I wouldn't ask about it or want to come?" Blaine appeared to have lost his words and Kurt could see the panic in his eyes. Guiding Blaine to the couch, he sat him down and took his hand absently. "Now, why don't you tell me why you made it up?"

Blaine seemed to be searching for judgement in his eyes and Kurt smiled, making it clear that there was none. That was all Blaine needed. "Okay, there's no show. I - Kurt, I just wanted an opportunity to sing with you. I mean, from the second you auditioned for that solo, your voice… it _captured _me. And I knew I needed to sing with you."

"So why not just _ask _me, Blaine?" And even though Kurt was _sure _he knew, he needed to hear it from Blaine. _After all, how can someone like this be actually interested in me? _"It's not like I would have turned down the chance to sing, especially not with you." Kurt caught his slip a second too late but continued on, undeterred. "Why make up an elaborate story?"

"I don't know." Blaine was staring at Kurt as if the idea had never actually occurred to him and Kurt had to believe it hadn't. "Kurt, it's…" He sighed. "Look, you've seen me around here. You know what I'm like - always organized, always in control, never acting rashly or impulsively." Kurt nodded, well aware of all of these things. He liked to sum it all up as _dapper_. "But when you're around, Kurt, it's like… it's like I lose my mind."

_Um, woah?_

Kurt blinked at Blaine in shock who was running a hand through his hair nervously, staring down at the ground. "What… what do you mean?" he finally squeaked out, cursing his voice for raising a couple of octaves.

"It's like I'm someone else when you're here. I - I just _do _things, I don't make a plan or think them through. I just act and then find myself thinking it over later, over and over again and trying to work out why I _did _that. I don't normally walk on couches, at least I didn't until you arrived." Blaine's voice was actually shaking slightly and Kurt tightened his grip on his hand. "It doesn't make sense - I just decided I wanted to sing with you and figured the best way would be to give you a reason that I was asking instead of just asking and… it just happened." There was a few seconds of silence before Blaine looked up again. "I'm sorry."

"Blaine, have you ever liked anybody before?" The question was out before Kurt could stop it or even begin to think through what Blaine had said. But as soon as he asked, he knew it made sense and he knew what was going on.

Blaine frowned. "I've had crushes on a couple of guys before…" he started uncertainly.

"But you've never really _liked _someone," Kurt finished. "Can I tell you what happens when you like someone?" He continued without waiting for a response. "You somehow manage to create a combination of overthinking and _not _thinking. You do things and then obsess over them later, worrying that you gave an impression that you shouldn't have. You want to spend a lot of time with them so you make up excuses and reasons to be there. It's like you're not being yourself, except deep down you know you've never been more yourself than when you're around them. Is all of this ringing a bell?"

"I like you." And then they were both staring at each other, equally stunned by the words. Blaine recovered first by some miracle and continued. "Won't this completely change our friendship now though?"

"Yes, please," Kurt said, ignoring the confused and slightly hurt expression on Blaine's face in favor of his next sentence. "I'd quite like to go beyond friends."

Blaine's expression was one of such hope that it almost hurt Kurt to see it. "You like me?"

"Kind of for ages now." And then Kurt's face was breaking into a smile and so was Blaine's because there was no way this was _happening _but somehow it was, it really was. Not only did Kurt like a guy who was actually gay, but said guy _liked him back._

_Now this I call progress._

But the question now was where did it progress from there? Well, Kurt knew where he wanted it to progress to, but hesitated for a second. After all, Blaine had only _just _realized his feelings, would it be too presumptuous and too forward to just -

_Woah. _

No, clearly it _wouldn't _be too forward to kiss Blaine, considering Blaine had just leaned in and kissed_ him. _Kurt could practically feel the hesitance rolling off Blaine at the action though and quickly reciprocated, making it as clear as possible that he _wanted _this. Apparently he did a good job of communicating that message as the kiss didn't break for quite some time, but when they did finally break apart there were no doubts on either side. This was exactly what they both wanted.

"I'd better make it clear now that I've never been anybody's boyfriend before," Blaine said as his fingers absently traced patterns along Kurt's arm. "I don't have a clue how any of this works."

"You don't have a clue, full stop." Kurt laughed at Blaine's overly-dramatic pout. "It's alright, I've never done this either. But I think we can figure it out ourselves. And you know what this means?"

Blaine shrugged. "Your father, step-brother and all of New Directions are going to threaten me with grievous bodily harm if I hurt you?"

"No." Kurt paused. 'Well, yes. But no, what it means now is that we can sing duets whenever we like, without any reason."

And of course Blaine chose that moment to start humming _Baby It's Cold Outside Again._

* * *

**So glad this got prompted :)**

**Tonight's challenge: find the AVPM reference ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***each mope in seperate rooms***_

_**Wes: "Look, you guys like each other. You've pined over each other. Now get a room, preferably when you're sober, and make Gay Unicorn Klaine Rainbow Babies."**_

_**And in the end, they did. Plus they got a talking lion named Rumbleroar. The end!**_


	170. Practice

**To those who didn't get yesterday's reference, it was when Blaine says "Well, this is my history room, so yeah." Which comes from "Well this is the cafeteria, so yeah," when Harry and Ginny are talking. **

**I have a question for my more mature readers. If I were to write a M rated story which does veer a little on the side of smut, mainly more about the words than the actions though, would I have a few people interested in reading it? It's actually more of a hurt/comfort but it's not something that I think I want my younger readers reading. No offence to you guys, but there are age ratings on a lot of these stories for a reason. Anyway, let me know :)**

**From **_**Queen of Drama13: during 'Sexy" right before the Warblers sing 'Animal'. Kurt practices his sexy faces with Mercedes so he doesn't make a fool of himself, and Mercedes tells him to just be himself and have fun. He does, the performance goes great, and Kurt finds himself surrounded by giggling girls, promting a very jealous Blaine.**_

* * *

Practice

Wes rapped his gavel and the hands lowered, the rest of the Warblers beginning to murmur excitedly before being silenced by the gavel again. "It's decided. On Friday we will perform _Animal _for Crawford County with Kurt and Blaine singing lead vocals to determine our sex appeal for Regionals. Meeting dismissed."

Ignoring his slight discomfort at Wes saying the word sex while in Council member mode, Kurt focused on the issue at hand which didn't give him any more comfort at all. _Sex appeal? I don't have any sex appeal!_

"So, when do you want to practice?"

Kurt plastered a smile on his face and turned to Blaine who had just sat down next to him, grinning. "Um, how about we run through the vocals now?"

"Sounds good to me." Blaine stood, discarding his blazer and offering Kurt a hand. Trying not to read too much into it, Kurt stood and accepted the sheet music as Blaine began to sing. Ever since Valentines Day, Kurt had found himself overanalyzing every little gesture that Blaine made, trying to work out what was going on. After all, Blaine had never said he _didn't _like Kurt on Valentines Day, just that he didn't want to screw 'this' up. _What the hell is 'this' though?_

Pushing that aside for the time being, Kurt chimed in on his lines on cue. The song was great, yes, but Kurt knew he was going to have to bring more than his vocals to the performance if they wanted sex appeal. Somehow he had to bring something that he had no knowledge about and do it while singing a duet with the boy he was in love with in front of all of the Warblers and a group of girls. It was just a bit too much, and Kurt needed help.

"That sounds great to me!" Blaine put down his sheet music and Kurt followed suit. "I think if we just have a group practice on the morning, it should all come together nicely, don't you think?"

"Yeah, yeah should be great." Kurt dug his phone out of his pocket, quickly composing a text to Mercedes. "I've got to go out to Lima tomorrow afternoon," he continued once he was finished, "so we won't be able to go for coffee, sorry."

Blaine frowned briefly but it was quickly replaced with a smile. "Not a problem. Is everything alright?"

Kurt smiled as he picked up his bag. "Everything's fine." _At least it will be._

* * *

"Well, say something!"

Mercedes was staring at him, nail file in hand. "Kurt… you've come to _me _to talk about sex?"

Kurt shuddered. "We're not talking about _sex_," he hissed, glancing around even though they were the only ones in the house. "We're talking sex appeal and how I can look sexy. Like, what kinds of faces I need to use when I'm performing."

Mercedes still looked dubious. "I don't see why you came to me. Wouldn't you be better off asking Santana or Brittany or Quinn?"

"I don't trust any of them. I trust you." Kurt sighed. "I just don't want to make a fool of myself in front of Blaine. We're at a really weird point in our friendship where I feel like all it's going to take is one event to tip us over the edge, either forwards or back. And I _really _don't want him to see me as unsexy and decide he wants nothing to do with me. Please, Mercedes?"

"Okay," she finally said. "Show me what you were considering."

Kurt took a deep breath then put on what he thought was his best sexy face. Mercedes raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth as if to say something before bursting into laughter. "What?" Kurt demanded after a few seconds. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, honey, I'm sorry but that is _not _sexy." Mercedes wiped her eyes, getting back under control. "Kurt, what was that?"

"That was me trying to be sexy, okay?" Kurt groaned and flopped back onto the bed. "I told you, I can't do this. I have no idea what I'm doing and definitely no sex appeal." There was a moment of silence and Kurt glanced up to see Mercedes typing on her phone. "Are you even listening to me? Mercedes simply held out her phone which had begun to play music. Glancing at it, Kurt saw a video and, to his surprise, began to watch their performance of _4 Minutes_. "I didn't realize anybody videoed this."

"I asked Artie to do it for me. Just watch yourself, Kurt."

Frowning, Kurt watched as his video self danced across the screen. "My rhythm was a little off," he said contemplatively, "and I could probably never do that again if I tried but overall we did well. We were hot."

"We did." Mercedes took the phone back, closing the video down. "But we were also _sexy_, Kurt. That right there is your sex appeal."

Kurt turned to Mercedes in confusion. "_That_? But I didn't do anything? I just did the performance."

Mercedes was smiling at him like he had just told her that Marc Jacobs was having a sale. "Exactly. It's not about trying, Kurt, it just is. You can't learn to be sexy or act sexy - most people who try that just end up slutty." Kurt immediately thought of half of the cheerleading squad and had to concede that point. "Your vocals are going to be amazing, the song speaks for itself and you're _gay _anyway so it's not like you want any of those girls to want to jump you. Just go and have some fun, send me the video and don't stress it."

Kurt was across the bed and had Mercedes wrapped in a hug before she knew what was happening. "You really do keep me grounded, girl. I love you."

"Love you too, white boy. And if Anderson doesn't work out how hot you are, then it's his loss, okay?"

Kurt smiled. "Okay. Now, let me deal with these nails of yours. What have you been doing, working in my dad's shop or something?"

As Mercedes replied, Kurt allowed himself to fall back into his normal routine, pushing Blaine from his mind. After all, Mercedes was right in more ways than she thought. _Stop overthinking it. What will happen will happen._

* * *

"_Take a bite of my heart tonight!"_

The Crawford girls were going wild, covered in foam and laughing and trying to grab at various boys. For once the Warblers broke tradition of regrouping after a performance in favor of acquainting themselves better with the girls. But Blaine was still frozen in his last spot, the performance replaying over in his head as a few realizations slammed into place in his mind. He had been a little hesitant about the number at first - not so much for his sake but for Kurt's. Kurt had seemed quite hesitant about the idea of a 'sexy' number and Blaine hadn't wanted to put Kurt in a position where he would be uncomfortable.

But not only had Kurt seemed completely at ease during the number, he had managed to bring the element that they had needed. Blaine swallowed hard as he thought about it, the traitorous thought finally filling his mind and giving him no option but to face the truth.

_Kurt was, and is, sexy. And I loved it._

Blaine wasn't completely naive. He knew something had changed between himself and Kurt as of Valentines Day but he hadn't quite been able to place it. It wasn't anything to do with Kurt acting differently, except perhaps being a little more relaxed like a weight had been lifted off his chest. And now, inversely, Blaine felt like a weight had been placed on _his _shoulders, like the ball was now in his court for him to work things out. It wasn't that Kurt had put the pressure on him intentionally, in fact Kurt probably considered the situation dealt with, that Blaine didn't feel the same and that was that.

Except now Blaine wasn't sure that he _didn't _feel the same. Especially after almost forgetting his lines no less than four times when Kurt did the simplest things like flicking his hair or smiling so broadly that Blaine had to believe that Kurt was loving every single second of the performance. He was completely at ease and had never looked more beautiful in Blaine's eyes. Beautiful, gorgeous, attractive, appealing… _sexy_.

_What's wrong with you?_

_Nothing_, Blaine told himself, unable to stop the smile from crossing his face. _I've just realized I'm attracted to Kurt and that maybe I have been all along. So, nothing at all._

Spinning around, Blaine was suddenly painfully aware of three things. The room was a mess and they'd have to clean it up, the rest of the Warblers had bailed (clearly having come to that conclusion earlier) and Kurt was surrounded by the rest of the Crawford girls who were all giggling and twirling their hair as he talked.

Something clenched inside of Blaine's heart and his eyes narrowed. It was only when he was halfway across the room with every intention of telling the girls that Kurt was _gay_ and therefore they had no shot with him before he stopped himself. It wasn't like girls hadn't hit on him after performances or anything, in fact Blaine had a box full of girls numbers at Dalton simply to rub it in David's face that he got girls numbers. So really, it shouldn't be an issue that girls were surrounding Kurt. After all, he _did _look good in that number.

But Kurt was gay. And yes, Blaine knew he was gay as well, but he also knew that Kurt's sexuality came across much more prominently than Blaine's. Seeing the girls hanging on Kurt's every word just wasn't quite right, especially since Kurt probably had no idea what was going on and that the girls weren't just being friendly.

Another round of laughter travelled across the warehouse and spurred Blaine into action. A couple of the girls looked up as he approached, one of them winking at him before turning her attention back to Kurt who didn't notice Blaine until he was standing right next to him. "Oh, hey Blaine! We're in charge of cleaning this up, are we?"

"I think so," Blaine replied, casually dropping a hand on Kurt's shoulder and squeezing lightly. And okay, perhaps it wasn't _that _casual because Kurt was looking at him curiously. "The rest of the Warblers have bailed and I doubt that these lovely ladies want to spend the afternoon cleaning up foam and beach balls, am I right?"

The girls all giggled, shaking their heads. Then, as if they had choreographed it, seven of them reached into their pockets and pulled out little slips of paper, handing them to Kurt. "Call us," one said, blowing him a kiss before sauntering away, the others following.

Blaine stared after the girls, shaking his head. And then Kurt's voice piped up from beside him, tinged with confusion. "I - but I don't even _like _girls!"

"You'll get used to it," Blaine said roughly, aware too late of how he sounded. But really, why was Kurt paying so much attention to them anyway? Surely he wasn't _interested _in them, so shouldn't he be spending his time with Blaine instead. "It's not a big deal, they'll do that to anybody. Let's clean up."

Without looking at Kurt to see his reaction, Blaine turned and began gathering together the beach balls, kicking them towards the door with a little more force than necessary. It was only when he had gotten them all over there and was set to head over and begin deflating them when he looked back over to see what Kurt was doing and realized his friend was crying.

_Oh crap._

"Kurt?" Blaine asked tentatively, already feeling guilt swooping down on him, because why else would Kurt be crying if it wasn't due to what he had said? "Hey, what's wrong?"

Kurt sighed and Blaine could hear his voice trembling. "Look, I get it, okay? You don't need to rub it in my face."

"Get what?"

Blaine had honestly had no idea what Kurt was talking about, but his next words were like a punch to the gut. "I get that I'm not exactly… _desirable._" Kurt paused, but Blaine couldn't find the words to tell Kurt how _wrong _he was. "I know I don't have sex appeal, no matter what Mercedes said about it coming naturally. And I guess the only attention I'm going to get is from girls like that who probably spend their weekends on Twitter, following their favorite celebrities. That's life."

"Kurt… you've got to be kidding me."

Kurt paused, frowning. "No, not really. I don't generally joke about it."

Blaine knew he should be saying something, _anything_, to make it clear to Kurt that it wasn't true, but his mouth wasn't connecting with his brain. "You've felt this way for longer than just this performance, haven't you?"

"Does it matter?" Kurt's voice was clipped and he half turned away from Blaine, staring across the warehouse. After a few seconds of silence, he sighed again. "Look, I was the only one out at my school. The guy I had a crush on essentially told me that he should have put a restraining order out on me, I was told not to do a duet with Sam because it would make him appear gay and that was bad for his credibility. I was hated every day for who I was, so why should I feel the slightest bit _desired_? It's not like it's all that different at Dalton either. I mean, the hatred's gone but still… nobody wants me. Not like that."

And then Kurt completely turned away, muttering something under his breath about 'Valentine's Day' and it all clicked.

_Oh wow. I've really screwed up._

Kurt turned back to him, frowning, and Blaine realized he must have spoken out loud. "What do you mean?"

And against all of his better judgement, against every instinct telling him to leave it, to make a plan before having this kind of conversation, to make it _romantic, _Blaine began to speak. "Kurt, those girls were completely in their right minds to be going crazy over you today because you are so far from _undesirable_. And if you hadn't been watching the performance, you would have noticed a couple of the _guys _looking at you the same way. Nick, Jeff, Trent…" he hesitated for a second. "Me, especially."

Kurt froze, staring at him wide-eyed. "You?" he squeaked out, Blaine nodding. "But… but you don't… you don't. Not like that."

"Maybe I do." And _okay_, that wasn't meant to come out like that but it had and Kurt looked like he was going to _faint _so maybe Blaine needed to do something about this. Quickly. "Maybe when I saw you singing like that today, so full of confidence and so comfortable in yourself… maybe I realized what I should have realized on Valentine's Day."

Kurt was still trembling but Blaine couldn't help but wonder whether it was a different kind now. "I don't know if I like the sound of this maybe, Blaine."

Blaine winced. "I'm horrible at this. _Definitely_, Kurt. And your performance… all I can say is that we're going to _win _at Regionals because you were _sexy_."

And that was about where it all started going downhill. Kurt blinked a couple of times before stepping back sharply, crossing his hands over his chest defensively. "So that's what did it, is it? You saw me being supposedly sexy and decided you want me physically? And of course you know how I feel about you so it would be easy for you to _snare _me and get what you want and drop me when you're done. Well, I'm telling you now, Blaine, that's _not happening!_"

Kurt's voice had risen in pitch as he spoke and Blaine could see how panicked and _furious _he was getting and everything was going _wrong_. "Kurt, _no_, that's not what I meant!" Blaine could hear his voice wavering and, without warning, felt the tears begin to build up. And before he could stop it, one slipped down his cheek to be brushed away quickly.

Not quickly enough. "Blaine?" Kurt asked, his voice suddenly softer and a lot more worried. "Are you _crying_?"

But now that he had started, he couldn't stop. "Kurt, I would _never _do that to you, I wouldn't be able to _live _with myself. Not only are you my best friend, but with everything you've been through? Not ever." He sniffed, immediately realizing it was gross and Kurt was probably going to judge him more but really, how much lower could he get right now? "When all of that stuff happened on Valentines Day, I felt so _low _because I'm so clueless and I'd just been publicly rejected and everything was so confusing and I just wanted to let it all lie for awhile and clear my head and figure out what was going on. And now that I have worked it out, all I wanted to do was tell you and I've ruined _this _too."

Blaine couldn't stay, couldn't bear to look at Kurt and see just how badly he had messed it all up, just how much he had lost. But as he turned to leave, a hand slipped into his, stopping him completely in his tracks. "Don't leave," Kurt whispered, Blaine turning back to face him. "If you leave, we're never going to have this conversation and I don't want to lose this chance."

"You… you still want me? Even after all that?"

Kurt laughed, low and sudden. "Someone very wise once said, 'If you're not insecure as a teenager, then you're not a human being.' I always wondered where you hid all of your insecurities, but it seems I just found them and I can't in all good conscience allow you to think that I could _ever _hate you for them. In fact, I'm pretty sure I like you more." Kurt stepped closer, still holding Blaine's hand, still crying. "I'm sorry for pushing you to the edge, for insinuating that you'd treat me like that. I should have realized I know you better than that."

Blaine sucked in a breath, scarcely able to believe that Kurt wasn't storming out screaming that he never wanted to see Blaine again. "I'm sorry I made you feel undesirable because you're _so _desirable, Kurt. And the most desirable thing about you isn't your body or your sex appeal, it's your _heart_."

"You can have it if you want."

Blaine had to close his eyes at that, a rush of emotion overwhelming him. "I want it."

And because his eyes were still closed, he didn't realize what Kurt was doing until he was right _there_, warm breath hitting up against Blaine's face. "It's yours," came the whisper before Kurt was kissing him.

Time stopped. Nothing else was real but Kurt in that moment, that so _perfect _moment.

Ever so slowly they broke apart, eyes seeking out the other almost anxiously, hoping not to find the worst in the others. But they both saw what they needed - that one simple reassurance that _yes_, this was what they wanted. This was real and it was happening.

And then Blaine was tugging Kurt closer again, kissing him like he couldn't believe he was real. Because sometimes he really couldn't.

* * *

**So, uh, I kinda turned this angsty. Go me.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**...since 2007. Hey Kurt, this is Wes and David. We hacked the site. We knew you would be suspcicous, so we'll just tell you: it's a lie. The cake's a**_  
_**lie, your whole life's a lie. Okay, maybe that's a bit much, but the point is Blaine likes you.**_

_**"What the...?"**_

_***later***_

_**"Oh, hey Kurt, what's-" *kliss***_


	171. Dare

**2.5 hours until Glee =D I've heard that the episode is amazing but nothing other than that... really. Except, of course, those amazing photos that I won't elaborate on for those who don't want spoilers. You'll hear my opinions in a few days. I just can't believe the hiatus is coming up now... sigh.**

**I had something else to say but I accidentally deleted my first authors note and now I can't remember. Double sigh.**

**From **_**I'llrockyoursocks: YOU HAVE TO DO A TRUTH OR DARE PROMPT FOR KISS. PRETTY PLEASE.**_

**OF COURSE.**

**(I feel like Dot Marie Jones on Twitter ;) )**

* * *

Dare

"Can you please explain why we have regressed to the state of twelve year olds at their first slumber party?"

Blaine pouted. "Because there's never an age that's too old to play Truth or Dare and I'm bored?"

Kurt couldn't help but laugh, mainly at his own comment. "Okay, there's something just a little bit weird about talking about my _boyfriend _having a slumber party with me. Santana would be making innuendos… that said, Santana would have been making innuendos the second you showed up at my house and told me to entertain you."

"I thought Santana had been making innuendos since we started dating?" Blaine settled more comfortably back against Kurt's pillows. "And like I said, I'm _bored_. Everybody else at Dalton went home for the weekend so the next logical option was to come and see you and playing Truth or Dare just seemed like a good way to pass the time."

Kurt wisely bit back a snarky comment about how most people who were dating would come to a very different conclusion about what to do when they were alone together. He didn't want to push the subject, even though he was confused as anything as to why Blaine kept pulling away every time he made any move towards kissing him. Kurt still hadn't plucked up the courage to talk to him about it and was just waiting for Blaine to either kiss him or explain.

And it wasn't that Kurt didn't love spending time just hanging out with Blaine - in fact, he was so grateful for it considering he saw so many other relationships lose their friendship aspect once they started actually dating. He and Blaine could still sing their way through musicals and go shopping - reluctantly, on Blaine's part - and so far they hadn't had to worry about the other flirting with other boys or anything of that sort. It had been so easy so far and Kurt couldn't believe he wanted things to change. But he did.

_All I want is to be kissed._

And then an idea struck him that would solve at least three of his problems. "Okay," he said quickly, grabbing his phone. "We can play Truth or Dare."

Blaine blinked up at him. "We can?"

Kurt quickly finished his text and hit send, waiting until he heard the familiar beep of Blaine's phone. "We can, but you need to abide by that."

Blaine dug his phone out of his pocket, looking confused. "Blaine wants to play Truth or Dare," he read out loud, "so I thought I'd better make this interesting. Be here in 20 minutes if you're in." He glanced up, frowning. "Who did you send this to?"

Kurt smirked and pointedly flipped the page in the _Vogue _he had been reading when Blaine had arrived. Blaine pouted far too endearingly to be legal but picked up his phone again and began to play Angry Birds, Kurt rolling his eyes at his boyfriend's obvious addiction.

It only took three minutes until Kurt had his replies and estimated roughly eight minutes waiting time. "Right, you, downstairs," he ordered, kicking Blaine in the shin lightly and ignoring the squawk he received in protest. "You wanted to play this game, hurry up."

"Why can't we just play it in your room?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, standing up and offering Blaine a hand up. "Because I swore to myself that I'd never let Santana Lopez into my bedroom."

"_Santana's _coming?"

Blaine looked appropriately scandalized and Kurt stifled a laugh as he led his boyfriend downstairs to the living room. "Santana never misses an opportunity to play this game," he explained, pushing Blaine onto one of the couches perhaps a little rougher than necessary. "Answer the door for me."

Blaine frowned. "Where are you going?"

"I've got supplies to get."

Kurt disappeared out of the living room, returning five minutes later with a camera, a notebook and a stack of CD's which he quickly took over to the player in the corner of the room, setting up to play. By that time, Tina, Mike, Mercedes, Quinn and Santana had arrived, the latter letting out a groan when she was what was in Kurt's arms. "Hummel, I've taught you well, so you have no excuse. Where's the booze?"

"Unlike you, I don't drink," Kurt retorted. "Especially not at 2pm on a _Saturday_. Learn to have fun sober."

Blaine was looking positively terrified, especially when Brittany, Artie, Lauren and Puck showed up in one hit, tripling the already obscene level of noise. Kurt sighed and stuck his fingers in his mouth, letting out a piercing whistle. "You all know the drill. Get into a circle, we're just waiting for Rachel." Kurt shot another glance at Blaine before taking pity on him. "Come on, come wait with me."

Blaine immediately stood and followed Kurt into the hallway. "What _is _that?" he asked.

"That is New Directions at their finest." Kurt rested a hand on Blaine's arm gently. "You'll get used to them eventually - I forgot you'd only really seen them perform and the one time you all met, you were too drunk to remember."

Blaine pouted again. "Are you going to hold that against me forever?"

Kurt laughed. "Of course not, sweetheart. Just until you do something equally as embarrassing that I can use instead." And before he even had time to think about it, Kurt leaned in and kissed Blaine on the cheek.

_Oh… well that changes things._

Blaine was staring at him, mouth slightly agape. But before he could say anything - and what it would have been, Kurt had _no _idea - the front door swung open to reveal Rachel. "Kurt Hummel, if this game involves the use of alcohol, I will have to protest."

"Hello to you too, Rachel." Kurt allowed the diva to link her arm through his. "No alcohol, I made the standard agreement with my father of no alcohol, no parties and no lewd acts with Blaine anywhere in the house."

Kurt heard Blaine choke behind them and stifled a smile. "But doesn't this technically count as a party?" Rachel asked as they entered the room.

"This isn't a party -"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Great, I might as well leave now."

"- for parental sakes," Kurt finished, shooting the girl a glare. "So nobody go spilling this to Finn either."

"Why didn't you go with them?" Tina asked.

Kurt laughed. "To spend all day watching football, you had to ask? If they'd given me a ticket, it probably would have gone straight to Blaine. But that's not what we're talking about." Kurt sat down in the empty spot of the circle, Rachel and Blaine taking seats on either side of him in an eerily similar arrangement to Rachel's party. "So, Santana, do you want to kick it off?"

"Wait a second." Blaine half-raised his hand. "Is anybody going to fill me in on the rules?"

Kurt simply smirked at him fondly. "You'll learn."

Not only did Blaine learn but he was very quickly becoming one of the most avid participants of the game. Once he realized that it was simply Truth or Dare with no holding back on what questions were asked and harsh consequences, his boyfriend finally started to let loose a little, exactly what Kurt had wanted.

"Blaine, truth or dare?"

Kurt immediately began to silently beg Blaine to pick dare - he could see the scheming look in Puck's eye and knew what would happen. But, of course, no such luck. "Truth," Blaine said cheerfully.

Puck groaned. "Well, I've got nothing. _Boring_, prep school."

"Why does he call me that?" Blaine whispered in Kurt's ear.

Before Kurt could roll his eyes and deliver a customary scathing retort about how _obvious _the answer to that question should be, Mercedes was talking. "Okay, so I met Wes and David who both made it very clear that they had girlfriends - a little too clear in my opinion. Are they in some kind of secret relationship?" Kurt snorted, not only at the question but at the fact that _Mercedes _was the one asking it when she was sitting just a bit too close to Sam for two 'just friends.'

Blaine coughed awkwardly. "I can assure you that Wes and David are happy with their girlfriends. David in particular. Very happy."

"_Wanky_," Santana purred. "Saw them getting it on, did you Anderson?"

Blaine blushed a bright red. "No! No, they just make out a lot."

Kurt rolled his eyes at Santana who was looking at him almost sympathetically. As was Quinn, to Kurt's surprise - and that was something else, even Quinn who had been president of the _Celibacy Club_ had been making out with her boyfriend. And it wasn't like Kurt was asking Blaine for _sex_, all he wanted was to be kissed.

The game continued on for awhile longer, Kurt learning gems of information that he _really _didn't need. He could quite happily have gone on living without finding out that Santana had literally slept with every guy in their year except for four, and _definitely _without learning that Rachel and Finn had made out on _his_ bed ("It was the closest!"). Just as Kurt was deliberating throwing Rachel out for scarring him for life, Santana finally made herself useful. "Hummel," she drawled, flicking her hair back. "Truth or dare?"

"Dare," Kurt said without hesitation, eliciting a few surprised glances from the others. Everybody knew it was suicidal to accept a dare from Santana and Kurt was well known for rarely choosing dare at all, no matter who it was. But Kurt had seen the look in Santana's eye and the way she glanced between him and Blaine (who were sitting further apart than _Lauren and Puck _for goodness sake) and knew what was coming.

"Finally, someone who doesn't wimp out!" Santana pretended to think before nodding. "Lay one on your boy," she declared, immediately holding out her fist so Puck could bump it, which he did. As did Lauren, Artie, Mike and Quinn, to Kurt's amusement.

Blaine began to splutter and Kurt tried to hide his smile before realizing he really didn't need to. "Alright," he said simply before turning to Blaine, taking his face in his hands and kissing him. And _wow_, it was kind of everything Kurt had imagined it would be and a million things more. Blaine's lips were warm and soft against his and his breath was puffing out against Kurt's cheek and Kurt had never felt more in love than in this moment.

Well, until the catcalls started to ring out and Kurt reluctantly pulled away, turning to glare at the other occupants of the room. Which turned out to be a vitally _bad_ move because as he looked back, Blaine was stumbling to his feet and bolting from the room.

"Um, what just happened?" Tina asked in the silence that followed. Kurt shook his head, staring down at the floor and furiously blinking back tears because Blaine had just _rejected him_.

And then Santana sighed loudly. "Seriously? He was kissing you _back_. So just go find out what the issue is because he clearly wanted to do that too." Kurt glanced up, unsure, only to find Puck and Quinn nodding along. And as much as he never thought he would take relationship advice from _any _of those three, Kurt found himself trusting them as he climbed to his feet and headed out of the room, trying to figure out where Blaine had rushed off to.

He found his boyfriend sitting at the kitchen table, hands clenched together and breathing raggedly. "So," Kurt said quietly, making Blaine jump and stare up at him, "going to tell me what that was about? If you, I don't know, don't want to be with me or something, it would've been nice to have known _before _that."

Blaine's mouth fell open. "Kurt, _no_! Of course I still want to be with you! I just…" he sighed, running a hand over his face wearily.

Kurt frowned, pulling out the seat next to him and sitting sideways so he was facing Blaine. "Just what, Blaine? Don't want to kiss me?"

"I want to kiss you so much it _hurts_," Blaine blurted out, shocking both of them. But now that the words were coming out, it was clear that Blaine wasn't going to stop. "And I've wanted to since ages before we started dating but I knew what your last experience was like with being kissed so I was waiting until you were ready except I didn't know when that _was _and now we've been _forced _into it and that's exactly what I was trying to -"

Kurt kissed him again, a little messier since Blaine had been mid sentence, but it got his point across. "I did that because I _wanted _to," he murmured, watching Blaine's eyes carefully. "Both times."

"You mean, you _wanted _to kiss me?"

Blaine looked so confused that it nearly broke Kurt's heart. "For ages now," he said as gently as possible. "I thought you were holding back because _you _didn't want to."

For a long moment they stared at each other, then Blaine snickered. "Wow, you can tell we've never dated anybody before. Don't most couples _talk _about this sort of thing?"

"None of the ones in there," Kurt said, feeling his own laughter bubble up. "But yes, we're a bit clueless." He took Blaine's hands, running his thumbs across the skin softly. "How about once everybody else is gone, we have a conversation about all of these things and work it out so we're on the same page?"

Blaine nodded, smiling softly. "And then we can possibly continue where we left off?" And it was such an _appealing _suggestion that Kurt was so tempted to tell everybody else to go home so that he could curl up on the couch with Blaine and kiss him all afternoon… but no. _Maybe it's time for a little payback. _

"Later," Kurt said, grinning and tilting his head towards the living room where the sound of arguing had just broken out. "After all, you wanted Truth or Dare. You've got it."

The terrified look that crossed Blaine's face made it more than worth the wait.

* * *

**Poor, oblivious, clueless Blaine.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***rubs chin thoughtfully* I'm thinking up some sloggans. How about:**_

_**Chris Colfer and Darren Criss: raising the boyfriend expectations of countless fangirls.**_

_**KH and BA: Sexy for over 15 years.**_

_**Or: Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson: the most common reaction upon seeing them is "Where's my straight version?"**_

_**(The second is "You guys should totally be a couple." *snaps a picture with camera phone*)**_


	172. Invite

**Hey, guys? If you review me and ask me a question, please have PM enabled so I can reply, okay? I don't want to address specific questions in the authors notes every chapter.**

**RIP Steve Jobs. You changed the world as we know it, especially since I'm typing this on my MacBook with my iPhone 4 beside me and an iPod Touch lying on the desk. My world would be a completely different place if you hadn't dared to dream and created such an amazing brand of technology. And I know you've left a capable and competent team to carry on in your absence. Thank you. **

**From **_**bookfreak1317: It's Christmas time and Blaine is staying at Dalton instead of going with his family to visit their homophobic relatives in Europe. Feeling bad for Blaien[sic], Kurt invites him to his house for Christmas. While their, Burt pulls Blaine to the side and asks him if he's dating his son. When Blaine says no, Burt asks why. Blaine starts ranting about how great Kurt is and what an awesome friend he is. And while ranting, Blaine just stops and says I'm in love with your son.**_

**You have no idea how much emphasis was put on oblivious!Blaine for this story.**

* * *

Invite

"So, Warblers, I hope you all have a great Christmas." Wes rapped his gavel lightly, smiling around the room. "We'll see you in a few weeks."

The room filled with excited chattering, everybody swapping Christmas well-wishes and a few of the boys making plans to catch up over the holiday. Kurt accepted hugs from a few of the boys before heading over to his target and sitting down without preamble. "Okay, spill. What's wrong?"

Blaine glanced up, smiling so disarmingly that Kurt wouldn't have known anything was wrong if he hadn't been subtly watching Blaine for half of the meeting already. "What do you mean? Nothing's wrong - it's Christmas after all."

"Exactly, which is why it doesn't make sense that you've been moping all meeting. Don't try to deny it," he added as Blaine opened his mouth, presumably to do exactly that. "I can tell. So, what's wrong?"

Blaine sighed. "It's nothing big, I'm used to it anyway. My family is going to Europe for Christmas and I can't go, so I'll be spending the break at Dalton."

"What?" Kurt stared at him, sure he had heard wrong. "Why on earth can't you go?" Kurt knew he had struck a nerve at that. Blaine slumped back into the couch and broke eye contact, staring across the room instead. "Hey," Kurt said gently, placing a hand on his shoulder. "What is it?"

Blaine raised the other shoulder in a half-shrug. "My relatives don't really think a lot of me," he finally admitted. "To put it simply, they're strongly homophobic and my mom made the mistake of telling them when I came out. I could go but it would be a few weeks of complete awkwardness, my aunt wouldn't talk to me once and I'd ruin Christmas for everyone else. It's easier for everybody."

"Except you," Kurt murmured, his grip tightening on Blaine's shoulder involuntarily. "Why don't you go and stay with someone - you said you practically live at David's place during the summer?"

Blaine nodded. "I usually spend a few days here and there, it's just Christmas is the issue. Christmas Day is always family time, no matter who you are and I could never ask anybody to impose on their Christmas." He suddenly laughed, albeit bitterly. "Of course everybody thinks I'm at someone else's place and they're not too impressed when they come back and find out I stayed alone."

"I'll bet," Kurt said absently, his mind already preoccupied.

Blaine reached up a hand to squeeze the one on his shoulder, finally giving Kurt a proper smile. "Don't sweat it, I'm totally used to it. You just go on home and have a great Christmas, okay? Tell your family I said hi."

Kurt nodded and stood, Blaine following him. "Look after yourself," he said and apparently the meaning was received loud and clear as Blaine was hugging him a moment later, clutching him a little tighter than usual. Kurt gave him a soft smile as they broke apart and turned to walk away, his mind still whirring with plans.

* * *

It took a few minutes after waking up before Blaine realized why he wasn't in the best of moods. _Right. Christmas. _Sighing, Blaine pulled himself out of bed, determined to have a normal day anyway, even if it would only be spent studying.

He didn't even have any presents to open - his friends all exchanged presents before they left for the holiday and his parents would bring him something back from Europe as they always did. As he got dressed, Blaine smiled when he saw the light green cashmere scarf draped neatly across his chair. Kurt had insisted that once he tried cashmere, he would never go back to cheap blends or scratchy woolen scarves and Blaine was starting to think that he might have a point. Or perhaps it was due to the scarf being from Kurt. Either way, it was definitely his new favourite. Tucking the scarf around his neck, Blaine deliberated over gel then decided to forego it. After all, nobody was going to see him apart from the few staff members who had to stick around when any boarders stayed over Christmas.

It was only when Blaine began to walk down the stairs that he noticed something off. There was another car in the car park, just hidden behind Blaine's own so he couldn't make it out properly. _Probably just a teacher_, he decided, continuing to walk down the stairs. But Blaine couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more to it, resisting the urge to look over his shoulder.

Maybe he should have. Because when he reached the bottom of the staircase and a quiet, "Excuse me," came from behind him, Blaine nearly jumped out of his skin. But as he turned around his annoyance was replaced with an overwhelming sense of deja vu.

Kurt was standing a few steps above him, the exact position they had been in the first time they had met. And Kurt knew it, the devil, his grin a mile wide. "What are you doing here? It's Christmas, shouldn't you be with your family?"

"Yes, but nobody should spend Christmas alone, Blaine. Come on." Blaine must have still looked confused because Kurt sighed, walking down the last few steps to meet Blaine. "You're spending Christmas with us." Blaine immediately tried to protest - he really didn't want to be an imposition on Kurt's family - but Kurt was having none of it. "Blaine, I'm not going to enjoy my day knowing you're here alone. Carole has cooked far too much food and Finn needs someone to talk sports with. You'll be doing me a favor, promise."

Blaine rolled his eyes fondly. "Don't pull that line, I know you're doing this for me." He hesitated for a second then went with his impulse to hug Kurt. "Thank you," he said quietly.

"You're welcome." Blaine pulled back quickly as Kurt's voice sounded rather breathless and he was afraid he was squishing him. "So do you need anything?" Blaine shook his head and Kurt grinned. "Let's go then!"

And as if to add to the deja vu experience, Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand and tugged lightly, leading him out to his car. One of the staff members happened to be walking by and Blaine quickly let them know that he would be out for the day before letting Kurt usher him into his car. There was still a little reluctance on Blaine's part - not that he didn't want to spend time with Kurt but he still felt bad about imposing. He turned to say so only to find Kurt's hand raised in his direction. "I don't want to hear a word unless you're asking if you can pick the music, in which case the answer is no."

Blaine mock-pouted until Kurt started the car and music began to play - Christmas themed music. "Why, Kurt Hummel, you've gone commercial on me!"

"It's Christmas. I think I'm allowed to get in the festive mood. I do draw the line at gaudy sweaters though; despite Finn's persuasiveness, I do not see the fun in wearing a reindeer around all day." Kurt glanced across, smirking. "Clearly neither do you."

Blaine laughed, allowing himself to relax back into the seat. The trip to Lima had always been long when Blaine was driving out on his own but now that Kurt was driving and regaling him with tales of what Finn had already managed to get up to in the first few days of winter break, the time actually flew by and Blaine was surprised - and maybe a little disappointed - when they arrived at Kurt's place. But as they walked towards the front door and Blaine smelled what was inside the house, that disappointment disappeared. "What on earth did she _cook_?"

"Putt it this way - Finn woke up thinking it was Thanksgiving." Blaine laughed again as Kurt opened the door, letting him in. "Dad! I'm back with Blaine!"

Blaine couldn't help but tense up as Kurt's father approached. He presumed that it was all Kurt's idea for him to join them for Christmas and that Burt had probably been coerced into it, much more willing to spend Christmas with his family than some kid his son was friends with. So when Burt appeared around the corner smiling broadly, it threw Blaine for a loop. "Good to see you kid. Kurt told me you might be a little stubborn and try to refuse to come."

"I'm very persuasive," Kurt said, linking his arm around his father's. "Plus, nobody is allowed to spend Christmas alone."

"Yeah," said Finn, bounding down the stairs to meet them and thumping Blaine on the shoulder. "It should be illegal or something."

Carole came bustling out of the kitchen to complete the picture, wrapping Blaine in a hug. "I'm so glad you came, sweetie. Do you like turkey?"

Blaine's mouth practically began to water at that. "Yes, Ma'am," he said before trying not to cower under Carole's stern look. "Sorry… Carole."

And then Kurt's hand was in his, leading him towards the stairs. "Come on, come see what I got!"

"Door open, boys!"

Kurt groaned without looking back. "I know, Dad."

Blaine waited until they had reached the top of the stairs before asking. "Door open?"

Kurt suddenly blushed, confusing Blaine. "He thinks two gay guys can't exist in the same room with the door shut without going all 'Brokeback Mountain' on each other. "Blaine tried to find something witty to say but for some reason his throat had gone dry. "I should never have shown him that movie," Kurt muttered to himself, pushing open his bedroom door and leaving it wide open. "Anyway, awkward and far too revealing moment aside, you know how I told you I was worried that my dad wouldn't take my hints about the Marc Jacobs bag?"

"You got it?"

In response, Kurt pulled the long-coveted leather bag out of his closet, holding it out for Blaine's inspection. "It's perfect," he said, running a finger along the strap before gesturing for Kurt to put it on. "And it looks perfect on you."

And there was that blush again as Kurt hastily put the bag back in his closet. "Thank you," he said quickly. "That scarf was an excellent choice, I can see. It brings out your eyes."

Blaine fiddled with the ends of it nervously, though he couldn't understand _why _he was nervous. "Well, thank you for buying it for me." He glanced down at Kurt's wrist and smiled. "The watch fits?"

"Oh my goodness, you should have seen my dad's reaction to this! I think he's going to steal it off me in my sleep." Kurt lifted his arm and twisted at the watch. "You still shouldn't have gotten it, it's worth far too much."

"You're worth more than a watch, Kurt."

And _okay_, where did that come from? But Blaine knew it was true and Kurt was blushing again and there was something about the whole situation that just seemed to be out of Blaine's grasp - like he should know what was going on but really didn't. At least not yet.

"Boys! Lunch!"

The moment was broken as Kurt quickly turned to close his closet door before gesturing towards the hall. "Come on. I don't care how much food is down there, Finn _will _try to eat it all."

And as Blaine laughed in response, everything seemed normal again. They traipsed downstairs to join Kurt's family for lunch, Blaine managing to stop his jaw from dropping when he saw the sheer amount of food on the table, and then again when he saw the amount of food Finn managed to load onto his plate. Blaine took a much more civilized plateful and watched as Kurt went for the healthiest options possible, instructing his father to do the same.

There were a few moments of silence while everybody began to eat, but Finn quickly broke it. "So, Blaine, did you see the game on Friday?"

"Of course I did!"

The subsequent conversations quickly began that always seemed to happen when Blaine was visiting - he would talk football with Finn and Burt while Carole and Kurt would discuss fashion. The three boys invariably ended up talking about Glee also, Finn keeping tight lipped about any performances they had done recently. "It's not that I don't trust you, but you know Rachel would murder me if I let something slip."

Finally - after Finn had taken fourths and fought with Kurt over the last of the potato salad - the meal was over. "Carole, that was amazing," Kurt groaned, leaning back in his chair. "Thank you."

Blaine nodded, already standing to begin loading up plates to take to the kitchen. "Oh honey, you don't have to do that -"

"I want to," Blaine said quietly. "It's the least I can do for your hospitality." Kurt stood and joined him with the others following suit to clear the table. As soon as that was done, Finn disappeared - which Kurt had told him was actually a good thing, Finn and soapy wet dishes did not go well together - and Blaine began to run the water while Burt and Kurt set to work wrapping up the leftovers. Carole had been shooed out under popular demand considering she had cooked.

Just as Blaine had begun to wash the dishes, Kurt's phone began to ring. "It's Tina," he said as he checked the ID. "Blaine, do you mind...?"

"Of course not." Kurt shot him a grateful smile and disappeared out of the kitchen, already talking rapidly. Blaine smiled to himself before Burt appeared beside him, dishtowel in hand. "I can't thank you enough for having me over, sir."

Burt waved a hand. "First, sir makes me feel old so you're calling me Burt. And it wasn't a problem at all. As soon as Kurt told me you were alone for Christmas, I knew you'd be coming over. If Kurt hadn't suggested it, I would have." Blaine was honestly touched and not sure what to say. Luckily Burt seemed to be a man of few words and they continued washing and drying the dishes in relative silence. But once the kitchen was almost clean again, Burt suddenly spoke up. "Now that you're not holding anything breakable, I'd like to talk to you about Kurt."

"What about him, si- Burt?"

"Well, I guess what I really want to know is why you aren't dating him yet."

Blaine couldn't stop his jaw from dropping slightly. "You - did you think that's why I was here today?"

Burt shook his head. "No, and that's why this is more confusing." He hung the dishtowel up slowly, giving Blaine a minute to ponder. "Look, I try real hard to understand what's going on with Kurt. I've accepted that he won't be bringing any pretty girls home, but now I have to try and work out what's going on when he brings a guy like you home, even just as friends. I watched Finn with that Rachel girl when they were dating and even when they're not and I can tell what's going on there. And when I try to apply the same thing to Kurt, I just keep seeing you in that picture. So, why aren't you?"

Blaine leaned back against the counter, taking a moment to think. "I don't really have a definitive answer for you. Of course it all boils down to a few things; whether Kurt is ready for a relationship, whether I'm ready for a relationship and whether we have romantic feelings for each other." He steepled his fingers together. "I wouldn't know whether Kurt is ready for a relationship but he doesn't seem like he isn't. I also don't have anything holding me back right now. I could never answer for Kurt's feelings though."

"And you?"

"And me," Blaine echoed, still deep in thought and not really aware of the words spilling out of his mouth. "Well Kurt is fantastic of course, he's absolutely one of a kind in every way. Ever since that first time I saw him, I knew he was something different, someone very special. He makes me laugh every day but I know I can sit down and have a serious conversation with him at the drop of a hat. He gets me, and I'd like to think I'm beginning to understand him too. He's out and proud and fabulous, he's my best friend but he's so much more than that too and I never want him out of my life and I'm -"

Blaine froze, turning to stare at Burt. "I'm in love with your son."

Burt blinked a couple of times. "You're in love with my son."

"Who's in love with me?" came Kurt's voice as he walked around the corner, stopping dead at the sight in front of him. Blaine attempted to smile, speak, something, but he was frozen by the enormity of his own realization.

A realization that Kurt now knew.

"I'll leave you boys to it, I think. Why don't you go on up to Kurt's room - door open of course."

Numbly, Blaine followed Kurt up the stairs and into his room. Kurt gestured for him to sit on the bed which he did, Kurt sitting next to him. There were a few seconds of silence before Blaine felt like he had to say something. "I'm sorry."

"Why?" Kurt's voice was small and confused. "You didn't mean it?"

"No, I - no, I didn't mean no, I meant no I meant it, I just…" Blaine sighed, burying his face in his hands. "I'm so bad at this. You must think I'm a complete idiot."

Inexplicably, Kurt laughed. "Not quite." Blaine felt Kurt's hands on his, pulling them away from his face. "Now, why don't you tell me why you told my dad that you're in love with me."

Blaine sighed, trying to avoid eye contact but realizing it was impossible. "I only just worked it out," he said quietly. "I mean, Kurt, you've _always _been special to me in a way that nobody else was, I just never knew what that way was. And now I guess I do. I know you don't feel the same so it doesn't have to change things -"

"I _want _it to change things."

Kurt's voice was still quiet but so determined that Blaine froze, staring at Kurt. Kurt who was looking back at him with a smile that was too _perfect_. "Blaine, you're amazing but you're the most _oblivious _person I've ever met if you think I don't want this too."

Blaine knew his jaw would have dropped if Kurt hadn't picked that moment to lean in and kiss him. Which was a jaw-dropping event in itself, but thankfully his mouth was otherwise occupied in kissing Kurt back, something that came so naturally that it nearly hurt. _How did I not work this out sooner? _he asked himself, pulling Kurt closer, wanting nothing more than to keep him in his arms forever.

"Best Christmas ever," he murmured when they broke apart.

Kurt laughed softly and freely. "Without a doubt."

* * *

**So I know we've had a string of oblivious Blaine... I guess that's just how the prompts worked. But this takes the cake for obliviousness, I believe.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"...should finish this." *walks back into room***_

_**Note on couch says:**_

_**"Hey, sexy boys, we know you guys are probably making out, so we decided to ditch you for Breadstix. We also took that gavel that was lying around. -Santanna."**_

_***next day...***_

_**"OH EM GEE! WHERE'S MY GAVEL!" *starts sobbing* "I KNEW KARMA WAS OUT TO GET ME SINCE I ATE THE LAST REDVINE!"**_


	173. Drowning

**Okay, my thoughts on Asian F. Heavily summarized of course because I could ramble on about this one for days - Asian F in ten sentences ;) do not read it if you haven't seen the episode, of course:**

**Shane is the worst thing to have happened to Mercedes. Klaine is gorgeous but I expected more of an explanation. Rachel's horrible. Wemma actually had a half-decent storyline - I'm surprised. _Run The World _was phenomenal which I so did not expect. Mike Chang is amazing and CAN sing and finally has _depth _and is so very hot. Will Schuester should not attempt Coldplay - if Kurt or Blaine or even _Finn _had sang it, it would have been so much better because the backing vocals were fantastic, just not the lead. Chris Colfer can say a million words with one second of screen time. My OTP is the cutest thing in the world. And why was Kurt wearing a tail?**

**All in all, I liked it. I felt like it was a little more toned down, a bit more focused instead of trying to cover every single character in one hit. I still have questions and scenes I feel could have gone better but that's the same for every episode and pretty much every television show out there so I can deal. It's this hiatus I can't deal with though :/**

**From **_**JustCourage: What if Kurt pulled that fake drowning thing on Blaine, like on sandlot?**_

**Warning: This contains manipulative!Kurt. If that's not your thing, skip it. It's not my thing and I struggled a little with it but hey, I'm trying to cover every possibility and genre and character development/flaw in this series that I can, so this works. I don't like Kurt like this so please don't barrage me with reviews telling me you absolutely hate what I did with Kurt because _I don't like it either. _Again, just trying to write the prompt, trying to challenge myself a little.**

**I also haven't seen Sandlot so I have no idea how it works in that. **

* * *

Drowning

Kurt had never thought he would _not _enjoy being Blaine's boyfriend.

It wasn't like he was going to _break up_ with Blaine any time soon or something like that. After all, Blaine was an amazing boyfriend who treated Kurt with just the right balance of respect and reverence that he could give gestures like holding doors open or paying for dinner without inferring that Kurt was the girl in the relationship. Kurt could talk about whatever he wanted and Blaine would be guaranteed to listen - not just nod along but truly _listen_ and give feedback. They could spend hours cuddling together on the couch without Kurt having to worry about Blaine trying to cop a feel or push him to do things he wasn't ready for.

So yes, Blaine Anderson was the perfect gentleman, and Kurt loved it.

Most of the time.

"Kurt, no."

Kurt literally groaned in frustration, burying his head in Blaine's shoulder where it had been previously resting. "Come on, Blaine. I've told you, I'm ready."

Blaine sighed and Kurt could feel it. "I know you think you are -"

"I _am, _Blaine."

Blaine continued as if Kurt hadn't spoken. "But this is a big thing. And after the previous experiences you've had, I don't want this to be rushed or to be something you'll regret."

As usual, Kurt softened slightly after hearing Blaine's argument, but he still had his own to deliver. "I'm not going to regret this. It's _you _that I want, Blaine and even if we do break up somewhere down the track, you'll still have been my first boyfriend and I can't regret that." He sighed, still refusing to lift his head. "I only want to _kiss _you. Do you not want -?"

"_So _much, Kurt," Blaine said immediately. "You know that."

Kurt couldn't resist pouting slightly. "Then why don't we? You're making this a much bigger deal than it has to be."

"You'll thank me for it someday," Blaine said as he always did, turning his attention back to the movie to indicate that the conversation was over. Kurt sighed as loud as possible, just to make it clear that it _wasn't _over, but obediently fell silent. After all, this had been going on for the past two weeks, Kurt was well used to how the conversation ran and knew there was no point in trying to push Blaine to keep talking at this point.

Kurt knew he wouldn't be putting the pressure on Blaine if he didn't know that Blaine wanted this too. But the fact that they were both _ready _to kiss and still weren't was something that Kurt couldn't understand or bring himself to accept. After all, they were dating, they were consenting and according to everybody else it felt damn _good_.

_But of course it's all down to Blaine and his stupid 'I'm always right' philosophy._

Kurt sighed, knowing that wasn't fair. Blaine truly did think he was looking out for Kurt, and Kurt appreciated the concern behind it. But Kurt knew he _was _ready, no matter how much Blaine thought he just wanted to be ready. The only issue was that Kurt had no idea how he was supposed to communicate that to Blaine when his words kept failing him.

_Maybe it's time for a plan._

* * *

"Swimming."

Kurt's voice was flat and Blaine glanced over, clearly hearing something in it. _Hopefully not the wrong something_. "What's wrong with swimming?"

Kurt closed his eyes briefly. "I can't swim very well. I mean, I can go to the beach and all that but not proper swimming."

There were a few seconds of silence and Kurt hesitantly peeked to see Blaine looking shocked, but thankfully not laughing. "Wow, okay. Well, that's fine, I can teach you."

Kurt pretended to think about it before nodding. "Alright, I guess so. It's better than sitting around doing nothing, I just can't believe I forgot you were lifeguarding today."

And now he was definitely in the territory of outright lying, and Kurt pushed away the sliver of guilt he felt at that. _Desperate times call for desperate measures, _he told himself resolutely as he headed back to his dorm room to grab his swimming trunks, _and this is definitely a desperate time._

Of course Kurt had known that Blaine was doing his lifeguard shift down at the pool today - he practically knew his boyfriend's schedule off by heart by now. But his feigned ignorance when he had shown up at Blaine's dorm room that morning had apparently been good enough and Blaine had ever so reluctantly explained what he was doing and then invited Kurt to come along and swim while he was waiting for him to finish. Something that Kurt knew how to do perfectly well, but today it was going to be to his best advantage to pretend that he _couldn't. _Because Kurt had a plan and this was going to go off without a hitch.

Meeting Blaine back in the entrance hall, Kurt did his best to play the part of slightly embarrassed, something Blaine ate up immediately. "Hey, it's alright," he said, tucking his arm through Kurt's and leading them towards the door. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, and now you've got me to help you out."

_Oh believe me, Blaine, you're going to be helping me out more than you think. _

Kurt smiled at him, allowing the 'embarrassment' to fade. "Can we wait until free swim is over though? I kind of don't want an audience for this."

"Of course." Blaine squeezed his arm again before letting go to open the door to the pool, holding it for Kurt. "After you. So what are you going to do for the next hour?"

Kurt held up his phone. "I have a test on _Hamlet _next week, I'll just brush up on it." He shuddered and Blaine chuckled. "You go have fun."

Blaine smiled at him, turning to walk away and pulling off his shirt as he went and Kurt's eyes widened because _okay, wow, _maybe he needed to come along to this more often. Maybe, as in definitely. But for now he ascended the stairs into the bleachers, pulling out his phone and, true to his word (for possibly the first time today), opened his electronic version of _Hamlet _with a sigh. The test wasn't going to study for itself after all.

Somehow Kurt actually managed to get absorbed into the book - because once you got past the strange language, it was actually a very good story - only noticing that free swim was over by the drop in noise as the other Dalton boys disappeared from the pool. There was only a couple of lane swimmers in today, but Blaine still had to lifeguard for them for the next half an hour. That left the main pool perfectly clear and Blaine beckoned him down, still smiling happily. Leaving his phone, Kurt pulled off his shirt and dropped it on the seat, trying not to smirk at the way Blaine watched him just a _bit _too intently as he came down the stairs. "Do we have to do this?" he asked, going for plaintive and slightly scared.

Unfortunately Blaine was always a gentleman. "Of course we don't," he said instantly. "It's completely up to you, but swimming is a valuable tool to have and I think it would be to your benefit to have it."

Kurt sighed. "Okay, let's just get this over and done with."

He followed Blaine to the other end of the pool where it was distinctly shallower, and Blaine sat down on the edge, slipping into the water. "Come on," he said reassuringly. "It's not cold or anything."

"I highly doubt that," Kurt muttered as he followed Blaine's example. The pool was actually quite warm but Kurt refused to let on to that. "How are we doing this?"

And then Kurt's idea suddenly became a lot better because Blaine was resting one hand on the small of his back. "Lean back," he said, Kurt unable to do anything but obey. "So I'll start with teaching you how to just float, then we'll try some simple strokes."

"Mkay," Kurt said, allowing his eyes to drift shut as he floated on his back, the lapping sound of water the only noise he could hear. In fact, he was so deep into his relaxation that he didn't even notice Blaine removing his hand, his own arms subconsciously beginning to move to keep him afloat.

"That's it," Blaine said quietly and Kurt's eyes shot open. "It comes naturally."

Kurt forced a laugh. "I guess it does. This is easier than I thought."

"Ready to try something a bit more difficult?" Blaine asked. Kurt stopped moving his arms and awkwardly climbed to his feet - of course he would normally be graceful about it but the pretense had to be kept after all. "I'll be right here with you."

Blaine's idea of 'more difficult' was a simple freestyle, something Kurt had mastered close to seven years ago. The difficult aspect to it was Kurt trying to make it look like it wasn't simple, which had the added bonus of Blaine constantly touching him to keep him afloat. But after awhile, Kurt 'succeeded' at the style, clearly impressing Blaine. "You're doing a really good job. Did you want to try a little distance swimming?"

Kurt frowned, cheering inwardly. "Distance? Like, swimming away from you?"

"You'll be fine, I promise. Just swim to those flags first," Blaine pointed to the flags draped across the top of the pool only a few feet from them, "and then come back."

"Okay," Kurt said as uncertainly as he could manage before beginning to swim, making sure to falter a couple of times but not go under. Apparently it was enough for Blaine who continue to have him do laps, going a little further each time until finally he was swimming halfway across the pool and back. It was time.

So instead of turning around and swimming back when he reached the designated point, Kurt paused for a second before allowing himself to sink into the water. "Blaine!"

"Kurt! Hold on, I'm -" was all he heard before his head sunk under the water.

Kurt forced himself to go limp as he heard the sound of movement through the water coming towards him. And then Blaine's arms were around him, tugging him back up to the surface, pulling him across the water to the edge. Kurt resisted the urge to wince as Blaine shoved him out of the water, his back hitting the concrete. But then Blaine was out of the water too, straddling Kurt low on his hips and resting his hands on Kurt's shoulders. "Kurt? Kurt, can you hear me?"

Blaine leaned in closer, clearly trying to hear whether he was breathing and Kurt held his breath until his boyfriend cursed softly. "I hope you forgive me for this," Blaine muttered before tilting his chin back gently and pressing his open mouth against Kurt's.

As soon as Blaine's lips met his, Kurt went numb. _Oh my god, what have I done?_

It wasn't that it didn't feel _good_, but Kurt had just suddenly realized the magnitude of what he had done. This was essentially their first kiss - because for some reason, Blaine had forgotten to plug his nose and it was just their lips pressed together - and Kurt had just _faked it. _And now he couldn't even kiss Blaine properly and this was what he was going to remember every single time he thought of their first kiss and - _no. _This needed to stop _now_.

Kurt rolled away, taking in a deep inhalation. He heard Blaine rock back on his heels, murmuring a, "thank goodness," under his breath before leaning over him again. "Kurt, can you hear me?"

Kurt slowly opened his eyes, blinking up at Blaine. "Blaine?" he croaked out, half applauding himself on his acting and half yelling at himself for doing something that could threaten his voice. "What happened?"

"You sunk and stopped breathing." Blaine wiped the hair off Kurt's forehead gently, staring down at him with so much compassion that it _hurt_. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Kurt murmured, propping himself up on his elbows. "Blaine, you saved my _life_."

And okay, that was definitely a good enough situation. So without any hesitation, Kurt closed the distance between them and pressed his lips against Blaine's. And, _oh_, it was so much better this way. Even though Blaine was stunned still and hadn't started kissing him back yet, Kurt knew he wanted this. And then when Blaine _was _kissing him back… well. Kurt couldn't begin to describe it.

When he pulled away, Blaine was blinking down at him, dazed and confused and already beginning to second-guess, Kurt could tell. "I don't regret that one bit," he said immediately, trying to soothe Blaine. "How could I?"

Blaine closed his eyes briefly and nodded. "Okay. As long as you're okay."

Kurt pulled himself up so he was sitting and reached out to touch Blaine's cheek gently. "I'm okay in every sense of the word, I promise. Are you telling me you didn't like that?"

"I did," Blaine said as if he was only realizing it himself before a smile blossomed on his face. "Okay, maybe we don't need to wait any longer," he said, standing and offering a hand to Kurt.

Kurt grinned back, allowing Blaine to pull him to his feet. "Well, in that case, how about we leave the pool and go back to your room to have a good look at this new discovery."

As he left the pool hand-in-hand with Blaine, Kurt refused to let himself dwell on the events of the day. In the end, he had gotten what he wanted and Blaine was none the wiser as to what had actually happened. Nobody was hurt, and Kurt could live with his regrets.

Blaine never needed to know.

* * *

Alone in his room later that night, Blaine allowed himself to smile.

"Kurt Hummel, you are one determined boyfriend," he murmured to himself. "And I was right. But you don't need to know that."

Because after all, nobody had gotten hurt and Blaine could live with Kurt pretending that their first kiss hadn't been a farce. Their second, and first _real _kiss, had more than made up for it, and there were plenty more to come.

Kurt never needed to know.

* * *

**This just... yeah. Bad vibes because I hate seeing them like this, because I never believe in building a relationship on lies, ever. But I'm pushing myself to write every single possibility I can and so it remains.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"...I'm in love with your son."**_

_**"You're in love with my son."**_

_**"I'm in love with your son too!"**_

_**"What the- Jacob, first of all, how'd you get in here? Second, he's MINE. Third, Burt has a shotgun."**_


	174. Fondue

**Once again, prompts _are _closed. Once again.**

**I found out about Cory Monteith's teenage years this afternoon and it blew me away. I had no idea what he went through and ... yeah, wow. If you haven't read it, Google him or check my Tumblr for the link. **

**Oh, and speaking of Tumblr, I published another followers story. The link is on my profile here if you want to check it out. **

**From **_**Christy C (Anonymous): I think it'd be cool if they went onto Fondue for Two with Brittany, and she started a kliss! chant or something...**_

**This is Fondue for Two after the final performance of the Rumors episode. If it helps, it can be that same afternoon. I don't really mind.**

* * *

Fondue

"Kurt?"

Kurt parked the Navigator and turned in his seat. "Yes, Blaine?"

"Remind me again why I'm going on an internet show called _Fondue for Two?_"

"Because it's Brittany and despite her inappropriate statements at awkward times that are often worse than Santana's, we love her?"

Apparently that was enough for Blaine who was already climbing out of the car, and Kurt was glad. He had neglected to mention what kinds of questions Brittany asked, figuring it would at least be funny when Blaine was put on the spot. He joined his boyfriend and they walked up the front walk to Brittany's house. Kurt had never been, but Santana had given good instructions after Brittany had tried... and failed.

Before Kurt could knock, the door opened to reveal Brittany with a cat in her arms. "You're late. Lord Tubbington isn't happy, he wants his fondue."

Kurt immediately decided that steering clear of the fondue was probably an excellent choice. "Sorry Brittany, Blaine was caught up with Warbler practice." Blaine offered an apologetic shrug which seemed to work wonders - Brittany beamed at him and all but skipped upstairs, leaving the two boys to follow behind.

They entered the room just in time to see the cat begin to lick cheese out of the fondue tub. Kurt could have sworn that Blaine turned green, and both boys hastily sat down as far from the cat as possible. Brittany was setting up a camera on a tripod and Kurt took the moment to smooth down his outfit of choice and check his hair in the mirror, straightening his hat. It might just be Brittany's weird talk show, but any publicity was a chance for fashion and Kurt certainly wasn't going to be shown looking less than stellar.

"Welcome to Fondue for Two." Brittany sat down on the chair, turning to face the camera. "Today I have Kurt and Blaine as my guests. Blaine goes to the school that Kurt went to after he came to ours and before that too."

Kurt blinked. _It is a bit confusing when you think about it_, he thought, giving Brittany the benefit of the doubt. "According to Santana, lots of dolphins go there," she continued. "Blaine, is your school underwater?"

Blaine laughed, looking bemused. "Ah, no. And there's no dolphins, sorry."

"But.. you two are dolphins?"

Kurt quickly realized what she meant. "We're a different kind of dolphin, Brit. Not everybody at Dalton is like us - remember, Blaine's friend Wes dated Santana awhile ago."

Brittany nodded and Blaine shot him a confused look, to which Kurt gestured that he'd explain later. _I'm sure there'll be plenty more to explain by the time this is over._

"So Blaine, what do you have to say to the allegations that Kurt is secretly dating one of the New Directions members?"

Kurt sighed loudly as Blaine replied, "I thought you'd all already gone through this. Kurt and Sam aren't dating, Kurt isn't cheating on me with him."

Brittany shook her head, dipping a piece of broccoli into the cheese pot. "Not with Sam. According to rumors, he's going to elope with Mr. Schue and they're going to join Broadway together."

It took a few seconds for Kurt to get his head around that. "Brittany, where did you hear _that_?"

"My sources are protected." Brittany turned to face the camera. "Let it be shown that Kurt refused to answer -"

"No, I'm not eloping with Mr. Schue and joining Broadway," Kurt said quickly. "I'm quite happy with Blaine, thank you very much." Blaine blushed slightly and Kurt gave him a quick smile before turning back to Brittany. "Do you have any other _valid _questions? And nothing Santana's given you, please."

Brittany appeared to be thinking for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "So, is it true that you kissed onstage at Regionals?"

Blaine leant forward, frowning. "Brittany, you were there, you should know whether we kissed or not."

Brittany stroked her cat again who somehow managed to give her an indignant look. "I was busy watching the candles. So did you?"

"No, we didn't." Kurt nearly shuddered at the thought before realizing how that would look to Blaine. "Kissing the middle of a performance is completely unprofessional, no matter the emotions behind the song."

Brittany frowned, looking put out. "So when did you kiss?"

Kurt shut his eyes briefly before turning to Blaine who looked just as awkward. And it wasn't as if it was anything to _hide_, but everybody had just assumed that they had kissed that day Blaine had asked him out and ... well, they hadn't really set everybody straight yet. Or anybody. "Um... we haven't yet," Kurt finally mumbled.

Brittany looked more confused than usual, but for once she seemed to have a valid reason for it. "So when are you going to?"

"We haven't really _planned _it, Brittany." Blaine coughed, clearly feeling awkward. "It's just something that happens when both people are ready."

"Are you saying you're not ready?" Brittany leaned forward, somehow magically procuring a pen and paper even though the entire thing was being videoed. "Blaine, what's holding you back -"

"Brittany!" Kurt crossed his arms. "You don't ask questions like that."

Brittany looked at him, then Blaine. "Why not?"

As Kurt prepared to chew her out, Blaine stopped him. "It's fine, Kurt. I can answer the question. There isn't anything holding me back, I just wanted to make sure Kurt was ready."

That was news to Kurt who immediately turned to Blaine, raising an eyebrow. "You thought I wasn't ready?"

"I wasn't sure and I didn't want to rush you by bringing the subject up because then you'd think I was asking for it. And I mean, I would be if you were okay with it because I really do want to kiss you, but if you're not then I'm totally fine with waiting."

It took a few seconds to comprehend the words. "You wouldn't have been rushing me," Kurt said slowly, staring deliberately at Blaine and hoping his unspoken message was getting through. Brittany, oblivious as she was most of the time, had a strange knack for being perceptive when she shouldn't be and Kurt had wanted this conversation to be as private as possible when they did have it. "Definitely not."

Blaine's eyes lit up and there was a brief, beautiful moment where everything made sense and they were on the same page. Now all they had to do was get through the rest of the talk show and then they could discuss this further and possibly even _act _on those feelings.

But before Kurt could let himself get too caught up in that thought, Brittany spoke up again. "So are you going to make out or not?"

Blaine choked. Kurt only just managed not to. "Brittany, we just said we've never kissed before, why would we make out?"

"Because there's a first time for everything, you clearly both want to and Santana bet me $20 that I couldn't do it and I need the money. Lord Tubbington goes through a lot of cheese." Kurt once again tossed up the idea that Brittany was actually a lot smarter than she looked and just enjoyed messing with them, but considering the girl had said all of that with a straight face, he knew it wasn't true. And then Brittany raised the cats paw - receiving an affronted look in response - and began to chant; "Kiss, kiss, kiss!"

"She's not going to stop until we do, is she?" Blaine murmured in Kurt's ear and Kurt sighed, shaking his head. "Well then we'd better."

Kurt turned to him, eyebrow raised. "Okay, there is nothing romantic about having our first kiss in a _girl's _bedroom. Don't you want… I don't know, candles? Flowers? Starlight? That perfect moment?"

"I only need one thing for my perfect first kiss, Kurt. _You_."

And damn it all if he wasn't right. All of Kurt's preconceived ideas fell away and before he knew it, he was leaning in to press his lips against Blaine's, trying to ignore Brittany's cheering in the background and apparent commentary on technique. Not that it mattered when they actually began kissing - Kurt couldn't bring himself to think of anything but the feeling of Blaine's lips _finally _pressed up against his.

But as amazing as it was, they were _still _in Brittany's bedroom, Kurt pulled away quickly and turned to Brittany who was watching them with her head propped up on her hands. "Well, thank you for having us on the show but we'd better be leaving. Blaine has a long way to drive after all."

Kurt tugged Blaine to his feet and they quickly left the room, leaving Brittany to watch them go before turning back to the camera. "Tomorrow on _Fondue For Two _we will see Santana Lopez hand over money for possibly the first time in her life and Lord Tubbington will discuss his suspected drug addiction. Thanks for watching."

* * *

**And thanks for reading :)**


	175. TrickOrTreat

**So, what are you going to do to make the hiatus more bearable?**

**From **_**little-writer61: maybe something to do with Halloween. Wes and David just have to go trick or treating.**_

* * *

Trick-or-Treat

"What did we do to deserve this?"

Blaine rolled his eyes in response. "They adopted me on my first day apparently, I still say I ended up adopting them. And then you came and I just saw that _look _in their eyes and I knew you were stuck with them too."

Kurt laughed, watching Wes and David run ahead to the next house. "At least they don't know anybody out this way."

"True. Thanks for bringing us out, by the way. I think Westerville was running out of candy. And patience. I mean, it's not like they're _four_."

"Only in mental age." Kurt tucked a strand of hair back, patting his head to make sure the wig hadn't slipped. "I don't usually do Halloween but it's always nice to recycle my outfits in different settings. And I never thought I'd be able to wear this look ever again."

Blaine shook his head. "I can't believe you were _Riff-Raff_," he said in wonder, even though Kurt had told him the previous day and the shock should have had plenty of time to wear off. "What I wouldn't give to see footage of that performance."

"Not happening," Kurt said quickly. "There isn't any." And yes, that was a blatant lie because Rachel had made sure that Mr. Schuester had recorded the entire thing and they had all received copies, but Blaine didn't need to know that. Ever. "What I can't believe is that you own a _Harry Potter _costume."

At least Blaine had the decency to blush, muttering something about a phase of his life he never planned to repeat. "But you know it would've been worse to go into a store and try to find costumes," he said reasonably. "I mean, the sales clerks would have laughed us out."

"True," Kurt conceded, glancing back over the road to see where Wes and David had gotten to. "Hold on… guys, wait up!" The two boys paused outside the house they were about to knock at and Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand without a second thought, tugging at him to catch up. "This I have to see. That's Noah Puckerman's house and I know for a fact that his little sister makes him dress up every year and help her hand out candy." They quickly crossed the street and headed up the front walk to where Wes and David were standing, the latter bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation. "Okay, go ahead guys."

Wes eagerly rang the doorbell and Kurt heard the sound of muttering getting closer. Stifling a smile, he waited until Puck wrenched open the door, some kind of zombie makeup on his face, a fake bolt through his neck and a bowl of candy in hand. "Here you go you little - what the?"

"Trick or treat!" Wes and David yelled in unison and Kurt lost it, collapsing into Blaine's side in laughter.

Puck stared between the two boys and Kurt. "Is this your idea of a joke?" he demanded. "Kurt, what the hell, dude?"

Kurt finally got the presence of mind to stop laughing and stood up straight again. "Don't look at me," he said, raising a hand innocently. "These two demanded we take them trick or treating. I just suggested Lima because apparently Westerville was about to go on strike and barricade the doors against them and we can't handle Wes and David when they sulk. And we had to dress up. Part of the rules apparently."

Puck frowned at him, clearly trying to take it all in. And then his expression cleared and he grinned, making it Kurt's turn to frown because that was the grin Puck gave when he was up to something. "Oh hey, you two finally dating?"

"What do you -?" And then Kurt realized that he was still holding Blaine's hand from when he had pulled him across the road, the feeling so natural that he hadn't even thought to let go. "Oh! No, I just -"

"Sure," Puck said quickly, waggling his eyebrows. "Come on, Hummel, you've been into this guy forever. I'm not blind, you know? You know I've got your backs, I'm not that same homophobic jerk I was last year, okay?"

Kurt groaned, ripping his hand from Blaine's and covering his face. "You did not just _do _that, Puck!"

"Do what?" It took a few seconds but Puck finally twigged. "Oh, he didn't know you're like, madly in love with him? Sorry, dude."

There was silence for a few long moments and Kurt realized Blaine hadn't said anything. He was about to tell Blaine to just leave because this was the most embarrassing moment of his _life _when a pair of hands were taking his, gently pulling them away from his face. "I just have one favor to ask you," Blaine said, his voice taking on a quality that Kurt had never heard before.

Kurt slowly looked up, frowning. "What?"

"I need you to take that wig off."

And out of all of the things that Blaine could have said in that moment, that wasn't what Kurt was expecting to hear. "What?" he said again, aware of how inarticulate he sounded, but really, how was he meant to be articulate when one of his biggest secrets had just been leaked to his _crush _who was now making no sense himself?

Blaine closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. "I need you to take that wig off because I really want to kiss you right now but I can't do that if you're dressed as Riff-Raff."

Kurt resisted the urge to repeat himself again, opting instead to stare dumbly at Blaine until the words sunk in. And then he was ripping the wig off, tossing the hairnet aside, not even _caring _how his hair looked underneath. "Okay?" he asked almost breathlessly.

"Okay," Blaine agreed before pulling him in and kissing him.

And Kurt wished he could care that Wes and David were watching them, not to mention _Puck_, but honestly, Kurt could have been doing this in front of the entire football team and he wouldn't have noticed their presence. Who could really think when _Blaine Anderson _was kissing them?

Yeah, definitely not Kurt Hummel.

He _was _painfully aware when Blaine _stopped _kissing him though, pulling away to look at him anxiously. "That was alright, wasn't it? I mean -"

Kurt cut him off by making a much better use of his mouth. "That was fine," he finally murmured when he realized that, as nice as it would be, he couldn't really stay attached to Blaine's face forever. "More than fine, okay? The only issue I have is that you got me to take off my costume but I just kissed Harry Potter."

"Dude, that's like Drarry!"

Kurt blinked twice before turning slowly to face Puck who was leaning nonchalantly against the doorframe. "I hate to ask because I feel like I don't want to know, but my curiosity is overriding. And why are you still here?"

"Because it's my house?" Puck said, like that meant it was the reasonable option for a straight man to stick around and watch two guys kiss on his front doorstep. "And Drarry is this thing in fandom where Harry and Draco get together."

_Well, that really clears things up. _"Fandom?" Kurt asked.

Puck nodded. "It's like a fan world where they make up their own scenarios for how things go. Lauren introduced me to it and told me if I'm good, we might do some role -"

"NO!" Kurt grabbed Blaine's hand again and began dragging him off the front doorstep. "I don't want to hear about this, I really don't!" Blaine was laughing as they left the Puckerman residence and Kurt turned to him, his gaze softening. "What's so funny?"

"You're cute when you get flustered," Blaine said simply before leaning in to kiss him again. And somehow Kurt couldn't hold it against him when his lips were _that _soft and he was so easy to kiss.

Kurt finally managed to pull himself away long enough to whisper, "We're supposed to be looking after Wes and David."

"Let them roam," Blaine murmured, staring at him with such intensity that Kurt felt himself shiver. "Halloween is so overrated anyway."

And Kurt had to agree. And besides, he could dress up any old time. Right now he was kissing _Blaine_, and there was no way anything else could take precedent over that.

* * *

**I'm pretty sure I could stay attached to Darren's face forever.**

***cough***

**I mean... awesome story! Bring on the reviews!**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_*at the lunchroom*_**

**_*pops up with video camera* "So... Are you gonna make out?"_**

**_*at the aquarium*_**

**_*pops up out of fish tank* "So, are you guys going to make out yet?"_**

**_*at Kurt's aunt's house in Michigan*_**

**_"So, you guys gonna-"_**

**_"BRITT!"_**


	176. Ice

**My work has a staff meeting on Wednesday. Usually the most interaction I have with the other staff members is twenty minutes or so in the shift changeover because I always work my shifts alone. So that in itself - seeing these people for a prolonged period of time - will be weird. But there's this new guy who's starting tomorrow. He's apparently my age, really nice, good head on his shoulders... and my manager thinks we'd be great together. And it's honestly the first time I've seen a guy my age excluding customers for about two months. So I'm happy about that.**

**The only depressing thing is that Gok is currently doing his Australian Westfield tour and I was dying to go... and it's on Wednesday. So not happy.**

**From **_**MusicalEscape: Blaine transferred to McKinley, and he & Kurt are walking down the hall talking. Azimio comes by and slushies them. Kurt drags Blaine to the girl's bathroom and is distracted by the red ice on his mouth, and can't resist... ;)**_

**So many slushie fics…**

* * *

Ice

"I still can't get over the fact that you're here."

Blaine shrugged nonchalantly, adjusting the strap on his bright red bag that Kurt would never admit to loving as much as he did. "Do you blame me for not wanting to go back to Westerville?"

Kurt shook his head instantly. When Blaine had first told him the stories about his experiences at Westerville, Kurt had felt awful for making such a big deal about his own problems. But Blaine had made it clear that what Kurt was going through _was _a big deal… big enough, it seemed, for Blaine to transfer to _McKinley_.

Of course Kurt knew that Blaine hadn't just picked up and left Dalton because Kurt was struggling. Blaine's parents were having trouble affording the tuition - just like Kurt's family would, otherwise he would already have been at Dalton, that was for sure - and Blaine had decided it was time to call it quits before he ran his parents into a second mortgage. And when Kurt had shown up, apparently that was the kick start Blaine needed. So when Blaine had arrived at McKinley the previous week, a month after they had met, out of uniform and holding a sheet of transfer papers, Kurt had been stunned. But Blaine had been so compelling in his arguments that Kurt could only accept it. Besides, he had no choice, Blaine was already here.

The first week hadn't been without its struggles. Blaine had a lot to get used to with the McKinley dynamic. Everything was louder, kids were crueler and Blaine had struggled being accepted into New Directions, something Kurt had certainly had a lot to say about. Rachel was convinced that Blaine was a spy and the others were also hesitant, no matter how much Kurt told them otherwise. It was only when Blaine actually got up and told them all his story and why he had to be at McKinley now - something that Kurt _hated _that he'd had to do - that they finally accepted him. Especially when he was more than happy to take a back seat as Sectionals came up, knowing he hadn't been at the school long enough to get a solo and expecting one would only put him in bad books with New Directions.

The jocks hadn't taken too kindly to Blaine's presence in the school either. Karofsky was keeping a wide berth as Sue was watching him like a hawk, but the others had no such qualms. A new addition to Glee club would be enough for them but considering said addition spent all of his time around Kurt and didn't check out any of the girls that sauntered past in their Cheerio uniforms… well, conclusions were being drawn, and fast.

It was a pity only half of them were correct.

Of course Kurt knew he shouldn't be thinking that. Blaine was his _friend_ and nothing more. Just because Blaine was the first openly gay guy that Kurt had met didn't mean Kurt had to crush on him. Unfortunately, telling himself that only worked for the first few coffee meetings with Blaine before Kurt realized that it might be a little more than just an infatuation.

Yes, it was too early, yes, things were still rough at McKinley and if Blaine did like him back (which Kurt had no illusions about) there wasn't a premise for a stable hate-free relationship. But clearly none of that mattered to Kurt's heart which had fallen quite badly for one Blaine Anderson.

"You okay?"

Shaking his head lightly, Kurt turned to Blaine who was watching him in confusion. "You completely zoned out on me. Is something wrong?"

_Yes, _Kurt thought to himself, _but you can't fix it._

"No," he said instead, smiling back at Blaine and trying not to notice the way his curls fell gently around his face now instead of being slicked back with gel. "Everything's fine, I was just thinking about Regionals and what we're going to end up singing."

Blaine hummed in agreement. "I know the Warblers are bummed that they didn't make it past Sectionals again but they did have to rearrange everything so they knew it would be unlikely. Do you think Rachel's going to get her standard solo back or will it be switched up again?

Kurt's answer was lost in a sea of red ice and pain.

"Welcome to McKinley, homo!" came the yell as two slushie cups were dropped on the floor and Azimio and one of his lackies disappeared around the corner, giving each other a high-five. Kurt shook his head, feeling the slush drip down the back of his neck and wiping at it hastily before it could continue its path.

"Oh my _god_," came the quiet response from beside him. "You guys seriously put up with this?"

Kurt turned to Blaine to see the boy wiping the slushie from his eyes and nodded, doing the same to his own. "We really can't control it. Come on, bathroom's down this way." Resting a hand on Blaine's arm and trying really _really _hard not to think about the action, Kurt gently steered him towards the bathrooms, hesitating for a second before pushing open the door to the girls room. "We'll be safer in here," he explained before raising an eyebrow at the group of cheerleaders around the sink. "Well, are you leaving or not?"

"You really do boss people around here, don't you?" Blaine murmured as the group of girls brushed past them, taking care to avoid touching them. Kurt allowed himself to believe that it was only because of the slush on their clothes.

"Well things don't get done otherwise." Pulling out the chair, Kurt gestured for Blaine to sit. "I'll do mine first if you can stand to wait a few minutes, it'll take longer for yours since you're not used to it."

Blaine nodded, wrapping his arms around himself. Frowning, Kurt quickly tipped his head over the sink and began the familiar process of washing the slushie out of his hair and off the back of his neck. Without looking he knew that his shirt was stained and sighed. "I forgot to replace my spare outfit from last time," he muttered into the sink, grabbing a handful of paper towels and quickly running them over his face and through his hair. "So we'll both have to go around like this for the rest of the day."

"F-Fantastic."

Kurt quickly raised his head to see Blaine shivering. "Oh hey, alright, let's get that out now. Sorry, I didn't realize you were so cold." He tossed the paper towels in the bin and moved over to Blaine's sink, running the water for a few seconds in an attempt to warm it up somewhat. "Okay, lean back."

Blaine leaned his head back slightly awkwardly, closing his eyes and Kurt frowned, trying to work out the best way to get the ice out. Blaine's head was just that bit bigger than the girls and washing it out from the sides wouldn't get all of it out. Kurt thought for a few more seconds before coming to the only logical conclusion. "Um, Blaine… I'm going to need to…"

"Kurt, I don't care what you have to do, I'd just really like this crap out of my hair now." Raising an eyebrow, Kurt took a deep breath before placing his legs on either side of Blaine's and straddling him, essentially sitting in his lap. There was a sudden inhalation and then a quiet, "Oh."

"I can move if you… I just, I can't see a better way -"

Blaine opened his eyes and gave Kurt a half-smile. "It's fine, I just wasn't expecting that. And hey, if I get a cute guy in my lap in the process, then so be it." This time, Kurt was the one catching his breath as he stared down at Blaine. _Did he just call me cute? And… was that flirting? _Blaine's smile died and he quickly began to look awkward. "I - was that too much? I shouldn't have said that -"

"The only reason you shouldn't have said it is if you didn't mean it," Kurt said quickly, refusing to let himself read into it. After all, thinking someone was cute didn't mean you were attracted to them. "Anyway, let's get this stuff out of your hair." Blaine looked disappointed for a second before nodding, his usual smile coming back as he closed his eyes. Kurt frowned, trying to work out what he had seen as he absently began to wash Blaine's hair but coming up blank. _What would he be disappointed about? _"Um, is the temperature okay?"

"Mm?" Blaine muttered lazily. "Oh, perfect." Kurt's hands stilled for a second and Blaine opened his eyes again. "What is it?"

"I've never seen anybody enjoy this before," Kurt murmured. And it was true, usually getting slushie washed out of one's hair was an embarrassing and uncomfortable experience, especially for Kurt who had to spend the next half hour fixing his hair which he would have to do this time as well once he was finished with Blaine. But Blaine was lying there, his neck twisted against the frame of the sink and _smiling_ while someone washed ice out of his hair.

Blaine smirked. "I love getting my hair played with. And hey, you're good with your hands."

This time, Blaine gave him a slow, almost _smouldering _look before allowing his eyes to flutter shut. And there was no doubt about it this time - no matter what feelings he may or may not have, Blaine Anderson was flirting with him.

_Well, two can play at this game._

Leaning forward a little, Kurt dug his hands into Blaine's hair and began to weave his fingers through, tugging lightly at the locks. Blaine stilled before tilting his head back into the touch silently, his eyes still closed as Kurt worked every individual piece of ice out. And yes, maybe it was taking him longer than usual but maybe this time it was worth it. They were only missing Geometry anyway.

And then Blaine _moaned_ and every comprehensible thought Kurt had went out the window. Blaine's eyes shot open, clearly surprised by the sound that had come out of his own mouth and, if Kurt was correct in his suspicions, slightly embarrassed. He opened his mouth to speak and it was only then that Kurt noticed the red tinge to his lips and the small pieces of ice sitting there just begging to be wiped away.

So he did. Just not in the most conventional of ways.

Kissing Blaine was something Kurt had imagined far too many times in the past five weeks, but never had any of his fantasies involved the girls bathroom at McKinley with Blaine bent awkwardly over a sink, his hair still dripping wet and the taste of cherry still lingering on both of their lips. It certainly wasn't _romantic _and Kurt was about to pull away, to apologize for doing it at all, until he realized that Blaine was kissing him _back._ Snaking his hands into Blaine's hair tighter, Kurt tugged gently until they were both upright again, still kissing like they had been doing this for years.

Blaine was the one to finally break the contact, staring intently into Kurt's eyes with a mostly unreadable expression. "I think," he finally said, "I'd like to continue that when I'm not still dripping slushie and shivering."

Kurt frowned as he realized Blaine was still shaking from the cold. Without a word, he unzipped his jacket and slipped it around Blaine's shoulders. "Here. Lean back and I'll finish with your hair."

As they resumed their previous position, Blaine raised an eyebrow in thought. "Huh. We're going to walk out of the girls bathroom together and I'll be wearing your jacket. If that doesn't start rumors, I don't know what will."

"Does that bother you?"

Kurt didn't mean for his voice to sound quite that insecure but the last thing he wanted now was for Blaine to change his mind or to realize that it wasn't going to be easy for them to have a relationship and decide that it was too much work for just Kurt. But Blaine's expression softened, eyes growing earnest. "Kurt, I would love nothing more than to walk down these halls holding your hand and being proud of it. I know it's not safe sometimes and there'll be issues that we'll have to work through, but I don't want to hide our… what is this, anyway?"

Kurt shrugged. "I'd - well, I was hoping for boyfriend but if you didn't want -"

Blaine pressed a finger to his lips gently. "Stop doubting yourself, alright? I had hoped that that kiss would show you just how _much _I want to be your boyfriend." Kurt couldn't quite stop a smile at the word that was actually being applied to _him_ and Blaine offered a similar smile in response as Kurt grabbed the paper towels and began to dry off Blaine's hair.

"You know New Directions are going to interrogate you, right?" Kurt asked almost anxiously as he climbed off Blaine's lap, allowing him to sit up properly. "And Finn's going to pitch a fit and my _dad_ and…"

He was cut off by Blaine's lips pressed up against his again, overwhelming him for the second time that day. "Do you think I'd give you up for any of that?" Kurt slowly shook his head, realizing it was the only answer that Blaine would accept. "No, I wouldn't. Not ever." Taking his hand, Blaine led them towards the door, kissing him lightly on the forehead before pushing it open and turning to him again.

"Let's go take on McKinley."

* * *

**MusicalEscape (addressing the topic we've all thought about at least once):**

_**"Kurt, where did you get the costume?"**_

_**"Oh, the ND costume room."**_

_**"But... how do you have money for all those costumes if you don't even have enough for a bus to Sectionals?"**_

_**"...I honestly don't know. Huh."**_


	177. Mask

**I got to sleep around 5am this morning. To anybody who has asked today, it was because I couldn't get out of night shift mode. To those who follow me on Tumblr, you probably know that wasn't the case. Anyway, sleep at 5, woke up at 7 because some tradies had shown up and decided to work on our house. Right outside my bedroom window. And then my manager called and asked me to work, where I've just been. aldkjfsal. Yeah. So I'm tired and blah and I still have to go pick my sister up at 10pm because she's 21 and never got around to driving and ugh. **

**This has been a tired rant courtesy of your author. **

**From **_**MusicalEscape: Kurt notices everytime Blaine sings, a mask goes up. It's Blaine's **__**voice, but the emotions don't show through. So Kurt goes to see Blaine, and **__**his dorm door is open, so Kurt walks in, and Blaine's singing about falling **__**for Kurt and unsureness and all that jazz.**_

**Guess who wrote this? I'll give you a clue: It wasn't me.**

* * *

Mask

It was a recent development. Kurt didn't exactly understand how or why or _when_ it had started occurring, but he was starting to notice it more and more. Frankly, it worried him. Particularly because it was _Blaine_.

Tilting his head to the side, Kurt carefully watched as Blaine auditioned for his ten millionth solo. Yes, Blaine's voice was amazing, and yes, he _did_ look unfairly dapper in his blazer, but something was just _off_. And Kurt couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It was something about the way he was singing, Kurt decided, neatly folding his hands in his lap. His eyes narrowed slightly as Blaine burst into the bridge. Of course, Mr. I-Get-Everything-I-Audition-For was completely owning and song and filling the room with his enormous stage presence, as per usual. There was just something about the whole performance that seemed _wrong_. It wasn't the song, he had already come to that conclusion. It was how Blaine's singing just didn't seem sincere.

Kurt had been at Dalton for a while now. And, thinking back to Blaine's other performances, he could identify a drastic difference. Recalling their flirty version of Baby, It's Cold Outside and the intense cover of Teenage Dream, something clicked in Kurt's mind.

Ever since Christmas and their suggestive little performance, Blaine had been a little more distant. A little more cautious. A little more…_mentor-like_. He'd been trying to back out of their rapid descent into best friends, and it was starting to come out in his day-to-day personality. Kurt wasn't certain if the other Warblers noticed it, but _he_ certainly did, and it really _bothered_ him.

Blaine had always had stage presence, there was no denying that. But now it had morphed into somewhat of a stage _face_. Instead of just being Blaine and letting his emotions out, he was putting on this performance mask, acting out whatever the song was about. Not that there was anything wrong with trying to tell a story through music, but his performances were just so much less enjoyable now.

Kurt sighed quietly. Maybe it was _his_ fault that Blaine was closing off. After that whole Gap Attack disaster and the following heart-to-heart they'd had in the Lima Bean where Kurt had made his incessant crush perfectly obvious, Blaine had been acting a little differently. Or maybe it dated all the way back to Christmas. In any case, Kurt couldn't pin an exact date on it. He just knew that it was happening _now_, and he was _not_ okay with that.

In the part of his brain that wasn't thinking about Blaine (in more ways than one), Kurt registered Blaine finishing his song and Wes bringing the meeting to a close. He thought he heard an underlying of grumbles from disgruntled, solo-less Warblers. In all honesty, Kurt thought that the Council needed to give someone else a shot. But they worshipped the ground Blaine walked on, so…

Trying not to heave a dramatic sigh, Kurt hitched his bag onto his shoulder and strolled out of the choir room, mentally leafing through his options. He briefly (a little viciously) debated giving Blaine a little taste of his own medicine. Honestly, the whole mentor thing had been cute at first, but now it was just a bit condescending. Shaking off that possibility, Kurt veered into an empty classroom, shut the door behind him, and pulled out his phone.

It was time to give Mercedes a call.

* * *

With a new air of determination about him, Kurt set off down the hall. He and Mercedes had talked it over for a bit, overanalyzing literally everything, before deciding to just go simple and confront Blaine. To be honest, Kurt hadn't been able to think of anything better. He desperately needed a way to crack into Blaine's obvious façade before he lost his friend for good.

Making his way down the corridor to Blaine's dorm, Kurt slowed a little, mulling over what exactly he could say. It wouldn't go over to well if he busted it dramatically and then stood still, gaping like a fish whilst trying to think of something witty. Kurt sighed. Perhaps he should've given it a couple day's worth of forethought.

It was at that moment that Kurt heard a soft sound drifting throughout the empty hallway. The small noise stopped him cold, and his jaw gently went slack. That was…

_"Give me more lovin' from the very start,_

_Piece me back together when I fall apart,_

_Tell me things you'd never even tell your closest friends."_

Blaine.

Of course. Kurt would recognize Blaine's smooth vocals anywhere. But it was different than usual. His voice was sweet and raw, crooning in a simple way that just made Kurt _melt_. And maybe it wasn't uncommon for Blaine to sing and play guitar in his dorm, but this was _different_. This was _Blaine_, really and truly _Blaine_. It was the Blaine that Kurt had been searching for.

Carefully stepping closer, Kurt leaned against the wall and just listened, closing his eyes to really absorb the music.

_"Make me feel good when I hurt so bad,_

_Best that I've had, I'm so glad I found you._

_Kurt, I love being around you_

_You make it easy…"_

Kurt's breath caught. Had Blaine just…inserted his name into the lyrics? A delighted smile turned up one corner of his mouth, and it took a great deal of willpower not to go rushing in right then.

_"There's only one thing to do_

_Three words, for you…_

_I love you._

_There's only one way to say,_

_Those three words, and that's what I'll do_

_Kurt, I love you…"_

And maybe it was just a song, but there was a rawness of honesty and emotions that really struck a chord with Kurt. It was love and pain and restraint and just something _beautiful_ that he hadn't known Blaine possessed. Until now.

Kurt heard a sigh from within and the sound of a heavy wooden object being set down. The sigh was quiet, but so desolate that it was almost breaking Kurt's heart to stand still. Kurt forced his temporarily frozen limbs into action, and pushed open the cracked door.

"Blaine?" he called softly.

Blaine, who had been sitting on the bed, hunched over, shot to his feet, his eyes wide and shifty. He looked as if he'd been accused of a serious crime, fidgeting from foot to foot and resolutely refusing to meet Kurt's eyes.

"Kurt!" Blaine frantically looked around, as if searching for a conversation topic. "I, uh…hi! Um, can I help you with something?"

Feeling very in-control of himself despite the love explosions occurring in his chestal section, Kurt took a couple of light steps closer, grinning slightly.

"Blaine." He repeated, arching an eyebrow. "I heard you."

Blaine's hastily pasted-on smile dropped away instantly. "You…heard me?"

Biting back a laugh, Kurt nodded once.

Blaine groaned, covering his face with his hands. "Oh my god, Kurt I'm so sorry, I didn't want you to find out like that! This is so embarrassing. I really don't want this to make things awkward between us, Kurt, I mean, I know you don't think of me like that and I just kind of admitted that I'm in love with you and _that_ complicates _everything_ but I understand if you want to ditch me because we won't be able to be friends anymore, and _god_ Kurt, I just – "

"Blaine." Kurt repeated for the third time, reaching out and taking his hand. He tugged the shorter boy closer so that they were standing nose-to-nose.

Blaine stopped rambling. His glinting hazel eyes went even wider, and for once he lost all composure of being anything close to his suave self.

"Shut up." Kurt said sweetly, leaning forward to capture Blaine's lips in a kiss.

It took a second, but gradually Blaine started to kiss back, and every single ounce of logic Kurt had ever possessed was thrown out the window into oncoming traffic. He allowed his brain to melt away, and fell into his senses, completely enveloping himself in the only thing that mattered…_Blaine_.

Pulling back and pressing his forehead to Blaine's, Kurt realized that he was smiling so hugely that his cheeks were starting to ache.

"I love you too." He whispered, closing his eyes.

And for all Kurt cared, they could've never moved ever again. He was perfectly content exactly where he was.

* * *

**(It was Angela, for anybody who didn't realize. AKA _SquirrelzAttack)_**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Revenge with a slushie: The B&H plan.**_

_**Step 1: Buy every flavor slushie. Mix 'em up in a bucket, careful not to make it some brown slush. Keep it rainbow!**_

_**Step 2: Repeat Step 1 about 20 times.**_

_**Step 3: The jocks like to hang out in the West courtyard. They are the ONLY people who go out there. Rig every door with slushies, and get Puck to replace the buckets everytime someone gets soaked!**_

_**Step 4: Jacob Ben Israel is willing for an interview with exclusive footage on slushying jocks. Bribe him ;D**_


	178. Insensitive

**By now, most of you have seen the review I got from _TheDuster_. If not, I was basically told that getting Angela to write yesterday's chapter was rude, lazy and offensive to everybody involved. I have been reported for plagiarism too and told that my authors notes are a serious misuse and the majority of the people who read my stories don't care about me or my life. This... yeah. I must say I'm not used to things like this coming up, I'm blessed by the rest of you who only ever send lovely reviews, so maybe I'm a bit cushioned and spoiled, but it sucked to read it. I have elected not to reply to the person myself but Angela has as well as some others who saw my Tumblr post about it this morning. **

**So, to make it completely clear, this is the deal. Angela wrote yesterday's chapter at my request to be posted exclusively to this story, so I did not steal it, therefore it is not plagiarism. I wasn't aware that it came across as lazy, but so be it. I'm busy and I get so many amazing and lovely prompts that I don't want to discard, things I would love to see written but I don't think I could give justice to. So I ask Angela if she wants to write them and she enjoys it. And honestly, the only people who should have an issue with it are the peoples prompts who were used if they wanted me specifically to write it. In that case, they are more than welcome to PM me and we can try to sort something out. **

**I just ask that you don't go and harass the user. If you really do feel so inclined, go and check their profile and you'll see why I don't want you doing it. Not because I don't want you to get involved or stand up for me, but because I don't want you to get responses from this person of a similar nature. **

**Now that I've misused my authors notes some more, let's go on with the story.**

**From **_**njferrell: There are lots of fics/onshots that take place after the Gap attack. And, Kurt tells Blaine he thought it was going to be him. Or Kurt ends their friendship or something. But, I can't remember ever reading any where Kurt asks him why he never told him about Jeremiah. Nor did it happen on the show(I don't think) They were suppose to be best/close friends. Two gay boys in a very gay unfriendly Ohio. But, Blaine never shared he met someone who he thinks is/or actually is gay. That they have been having coffee together. That he likes him/has a crush. Not even that he has another "friend" who is gay and not mention a name because he wasn't "out". Kurt was blindsided in that the boy he loves, likes someone else. AND, blindsided as a friend. I know friends don't tell each other everything. But, Blaine didn't tell him anything about Jeremiah…**_

**Oh my god, so this. I just had to write it because yeah, Blaine was a bit insensitive there. Did he want Jeremiah all to himself or something? And it's weird to put this in a **_**Kiss **_**prompt, I know… but I really wanted to write it and I knew if I didn't put it in here, it wouldn't get written because of my hectic schedule. So it went a different angle than it would have if it had been a oneshot, simply because we did have to get to a kiss.**

* * *

Insensitive

It took a few days after the Gap Attack for Blaine to stop hurting. In hindsight, the short amount of time would matter a lot, especially when he looked at what was hurting him the most - his public embarrassment, not his rejection by Jeremiah. Not that the rejection didn't _hurt_, after all Blaine had thought he was in love with the boy. Regardless, those few days were spent mostly in solitude, listening to his Woe Is Me playlist on repeat and indulging in a few sad movies when he knew nobody was going to burst in on him and see what he was doing. The Warblers knew Blaine well enough to leave him alone, figuring he would come right in matter of days, and he appreciated it.

So naturally, Blaine wasn't particularly aware of the world around him during this time of solitude. He had switched his phone off - not that Jeremiah was going to _call_, but if he did, Blaine wanted him to have the indignation of an answering machine to deal with - and apart from going to class and Warbler meetings, Blaine spent all of his time in his room. Yes, it was probably glorified sulking. No, he didn't care.

But finally, Blaine woke up and realized that everything was okay. The world was still turning, he was still breathing and there were other guys out there, guys who were absolutely more out and proud than Jeremiah. And if the Warbler table breathed a collective sigh of relief when he showed up to breakfast with a smile on his face, so what? At least he was back on track.

That was, until Blaine looked around and realized Kurt wasn't there.

"Looking for Kurt?" Wes asked knowingly from his left. "Yeah, he's not here."

David leaned over, clearly wanting to be a part of the conversation. "He'll show up for class tomorrow but that's it. And any time someone checks his room, he's not in it."

"What do you mean?" Blaine blinked a couple of times before pulling out his phone and switching it on for the first time in the past four days. "He's staying at Lima again?"

Wes's reply was drowned out by Blaine's phone going haywire, Blaine letting out a low whistle when he saw the screen. "Ten missed calls, fourteen texts… how many of these are from you guys?"

Wes glanced around the table, counting. "Seven of the texts would be from us and I know at least four of us called you, me and David twice. Could the rest be from -"

"Kurt."

Wes nodded. "Yeah?"

"They are." Blaine turned his phone to show the call log - four missed calls from Kurt over the first two days of Blaine's solitude, and seven texts. After those two days, however, there had been nothing. He quickly opened his texts, starting from the beginning.

_Blaine, I know you're upset right now and the others have advised me to leave you alone, so I will. But when you're feeling better, there's something I'd like to talk to you about. - Kurt_

_I've called you, I'm presuming your phone is off. Look, I'm sorry things didn't work out and I'm sorry Jeremiah doesn't like you back. But you said you were pretty much okay with that when we talked after Valentine's Day so I don't know what's going on. And I really need to talk to you. - Kurt_

_But take your time. Whenever you're ready. - Kurt_

_Okay, it's been a whole day and I've only seen you in class and you haven't looked at me at all. Don't shut me out like this. I get it, you're hurting, but we used to talk about most things. Though I probably shouldn't have expected this to be one of them, it is Jeremiah after all. - Kurt_

_That was probably harsh. But… I don't know, Blaine. Can I please talk to you? - Kurt_

_I give up. - Kurt_

_In case you're wondering - not that you're probably even out of your room yet - I'm not staying in the dorms right now. I think it's better if I commute for the next little while. Hopefully you pull out of your funk soon. - Kurt_

Blaine winced before realizing the full implications of what the words meant. Before the other boys could ask what was going on, Blaine was calling Kurt, waiting, holding his breath while the phone rang.

"Hello?"

Blaine let out the breath in a relieved woosh. "Kurt! I -"

"Yeah, you can stop right there." Blaine froze, stunned not so much by the words but by the _tone_. Kurt sounded like he hadn't slept in days, but Blaine somehow knew it wasn't that kind of exhaustion. "Sounds like you're feeling better, I'm glad to hear it. I won't be in today, if you could ask Nick to pick up my notes for me, that would be great. Talk to you later."

And before Blaine could reply, the dial tone was beeping in his ear. Slowly, he lowered the phone and ended the call before looking up at Wes and David who were watching him curiously. "Okay, I think I might have messed up really badly."

David simply raised an eyebrow. "You think? Look, we get it, you funk out and have to spend some time alone. We just figured it was because me and Wes didn't really understand properly. But Kurt comes along, someone who understands you better than you understand yourself sometimes, and you shut him out too? What's with that, man?"

As Blaine was all set to rip shreds into David, Wes spoke up quietly. "Look, it might not be our place but you need to know this. You've been pushing Kurt away for the past two weeks -"

"No, longer than that," David interjected. "Kurt just didn't know it."

Wes nodded. "And I think he's finally snapped. We're not going to tell you what exactly you did because you need to work that one out for yourself but let me help you out here. Two weeks puts us before Valentine's Day, around about the time you were calling a rather pivotal Warbler meeting. That's when it all started."

And, unbelievably, the two stood and walked away, leaving Blaine sitting alone in his confusion. _Valentines Day… what happened? _

_Do I even need to ask that?_

Blaine winced, the memories hitting him again. The embarrassment over Jeremiah, the way he had acted like a complete fool, reading into things far too much and then not realizing what was right in front of him, Kurt and his… feelings…

_Oh. Really?_

Of course this was going to be about Kurt's feelings for him, of course Kurt would want to talk about that. And no, Blaine didn't want to belittle Kurt's feelings, but was it really such a big deal that Kurt would have to call him that many times and then practically leave the school? After all, Blaine had made it clear at the time that he didn't want to screw things up with Kurt by rushing into any kind of relationship, and he had _just _gotten over Jeremiah. It was almost insensitive of Kurt to start pushing it at this point in time.

Blaine wanted to be angry but he knew he couldn't. He just kept remembering Kurt's face in the coffee shop, as if he had been wanting to admit that for ages but hadn't been able to. The slightly crushed smile when Blaine said he didn't want to start anything, but the overwhelming patience he displayed. The way he had supported Blaine through his horrendous attempts at romancing Jeremiah without saying a word for how he felt about it all.

No matter how bad the timing was, Blaine had to make things right.

* * *

Pulling up outside Kurt's house, Blaine took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his palms. He wasn't completely sure why he was so nervous, only knowing that Kurt was mad at him for the first time ever and it completely sucked. In fact, Blaine realized, it sucked far more than his heartbreak over Jeremiah.

But the complete nervousness only really made sense once Blaine had knocked on the door and suddenly realized that Kurt might not be the one to answer the door. There were three other people who lived in that house, after all, and two of them would probably be out for Blaine's blood. _Please not Burt, _Blaine began begging in his head. _Please not -_

"Blaine?"

_Finn._

Blaine did his best to smile before realizing it might be insensitive. "Hi. Is Kurt in?"

"Well where else would he be, dude." Finn made no indication of letting Blaine in any time soon, crossing his arms over his chest. "He used to spend all of his free time with you but lately you've been too -"

"Finn," came the voice that Blaine knew so well, and Finn paused. "Leave it. I'm a big boy, I can talk to him myself."

Finn sighed and stepped back, allowing Blaine to tentatively enter. "Fine," Finn said, still refusing to take his eyes from Blaine. "But I'll be in the kitchen. If he hurts you, I'll know and I'm not holding back."

Kurt sighed but Blaine knew he appreciated the sentiment. And then Kurt turned to look at him and Blaine suddenly realized that Kurt _wouldn't _look at him, at least not in the eye. "Blaine. I suppose it would be rude to ask you to leave when you've come all this way to talk to me. Come in."

Blaine followed Kurt into the living room where Kurt gestured for him to take a seat. As he sat on the couch, Kurt immediately took the seat furtherest way so he was practically across the other side of the room and Blaine winced. _He's seriously mad at me. _Blaine waited a few seconds before realizing Kurt wasn't going to talk. So, reluctantly, he began. "Look, Kurt, I get that you're probably kind of upset right now. I know you like me and that's what caused this but -"

"No," Kurt said, frowning. "I mean… yes, I like you, but that's not what this is about at all."

And now Blaine was completely lost. "But then… if it isn't about Jeremiah."

"Oh, it's about Jeremiah alright." Kurt rolled his eyes at Blaine's confused expression before sighing. "Blaine, you're the first openly gay guy I've met and you know that. So one day you come across _another _openly gay guy in the Westerville area, you start having coffee with him and hanging out to the point where you think you've fallen in love with him. Why did I only learn about him when Valentines Day came around?"

_Oh my god._

Blaine was speechless. He had immediately jumped to conclusions that it was all about him - and _wow_, how much more selfish could he get? - when really it wasn't at all. It was about Jeremiah, and the fact that Blaine hadn't told Kurt about him. And really, why hadn't he? Now that Kurt brought it up, it made absolutely no sense for Blaine to keep Jeremiah a secret. And yet, he had. He really had.

_Why?_

Blaine realized Kurt was waiting for some kind of answer, but his words were gone. Finally, Kurt sighed again. "Fine, you can have your secrets, that's fine. I guess there's no real reason for you to tell me anyway, I mean… we're friends but it's not like we've known each other for years and you don't owe me anything…" and to Blaine's horror, Kurt appeared to be reverting into himself completely. "I've made a huge deal over this and I shouldn't have and I've probably just _humiliated _myself and… forget it. You can go, I'll be back at Dalton tomorrow and we'll pretend this never happened and -"

"Woah, Kurt, Kurt!" Blaine held up his hands, trying to silence the boy. "No, don't do this. You were right, completely right. It just shocked me because I'd never thought about it but now that I have, I… _wow._"

"Wow?" Kurt asked quietly.

Blaine nodded, closing his eyes for a second. When he looked back, Kurt was still watching him but his glare had softened. "Wow, I've been an idiot," Blaine completed. "And I didn't even know it. I'm really sorry, Kurt."

Kurt stayed silent for a long moment. "Blaine, tell me about Jeremiah."

And Blaine knew it wasn't a question. "I met him about two months ago when I was at the Gap. I wasn't completely sure whether he was gay or not, it's not like he just walked up to me and told me he was or started hitting on me blatantly. But he was especially helpful and I was dead sure that he flirted with me a couple of times. So I went back the next week, just to see whether my suspicions were confirmed -"

"Okay," Kurt interrupted. "Why didn't you tell me then, that you had suspicions?"

"Because I wasn't sure," Blaine replied. "I've had my gaydar fail on me before, many times over. I thought _Wes _was gay when I first got here. I didn't want to make a big deal about this guy and then find out he was straight."

Kurt nodded. "I can understand that. So you went back?"

"I went back," Blaine continued. "And he was there again, extra friendly as usual and started asking questions about me and my school and all that. And somewhere along the line, sexuality came up and I figured, hey, what do I have to lose? So I told him and then he sort of made insinuations that he swung the same way and when he was ringing me through, he asked if maybe I wanted to wait around and get a coffee once he was finished. So I did and we just kept talking and… I don't know. It was nice. And he got my number."

Kurt stood and crossed the room to sit on the couch next to Blaine, still keeping a considerable amount of distance between them. "And you still kept it from me?"

Blaine sighed, ducking his head a little. "I found out how old he was and I figured he'd never actually call me back. I mean, I'm only fifteen and he's nineteen, why would he spare me any more time? At that point, I just really admired him for being an older gay guy and, apart from you, the first one I'd ever met."

The tension was still echoing around the room, but thankfully it had lessened somewhat. Blaine still knew if he didn't give the right answers, Kurt was perfectly entitled to blow up at him. The only issue was that Blaine still didn't _know _the right answers. All he could do was keep telling the truth and hope that soon enough they would both figure out what was going on. "Okay," Kurt said again. "Then he called you back, obviously. How many more times did you go out before you decided you were in - in love with him?"

Kurt was clearly struggling with that concept and Blaine didn't blame him - he already felt embarrassed about getting up in front of all of the Warblers and telling them he was in _love _with Jeremiah. After all, Blaine had no idea what love was, not really. He had just thought he was madly in love, but the harsh light of a rejection showed him that he was quite deluded. He had had feelings for Jeremiah, yes, but love? Not so much.

"Just once," he said, focusing on the conversation at hand again. "The same place, same kind of conversation. I asked him a lot of questions about his experiences, past boyfriends and all that. I was mostly using him as a source of information, but I think my admiration for him mixed itself up for a crush and… well, you know the rest."

"So," Kurt said carefully, the tension back in his voice. "You went on another date. Clearly he was wanting to get to know you, there wasn't an issue with the age thing - or at least you didn't know that until after the performance. So why didn't I find out?"

"I don't know, Kurt." And he really didn't.

But Kurt wasn't letting go. "When I asked where you were going on the weekend that time, you were going to see him, weren't you? Why did you say you were just 'going to see a friend'?"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you just bring me along, let _me _get to meet him too?"

"I don't know! All I know is that I'm an idiot and I'm sorry and I just don't know the answers to these questions…" Blaine trailed off, trying to keep it together. "Kurt, I told you in the coffee shop that I only pretend I've got it together, and that goes for everything. I had no idea what I was doing when it came to Jeremiah, and the fact that it only took me four days to get over him probably means that I was deluding myself. I know I care a lot about you but I don't know what _that _means either and, god Kurt, I wish I were you sometimes."

There was a long silence and Blaine sighed, looking away. He knew Kurt was probably judging him for not only screwing up completely but being such a mess and was all set to leave and never come back when Kurt started talking quietly. "I think you've struggled more than I realized. You and I both had to deal with people telling us our attraction was wrong and, correct me if I'm wrong, I think as a result of that you pushed any romantic feelings you felt for anybody aside, thinking you couldn't feel them."

It took Blaine a few seconds to reply, his throat choked up a little. "Yeah," he said finally. "Nobody's ever asked about the emotional side of things. They only talked about the physical or the words."

Kurt nodded, deep sympathy etched across his face. "You have no idea what you're doing because you don't know how it really feels to like someone freely without having to worry all the time. I don't know if you've noticed but you're a bit of a perfectionist -" Blaine snorted and Kurt broke off, raising an eyebrow. "Okay, I guess you have noticed. But love isn't about being perfect. Love is about everything that is you being brought out." Kurt hesitated, struggling with his words. "Let me show you."

"What?" Blaine asked dumbly, truly having no idea what Kurt was getting at.

"Let me take you out on a date - a real date, not a coffee date-but-not-date-that-you-think-is-a-date. Let me show you what it's like. I know you probably don't feel the same way as I do, but if I can show you what it's like to truly care about someone, it might help." Blaine simply stared at Kurt for a few seconds and the confidence faded. "I - I mean, it's just a suggestion, you don't have to -"

"I'd love to," Blaine said quietly. "But are you sure you want to do this? I mean, there's a chance that I won't end up feeling the same way and I've already hurt you enough, Kurt. I couldn't do it again."

Kurt finally offered him a smile, the first one in quite some time Blaine realized. "I'm willing to take that chance. Be ready tomorrow night at six."

* * *

"Jeff!"

The door flew open and the blonde appeared. "Blaine? What's wrong?"

Nick's head poked out a second later. "Who died? Wait, I shouldn't say that… last time I did, someone actually _had _died and that was sufficiently awkward, thank goodness it was only a small animal… but what's the drama?"

Blaine let himself in, not really caring what the two might have been doing as long as they weren't planning on continuing now that he was inside. "I've got a date with Kurt in an hour -"

"You're _dating_?" Nick immediately turned to Jeff and held out his hand expectantly as Jeff groaned and dug out his wallet.

"No," Blaine clarified, watching with mild amusement as the wallet disappeared immediately. "But we are going on _a _date and… I've never done this before…"

"You want to know what to wear," Jeff said knowingly. "My goodness, this takes me back."

Nick raised an eyebrow. "I sense a story you've never told me. But I'll grill you on that one later, what's wrong with what you're wearing now?"

Blaine glanced down at his current outfit - jeans and a black t-shirt - before staring at Nick incredulously. "This is _Kurt_ we're talking about, Nick! Fashion means everything to him."

"Yes," Jeff said slowly as if he was explaining something to a small child. "But it doesn't to you."

Blaine paused, remembering the whole reason they were going on this date. Kurt wanted him to be comfortable being himself, expressing himself however he wanted. And with that thought came another, attached to the box at the back of Blaine's closet that hadn't been opened since he had left Westerville. Could he…?

Oh yes, he could.

"Thanks guys!" Blaine said, already halfway out the door, his mind a whir. _The pink? No, that might be too much… the green was always my favourite…_

Back in the room, Jeff glanced at Nick who shrugged. "Guess he worked something out himself."

"I hope it works out for them," Jeff said softly, sitting back down on his bed. "You'd have to be blind to not see that Kurt's crazy about Blaine."

"And Kurt's exactly what Blaine needs," Nick completed, wrapping an arm around his boyfriend. "I think they'll work it out. Now, I believe you owe me a story about our first date and a certain wardrobe freak out?"

* * *

Adjusting his tie for the seventh time, Blaine peered out the window again, waiting. He had been waiting for the past ten minutes and was seriously starting to worry that Kurt might not be showing up. But another glance at his watch told him, once again, that he was still early. Kurt wouldn't be arriving for another five minutes, so there was no reason for Blaine to freak out. Not that that fact stopped him from pacing another lap around the foyer.

Blaine honestly had no idea what to expect. He knew that Kurt was taking him on a date, somewhere he had refused to give away when Blaine had asked him during study hall that day - and Kurt arriving back at Dalton to the cheers of the Warblers had been simultaneously cheerful and heart-wrenching for Blaine because he knew full well he had been the one to drive his friend out. Word must have gotten around about their date somehow because a good portion of the Warblers were offering Blaine high-fives and surreptitious nudges throughout the day with pointed glances at Kurt. And straight after class, Kurt had disappeared back to his dorm room and hadn't been seen in the past four hours. Blaine would have been worried if he didn't already know how much effort Kurt put into his appearance.

The sound of footsteps on the staircase had Blaine spinning quickly, pulled rapidly out of his thoughts by the real Kurt coming towards him, looking simply radiant. Dressed in standard Kurt Hummel style with an outfit that would look atrocious on anybody else but perfect on Kurt, the boy was smiling softly as he made his way to the foyer. Blaine crossed to the bottom of the staircase and they both stopped, taking one another in.

Kurt spoke first. "You're wearing a bow tie. A _green _bow tie, and suspenders."

Blaine knew there was no judgement, simply curiosity. "I used to wear these all the time at Westerville before things got… difficult. You look wonderful, by the way."

"Thank you." Kurt looped his arm through Blaine's, leading him towards the door. "I must say, I didn't expect this at _all_, but you're taking my words to heart and I couldn't be prouder."

And yeah, _okay_, that kind of meant a lot to Blaine, more than he realized it would. Because for the first time in years, Blaine was throwing off the confident masks and revealing the person behind - not timid, not broken, not scared, but just a normal teenage boy who got it wrong a lot of the time and had almost forgotten how to be himself. And judging by the way Kurt was smiling at him, it had been well received. In a matter of minutes, Kurt had made Blaine feel better than years of solo praise and respect from his peers ever had.

"So, are you going to tell me where we're going yet?" Blaine attempted again once they were in Kurt's car, pulling out of the parking lot.

Kurt smirked at him and shook his head. "Afraid not. At least I know you don't have any food allergies."

"Unlike you, Mr. I Swear I'm Allergic To Mushrooms, It's Not Just That They Taste Disgusting," Blaine retorted, delighting in the laugh that came as a result. As they lapsed into comfortable silence - and it actually _was _comfortable, Blaine didn't feel the pressure to say anything - Blaine found himself wondering when Kurt had actually told him all of that. It honestly seemed like he had known all of these things about Kurt forever, insignificant in one way but so revealing in another. Blaine knew Kurt better than he knew anybody else in his life.

_Especially Jeremiah_, his mind reminded him and Blaine sighed before he could stop himself. Kurt glanced over, frowning. "What's wrong?"

Usually Blaine would have forced a smile and pretended he was fine, but tonight was different. Tonight was about being himself, and right now himself was beating himself up. "I'm just thinking about how stupid I was with the whole Jeremiah thing. I didn't know the guy, not really, not enough to even know that he wasn't out at work -"

"Hey, hey," Kurt interrupted softly. "What brought this on?"

"I was just thinking about how much better I know you," Blaine said without thinking. Staring out the window, he missed the slight look of shock in Kurt's eyes before a smile took its place.

A few seconds passed before Kurt spoke again. "Don't beat yourself up, okay? We've talked about all of this, everything's out in the open. You made a mistake, and you're allowed to do that, Blaine. The main thing is learning from it, and that's what tonight is about." And, as if on cue, Kurt pulled into the parking lot of the community theatre centre. "Now, they're performing _West Side Story _tonight and basically it's going to suck. So I figured we could support the arts while judging them all secretly and deciding which parts we would be best for if we ever got the chance to perform it."

Blaine turned wide-eyed to Kurt. "Okay, you are officially amazing," he declared. "I have to admit, I was worried when you said 'date', simply because David has complained of some atrocious ones Melanie dragged him along on, but I should have known better."

"I know you too well to take you to something you wouldn't like," Kurt said, smiling at him again before opening his car door. It took Blaine a few seconds to realize that yes, Kurt actually did know him, and then another few to realize that he probably should have gotten out of the car already. The knowing smile Kurt gave him when he finally did was something Blaine needed to mull over later - right now, he had a performance to judge the hell out of.

True to Kurt's theory, it was awful. Granted, there were a few actors who had potential, but there was a severe lack of interest in drama in Westerville and so quite a few of the actors and actresses were playing more than one part and it was quite a shambles. But it was the songs that Kurt and Blaine were most interested in and as soon as Tony began to belt out _Something's Coming, _Blaine nodded. "That would be me. That's my audition song."

"I'd love to hear you sing it." Kurt was pressed up close to him as they had to whisper due to the lack of audience to make noise to cover them. "You'd be amazing."

"What would you sing?" Blaine asked, leaning right in to whisper in Kurt's ear. He felt Kurt shiver and, just to be a pain, blew a gust of air right across his ear. Kurt clapped a hand over his mouth to muffle his squeal and turned to shoot Blaine a dirty look who was fighting back his laughter. "Sorry, sorry!" he finally apologized when he got his breath back. "I couldn't resist."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Well then I guess I'm glad you didn't. And I don't know what I'd audition with - I'd audition for Tony, of course, but the song would have to be something absolutely me."

The Tony on the stage in front of them botched the final note and both boys winced. "Well, no matter which one of us was Tony, we'd both sound a damn sight better than him," Blaine said quickly, both of them stifling their laughter.

The rest of the performance was just as comfortable and easy. Kurt judged everything from the wardrobe - rather vividly and empathically - to stage positioning and, of course, actual talent. Which, according to the boy, "Nobody here has. Not a single soul." Finally, mercifully, the performance was over and after clapping politely, Kurt and Blaine made their exit. "Now it's up to you to make a decision," Kurt said, pulling his phone out and checking the time. "I made dinner reservations for nine, so we can either meet those, or we can go and get coffee instead and then, I don't know, go for a walk or something?"

There was no doubt about it in Blaine's mind. "After that performance, I think we both need caffeine to wake us up again," he joked. But he knew that his eyes were saying it all, and he knew Kurt understood, because right now all Blaine wanted was to keep talking to Kurt without any added pressure.

"Coffee it is. This way." Kurt began to walk down the street towards a small coffee shop two blocks down. "We haven't been to this one yet and I've decided it's our mission to trial every coffee shop in each of our towns."

Blaine had to laugh because that was kind of true. As they entered, Blaine put a hand on Kurt's arm to stop him. "Let me pay? You've done so much already."

"I'm the one taking you on the date, Blaine." Kurt rolled his eyes but there was no sting to the action. "Generally the person who asks pays."

"Yes, and generally that's the guy in a heterosexual pairing and I know you don't buy into that crap that you'd be the girl in any relationship," Blaine pointed out knowingly. "You believe in equality. This is being equal."

Kurt sighed but Blaine could see the appreciation written all across his face, and that did strange things to Blaine's heart. "You make a valid point. I'll get us a seat then - you remember my coffee order?"

"Of course," Blaine said, pretending to be affronted. Kurt laughed, shrugging out of his grasp to go get a table and Blaine realized he had been holding Kurt's arm the entire time and hadn't even noticed. Dismissing that thought for later - along with many others - Blaine placed their orders and leant against the counter, waiting. There were only a couple of other patrons in the store and they weren't paying any attention to the two boys which gave Blaine plenty of time to watch Kurt who was sitting at one of the window tables, twirling a spoon between his fingers.

The night was wonderful, so far, and Blaine knew there was very little that could spoil it now. The only thing he knew that could do that would be himself being an idiot or bringing up Jeremiah again - and Kurt had assured him that the Jeremiah thing was dealt with - and Blaine knew that wasn't going to happen. Blaine wasn't trying to be anybody tonight or trying to impress Kurt or be a mentor or say all the right things. Tonight, Blaine was just being Blaine and it was so simple. And without Kurt's prompting, without Kurt setting up this amazing date, Blaine might never have realized.

Their orders arrived and Blaine carried them over to the table, sitting down across from Kurt who popped the lid off his coffee and began to stir it. Instead of doing the same, Blaine propped his head up on his hand and watched Kurt, wondering.

"Yes?" Kurt asked without looking up. "You want to ask something?"

"How did you - ?"

"Blaine," Kurt said, shaking his head as he looked up. "I know you, remember. You've got that expression on. And you know you can ask me anything."

And Blaine found himself feeling completely transparent and it wasn't _bad_.

"How did you learn to just be yourself?" he asked carefully, hesitant to bring up any bad memories. "You went through the same stuff I went through, you were told not to like anybody, but you still can. You didn't struggle with it like I have."

"Because I'm a diva and you're a people-pleaser," wasn't exactly the answer Blaine had expected, but it made more sense as Kurt continued. "I've always wanted things my way. I had always known that I was going to be hated at McKinley and I also knew it didn't matter how hard I tried, they would always hate me. So I refused to let them shape me or control who I thought I was and if I liked guys, I was going to go ahead and like guys and they couldn't stop that. You, however, you don't like it when people hate you, so you try to be everything everybody wants… which is when you hit a wall because everybody wants something different."

Blaine couldn't help himself. "What do you want?" he asked.

Kurt simply smiled. "Tonight. The way you've been, the way you are right now. If I could, I'd keep you like this forever."

And Blaine couldn't miss the double meaning to those words, but there was no need to bring them up. Because Blaine knew Kurt, knew what he meant and what he wanted but that he would never push it.

For a long while, there was silence. Except there wasn't - every few seconds they would catch each other's eye and it was like they were both talking a mile a minute. Blaine couldn't have said what the conversation was actually _about_, but they were connected and that was what mattered. But finally Kurt drained his coffee and stood. "Shall we walk?"

Blaine smirked. "We shall," he mocked lightly, standing up only to be hit by Kurt. "Do I need to shout abuse?"

"That depends," Kurt said as they left the shop and started walking down the road. "Do you feel abused tonight?"

"Absolutely not."

The two shared a smile before Kurt began to speak again. "Now, I'm considering making Dalton put on a production of West Side Story. I'm willing to allow you to play Tony as long as I get to be Maria… because face it, none of those other boys have my charisma and charm."

"Oh, is that right?"

Kurt laughed again and Blaine smiled, knowing he was the one who caused that.

It was so _easy _being with Kurt, Blaine realized as they made their way along the pathway, chatting about whatever came to mind. Currently, Kurt was on a mini-rant about Rachel Berry's wardrobe, leaving Blaine a bit of time to think about the night. He could honestly say that it beat any of his coffee date-but-not-dates with Jeremiah hands down, and Blaine was having more fun here with Kurt than he could remember having had in such a long time.

Kurt inspired Blaine to simply be himself - no strings attached, no masks, nothing needed from Blaine but to be and love himself. And Blaine knew through this night, he was also healing some old wounds from being told the exact opposite for so many years.

_This is how it feels to be alive. And tonight, it's because of Kurt. _

"We should turn back," Kurt said suddenly and Blaine glanced over his shoulder to see they had walked a lot further than he had realized. "Curfew is in an hour and I don't really want to end the night on a sour note."

"Neither," Blaine said, stopping with Kurt and turning back towards the car, trying not to be disappointed that the night was soon going to be over. And soon enough they would have to go back to normality, back to the way things were…

_Why? _

And that was a very good question. Why did Blaine have to go back to trying to be dapper and polite at all times, especially around Kurt? Why couldn't he continue on like this?

_Because there's a thin line between friendship and 'more', and you might be crossing it if you let this continue._

And was that a bad thing?

_No._

Kurt glanced over at him and smiled, cutting into his thoughts. "I hope I've shown you something you can use in the future," he said. "Did you - was it alright?"

"It was wonderful, Kurt." Blaine hesitated for a second before giving in to the urge - after all, that was what it was about, being himself - and taking Kurt's hand. Kurt glanced down, surprised, and Blaine took advantage of the silence to continue. "And I don't think I need it for the future… but I'd quite like it for right now. I don't think tonight was this magical just because it was my first proper date, Kurt. It's because it was _you_."

"What do you mean?" Kurt half-whispered. Blaine knew he knew full well what was being implied, but was more than happy to spell it out.

"Kurt, you said that caring about someone meant you weren't afraid to be yourself around them, that you just knew that they wouldn't judge you. It was about wanting to spend every second with them, simply because they made you a better person, a happier person." Blaine stopped walking and turned to face Kurt properly. "I realized tonight that I'm never truly happy unless I'm with you, because I can't be this free with anybody else except you. And you're _amazing_, Kurt. I've always known that. I guess it just took me this long to realize exactly why I thought you were so amazing. Usually at this point, I think I'd sing -"

"Because that's worked out so well for you in the past," Kurt interrupted before covering his mouth with his free hand. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, I just -"

"It's okay," Blaine assured him. "I was about to say the same thing." Reaching over, Blaine pulled Kurt's hand from his mouth gently, taking it in his own. "So I'm just going to go with my gut and go with what feels right."

And with that proclamation said, Blaine leant in and kissed him. He was pretty sure Kurt had been expecting it on some level, but they were both shocked into stillness when their lips met for the first time. But after a second they were kissing, both hesitant but quickly growing in confidence, drawing closer to each other and brushing their lips together in soft sweeps and Blaine would be ready to stop doing this in about, oh, _never_.

But of course they eventually broke apart, Blaine watching as Kurt raised one hand to his lips, understanding the feeling completely. "And I can tell you something right now. That's a side of me that nobody else is every going to experience."

Kurt smiled, dropping his hand to twine with Blaine's again. "I sure hope not. You're mine now… aren't you?"

"I am."

* * *

Later, lying together on Blaine's bed with a sleepy Kurt resting against his chest, it finally came up. "So, would you rather be with Jeremiah right now?" Kurt asked. His voice was relaxed, but Blaine knew so much was riding on the answer.

Blaine tilted Kurt's head up and kissed him lightly, knowing that was answer enough. But as they broke apart, Blaine had to smirk.

"Jeremiah who?"

* * *

**This monster took me so long to write.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Ready, Agent Wes?"**_

_**"Yup, Agent David. And you didn't say over. Over."**_

_**"I don't NEED to say over. I'm right next to you. *sigh* Over."**_

_**"1...2...3!"**_

_***plugs cord into outlet***_

_**Projected all over campus via loudspeakers: *singing* "Best that I've had, I'm so glad I found you. Kurt, I love being around you- ...do I hear myself echoing?"**_


	179. Zap

**I think I'd better update _Straight Camp _today. So expect that soon :) **

**So the songs for the next episode have been released on Tumblr and I always made a point of not listening to them so I'd have some surprises for the episode (everything else invariably gets spilled at some point before I can see it). But it's weeks away and it's TGIF and I just want to... **

**Ah, screw it. *wanders over to Tumblr***

**From **_**YAYKLAINE (Anonymous): I think it would be hilarious if somehow when they were at dalton, a round of Zap got started-ah, the 6th grade game where someone writes a name on somebody else's palm, and a time on the back of their hand, and then if they peek before the time, they have to ask them out. I was thinking of perhaps a scenario where, because they are in high school, they raise the stakes to kissing-then kurt and blaine get each other as part of a plot by david and wes, and the rest is history.**_

**So... anybody who loves the idea of Dalton being a gay school... you'll love me right now. Anybody else, just treat it as the semi-crack it is =D**

**And I've never played Zap. Sadface. **

* * *

Zap

It had taken its time, but Kurt finally felt like he had gotten the hang of how the Warblers worked.

He now knew not to try and mention song ideas in a meeting - singing them rather loudly in the shower when he knew Wes was in the room was a much better alternative. Sitting quietly and nodding along generally helped, and not cracking any jokes. That was a big one. Basically, Kurt had to be a blazer-wearing robot until that gavel was hit again and the group turned back into a normal group of teenage boys. Then he was more than welcome to be himself.

So naturally it came as a bit of a shock to walk in for a Warbler meeting to find the entire group sitting around on the couches, writing on each other's hands.

"Um... what's going on?"

David glanced up. "Oh, hey Kurt. We're playing Zap."

_Right... _"Okay... cool. Why?" Kurt knew the game perfectly well, but he couldn't for the life of him work out why a room compiled of sophmores, juniors and seniors were playing the _sixth grade _game.

Across the room, Wes raised his gavel lazily as he continued to write on Thad's hand. Kurt got the picture and sat down hastily on the only other empty couch. A moment later, Blaine rushed into the room. "Sorry I'm la- oh, not again!"

Kurt turned to him, looking confused. "This happens often?"

"Who called it?" Blaine demanded of the group. There was silence until Jeff raised his hand slowly. "Okay. Why?"

Jeff shrugged. "You always get solos. Some of us want the chance."

Blaine fell into the seat next to Kurt. "Alright, alright. Go ahead." He turned to Kurt and immediately began to laugh. Apparently Kurt's confusion was evident on his face, as Blaine quickly explained what was going on. "Whoever can last or last the longest without looking at the name gets the chance to compete for a solo with me. I didn't design it... in fact, I don't know who did. Wes, who made this up?"

"Toby. Graduated last year." Wes finished writing on the back of Thad's hand, then held out his own.

Blaine nodded his thanks. "So now everybody has to join in. Including me, because... I don't know why either. Because they like annoying me too."

"No, because you're one of the few who are gay. We thought you'd enjoy it," Jeff called out, flexing his hand which had a bright green 9:42pm written on the back of it. "And because if we have to do it, so do you."

Kurt watched the whole thing with amusement. "Alright, I guess someone has to write on my hand then."

As Blaine began to speak, David overrode him. "I'll take yours, Kurt." Shrugging, Kurt held out his hand palm up and looked away. He resisted the urge to giggle as the pen tickled away at his hand, and tried to work out what David was writing - which he quickly realized was impossible as David had written the person's full name. "Okay, close." Kurt clenched his hand into a fist and David quickly wrote a time down.

"1:27pm?" Kurt checked his watch quickly. "David, it's already 2."

David smirked at Wes who had crossed the room to join him. "It is. The rule is no more than 24 hours... so you get 23 hours and 27 minutes. Enjoy."

Kurt groaned and Blaine gave him a sympathetic look as he held out his own hand to a demanding Wes. He couldn't see the name Wes was writing, but before he knew it Wes was scribbling a time on the back of Blaine's fist. "Why does he get such an early one?" Kurt asked grumpily.

"Early? This is over 12 hours from now!" Blaine glanced miserably at the large 10:31am on his hand. "You guys know what my curiosity is like!"

Wes and David swapped a high five, but Kurt was distracted by a thought. "Hold on... you guys have to ask each other out if you look?"

"Oh, no we don't play it by those rules. The stakes are higher, plus, most of us are already in relationships." Wes glanced around to make sure everybody was finished, then stood. "Everybody remembers the rules? If you look, you have to kiss the person whose name appears on your palm."

_What?_

Kurt stared around the room. Everybody else seemed to take it in their stride, and Kurt wasn't sure how. Apart from himself and Blaine, the only other gay guys were Nick, Jeff and Trent - everybody else was straight and most had girlfriends. Yet they all seemed resigned to the way the game worked. _Perhaps they all know they're not going to crack and -_

"Wow, Ethan. You lasted all of _two minutes_."

Ethan scowled at Trent. "I couldn't help it! It's freaking annoying knowing that you might have to kiss someone but not knowing who!" Sighing, the Warbler stood and made his way over to where Wes was standing, pulling the other boy into a kiss.

Kurt's jaw dropped. _But... Wes is straight!_

Ethan pulled away and turned to walk back to his couch innocently. Wes looked as if he was contemplating something for a minute, then shrugged. "I'll rate that a seven."

Blaine leant over. "You might want to pick up your jaw. And you'll get used to it eventually."

All in all, it was the strangest Warbler meeting Kurt had ever experienced. Somehow, Wes expected the boys to all settle down and focus on whatever he was rambling on about. Kurt knew he wasn't the only one who was distracted by his fist, staring down at it as if he might suddenly develop x-ray vision and be able to see the name that was plaguing him.

_What if it's Wes or David? _Kurt thought, feeling almost panicked at the thought. The two were nice and all, but it was just far too strange a concept for him to envision. Kurt would almost prefer it to be someone like Nick or Jeff, but knew he would feel bad considering the two were dating. Come to think of it, most of the Warblers had girlfriends and Kurt found himself even more uncomfortable by the thought of the game.

_What about Bla-_

Kurt forcibly blocked the thought from his mind. Sure, he might have developed a bit of a crush on his friend, but that didn't mean he wanted Blaine's name to be the one on his hand, did it?

... okay, that was a yes. But more than anything else, Kurt was beginning to wish he wasn't a part of this game at all. The all-important realization had occurred to him about five minutes ago - it wasn't the fact that one or more of the guys in the room might have to kiss him, but that _he _might have to kiss one of them. And while Kurt had been kissed before, he had never kissed anybody himself, and self doubt was already beginning to rear its ugly head.

"Meeting dism - Andrew, I saw that!"

All attention was immediately on the boy who was feigning ignorance. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Wes rolled his eyes. "You just looked at your hand. Come on, get it over with."

Andrew sighed and got to his feet, shooting an apologetic look in Blaine's direction. Kurt felt his heart sink. _He's going to kiss Blaine, someone else gets to kiss Blaine -_

And then, inexplicably, Andrew walked straight past Blaine and knelt down in front of Kurt. There was a moment of hesitation before the other boy leant in, pressing his lips gently against Kurt's.

Kurt completely froze. He couldn't even bring himself to kiss the other boy back because _holy hell, someone is kissing me_ was all that was running through his head (apart from a sublayer that was screaming out that this wasn't _Blaine_, but he tried to block that out). Andrew pulled away, opening his hand to reveal 'KURT HUMMEL' in large block letters. Kurt immediately identified the writing as Flint's and resisted the urge to glare at the boy. As Andrew stood, Kurt glanced at Blaine to make a joke to hopefully ease the tension, only to have the words die on his tongue.

Blaine looked _furious_. He was glaring at the back of Andrew's head as he walked away and Kurt frowned. _What's wrong with him?_

"Blaine?"

As soon as Blaine turned back, however, it was gone. "Welcome to our world," he joked lightly. "Think you're going to crack?"

Kurt glanced down at his fist, twisting it around a few times. "I don't know," he admitted. "I want to know who it is but…" He trailed off, not sure how to put his fears into words - _I've never kissed anybody, I want the first time I kiss someone myself to be special, I don't want it to be anybody but __you_.

Blaine's eyes widened. "I didn't even think about that," he murmured, Kurt furrowing his brow in confusion. "Kurt, you absolutely don't have to do this if you don't want to. Obviously the others don't know and they don't need to know the details but if you need to pull out, you totally can."

And then Kurt clicked. "Hey, no, it's fine," he said quickly. "It's not the Karofsky thing. I know this is all in fun."

"Then… what is it?"

Kurt bit his lip, suddenly feeling strangely vulnerable. He glanced around, making sure that everybody else was on their way out and not listening in. "You knew I'd never been kissed before Karofsky. But I've still never kissed anybody, and I'm afraid I wont -"

Blaine gave him a few seconds before finishing the sentence gently. "Afraid you won't be good at it?" Kurt nodded and Blaine made a sympathetic noise. "Hey, it's just a game. Nobody's going to care, I promise. And if that's all that's bothering you… Kurt, just don't look at your hand."

And, okay, it really was that simple. Kurt let out a relieved sigh, not realizing how tense he had been. "Yeah, true. Sorry for freaking out on you."

"That wasn't a freak out." Blaine dropped a hand on his knee, squeezing it quickly before removing it. "Now, if you want to see entertainment, you might want to follow me. I have it on good authority that Jeff will only last less than an hour and Nick will follow shortly behind."

True to his word, Blaine managed to catch four of the other Warblers cracking that night. Surprisingly, David was the first and Cameron nearly got thrown out of the library for his reaction to being kissed in the middle of a study session. They didn't get to see Wes but word travelled pretty quickly when the sound of screaming could be heard from behind his door - apparently Jessica had shown up to visit just in time to see her boyfriend kissing a slightly stunned Nick and she wasn't taking it well. But the best by far was Jeff who had apparently wanted to put on a show and waited until the middle of dinner before jumping up on his seat and opening his hand. There was a moment of silence then the blonde began to laugh. "This brings back memories," he announced to the Warbler table who were all watching him before leaning down, grabbing Nick by the tie and kissing him thoroughly.

Blaine groaned loudly, surprising Kurt who was sitting next to him. "Who gave them _each other_?" he asked, glancing around the table and waiting until a sheepish looking Trent raised his hand. "Come on, like they need an excuse to kiss."

Nick finally pulled away, allowing Jeff to sit back down. "Let's see if we got double lucky," he said as he opened his hand, reading the name inside. "Ah. Well, it's no Jeff but it could be worse. Blaine, get over here!"

Kurt bit his lip as Blaine laughed, standing up and meeting Nick at the end of the table. There was a split second where Nick turned to glance at Jeff and Kurt could have _sworn _that Blaine looked at him, but then the moment was over. "I hope you're good at this," Blaine joked before leaning in to kiss him. It was only a second, but Kurt felt like his heart had gone through a vice, only to be released instantaneously when the two broke apart, Blaine rolling his eyes. "Oh wow, so much passion. Go back to your boyfriend."

Nick happily returned to Jeff and Blaine slid into his seat beside Kurt, shaking his head. "This game is mental," he remarked before immediately being drawn into conversation with Wes about the best guitar choice.

Kurt glanced down at his own fist, still clenched stubbornly. "Yeah," he murmured to himself. "Mental."

* * *

_Why should I be nervous?_

Kurt rolled over, running a hand through his hair haphazardly and trying to remember what had happened the previous day. There was something… something had gone on at Warbler rehearsal that wasn't quite normal, and something about Blaine that hadn't exactly sat well with Kurt…

_And why is Blaine's name on my hand?_

Kurt blinked a couple of times.

_Oh, crap._

His hand that he had just used to rake back his hair was lying palm-up on the bed next to him with the words 'BLAINE EVERETT ANDERSON' written in David's distinctive scrawl followed by a smily face that was attempting to wink. But David's lack of artistry could be examined later - right now, Kurt had to deal with the fact that he had just looked at his hand and his hand had Blaine's name on it. And that meant he had to kiss Blaine. And even though kissing Blaine might have been something Kurt had dreamt - and daydreamed if he was being honest - about many times before, it was quite a different story knowing he _had _to do it.

_Nobody knows you've looked, though._

Kurt frowned, mulling the thought over for a few seconds before dismissing it. Maybe nobody else knew, but _he _knew. And Kurt Hummel was many things but a liar was not one of them. Everybody else was abiding by the rules of the game, so he had to as well. So somehow, Kurt had to find it in himself to get up, go find Blaine and kiss him like it meant nothing at all. Much easier thought than done.

Reluctantly, Kurt pulled himself out of bed and began getting ready for the day, taking much longer than he normally did. Being the weekend meant that Kurt could take as long as he liked, so it was past nine by the time he made his way down the stairs slowly, heading towards the cafeteria where he knew Blaine would be, the other boy never being one to sleep in. Pausing outside the door, Kurt smoothed down his shirt, shut his eyes briefly and took a deep breath. _Okay, you can do this. Just walk in there, walk up to him and kiss him. Simple._

But as Kurt pushed open the door, Blaine glanced up and immediately headed in his direction, a determined look on his face. Before Kurt could ask what was going on, Blaine had his hands on either side of Kurt's face and was kissing him. And before Kurt could bring himself to respond, to do _anything _except stand there like a goldfish and let himself be kissed, Blaine was pulling away and revealing his open palm to Kurt where 'KURT ELIZABETH HUMMEL' was written in block letters. Raising an eyebrow at the use of his pseudo middle name, Kurt stared at the words for a second before glancing up at Blaine, trying to work out what to do next.

"I - Kurt, I know I said I wasn't going to look but I was in the shower this morning and I realized I might have washed it off by mistake so I checked to make sure it was there and then I realized that I had just read it," Blaine blurted out in a rush. "I hope you're not -"

And okay, maybe picking that exact moment to kiss Blaine back wasn't the best but Kurt had noticed something when Blaine was talking - the slight hint of emotion in his eyes that signified that perhaps the kiss wasn't _just _for the game. And maybe it was time for Kurt to tell Blaine that he didn't just want this to be a game either.

Plus, Blaine didn't know that he was the name on Kurt's hand.

_This could be interesting._

With that thought in mind, Kurt gently broke the kiss and waited until Blaine's eyes opened slowly, clear disbelief written across his face. "You… you just kissed me back."

And the raw emotion in his voice was so clear that Kurt almost felt bad about what he was going to do next. "I did," he said quietly before raising his fist slowly and opening it to reveal Blaine's name. "That was for this." Blaine took in the name on Kurt's hand and his expression dropped; only for a split second, as Blaine was the master of keeping his emotions in check, but it was long enough for Kurt to be sure. "This, however, is because I choose to."

Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and pulled him in for another kiss, a _proper _kiss. Or at least it was once Blaine snapped out of his stunned state and began to kiss Kurt back and _okay_, now Kurt could understand why Mike and Tina were constantly liplocked because if it felt this good, why would you want to stop?

The answer came a few seconds later as the other occupants of the room began to catcall and wolf whistle. "Get some, Blaine!" came the voice that was unmistakably Cameron's, completely breaking the mood and Kurt pulled away, burying his head in Blaine's shoulder as he blushed.

Blaine laughed quietly and pulled him closer. "Don't worry, they'll get sick of it eventually."

"How long will that take?"

There was a moment of silence. "Well… Nick and Jeff got together six months ago and they're still getting teased so… we're holding out for a year."

Kurt pulled away at that, ignoring the rest of the room as he looked at Blaine again. "Is this us 'getting together'?" he asked quietly, wondering why he was getting shy _now _when he had just been the one to initiate the best kiss of his life.

"Do you want us to be getting together?"

Kurt nodded without a second thought and Blaine grinned. "Then yes, I think we are." The boys were still making a ruckus behind them and Blaine rolled his eyes, still smiling. "Do you want to maybe take this conversation elsewhere?"

"That would be nice." Kurt reluctantly disentangled himself from Blaine before shyly taking the hand offered to him. As they began to leave the hall, Kurt couldn't help but laugh as a thought occurred to him. "Blaine, we just got together by a _sixth grade game_. That might just be the worst story ever."

Blaine laughed as well. "We're not the only ones." Kurt turned to him with a raised eyebrow and Blaine smirked. "I never told you how Nick and Jeff got together, did I?"

* * *

**Aaaand I might leave it there ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"OH MY POTTER! What do I wear! The green, the blue- AHA!"**_

_***later***_

_***blink* "You have hot pink sunglasses. Really?"**_

_***grins* "Yup! Got you a pair!" *pulls out yellow glasses***_

_**"Blaine, sweetie, no... I love you and all, but if you try to make me wear that then I'll add the Katy CDs on my list of things to add to my monthly bonfire."**_


	180. Alone

**I'm sorry but I just love it when people try to tell me they don't actually like my story, they just read it for the ideas other people give me and because occasionally I write something 'ok'. I can understand that for a smaller story but who in their right mind would sit through _one hundred and seventy nine _chapters of a story they didn't like? I sure wouldn't. So it's more funny than anything. ****Also, I'm immature for writing about bad reviews in my authors notes and on my Tumblr. We've been over the authors note thing - I misuse them, I don't care, neither do 95% of you guys - but my Tumblr is kind of my _blog_, which means it's mine to write whatever I please on it. So if this makes me immature then fine. **

***sticks tongue out***

**On a positive note, to my regulars, my permanent readers, the ones who I can call my friends, I love you all and appreciate you so much, especially at the moment. **

**From **_**Moofie Lou: Kurt never goes to spy on the Warblers and thus doesn't end up transferring. The bullying still escalates and by regionals Kurt is more closed-off than ever. At the competition he runs into the handsome leader singer of the Warblers, Blaine. What happens next?**_

**Lauren didn't join because they had Kurt. And I think this is meant to be Sectionals because that's when we first meet the Warblers, so I'm going with that. I don't think Kurt could handle being alone from the time before Sectionals right through to Regionals. ****And I know it was Blaine's 'courage' text that seemed to inspire Kurt to chase Karofsky into the locker room, but I think Kurt would have snapped eventually anyway.**

**I also feel like a bit of this ties into some of my chapters of **_**Invisible**_**, mainly because it's the same theme. I did my best not to plagiarize myself though.**

**This just never _ended_. I barely got it done in time... by that, I mean I had it finished 6 days in advance but for me that's pushing the deadline!**

* * *

Alone

"Okay, we've drawn the third slot guys!" Will joined the group again, holding the schedule of events. Rachel immediately began to murmur about this giving them 'a clearly well needed edge' as they headed off to the green room to drop their things. Kurt lagged behind the group, keeping his head down as he walked and wishing he was anywhere but here.

It wasn't that he didn't love performing, but Kurt was just so tired of everything. He didn't want to get up on stage and put on that same fake smile he always wore and pretend his life was fantastic. He didn't want to join the group who pretended to be one big happy family, knowing full well that none of them understood him or what he was going through.

Ever since Karofsky had kissed him, Kurt had shut off from people completely. He knew that nobody from the New Directions could _ever _understand how that sort of thing felt and didn't want to have to try to explain. And after the death threat, he had just kept his head down and did his best to get through every day without drawing attention to himself. Mercedes had noticed, but after a few failed attempts to make Kurt talk, she had given up. The girl was stubborn, but she took things far too personally, and her decision had been that if Kurt wasn't going to talk, then she wasn't going to bother. Now they hadn't spoken in about a week. And Kurt figured that Rachel might have noticed if she hadn't been too busy trying to consecutively get over and win over Finn as well as throwing her temper tantrum because she didn't get her solo.

Kurt had considered telling his father about the death threat from Karofsky, but he and Carole were still in the honeymoon stage and Kurt didn't want to disturb them. After all, apart from a few extra locker shoves and 'reminders' to keep his mouth shut, Karofsky hadn't exactly tried anything. And if he did, Kurt wasn't too sure if he cared anymore.

"Let's go grab some seats." Will clapped his hands together, jarring Kurt out of his thoughts. He dropped his bag next to the others and followed the group again into the auditorium, taking the seat on the end of the row and resting his head in his hands. All he wanted was to get this over and done with, sway in the background like they wanted him to, and then go home. Simple.

The Hipsters took the stage and Kurt allowed himself to zone out. They were cute enough for old people but their performance wasn't really competition worthy, unless the judges took sympathy on them. And maybe it would be a good thing if they did win - Kurt didn't have the energy to prepare for another competition.

After the senior citizens had shuffled off the stage, Kurt heard Santana from a couple of seats down. "Oh hey, here comes homo school."

Gritting his teeth, Kurt drew his attention back to the stage as Dalton Academy entered, their uniform catching his eye immediately. While Kurt could never see himself giving up his clothes, if he ever had to wear a uniform that one would win. As the group moved into a formation, Kurt couldn't help but check out the boys on stage. There were a couple of good looking ones - one of the blondes in particular caught his eye - but he knew Santana's words weren't true and most of these boys were probably straight. Still, looking didn't do any harm.

And then the group began to harmonize and Kurt's eyebrows raised. _Is that Hey Soul Sister?_

"_Hey!"_

One of the boys began to sing, clearly their lead, and Kurt's eye was drawn to him instantly. _How did I overlook him? _he wondered to himself, smiling unconsciously as the group sang. Apart from being quite clearly attractive, his voice was strong and nothing short of breathtaking.

Kurt couldn't stop himself from watching the rest of the group as well, wondering why they didn't seem bothered that they were just singing in the back instead of getting their own solos. And then he noticed that they all actually looked _happy_. Yes, everybody looked happy when they performed but Kurt had worn enough fake smiles in his time to know one when he saw it and these boys were actually happy up there. Their voices moulded together and Kurt realized that was what it was like to be a part of a team.

Speaking of teams, New Directions were standing, making their way to the green room. With one last regretful look at the Warblers who were finishing their song, Kurt followed the group. As soon as they got back there, Sam and Quinn disappeared to take their places for the cliched curtain entrance and Rachel immediately started on her latest speel about why she deserved the solo and how she had pulled together a solo at last minute for Sectionals last year so if it was required this time she would be more than happy to. Kurt wanted to tell her to shut up but it was too much effort so he pulled out his phone and began to play Angry Birds again.

And then they were making their way on to the stage. Kurt took his position behind the curtain, rolling his eyes as Sam and Quinn began to sing. Of course he was glad that other people were getting the chance to sing and their voices were beautiful together, but like anybody really believed that these two would last. Soon enough, Quinn's urge to beat Rachel would win and she would be trying to get Finn back. _This whole club is just a ticking time bomb. If we survive to Nationals, it'll be a miracle._

The curtain began to rise and Kurt plastered his best fake smile on his face as the bright lights assaulted him, joining in on cue as Sam and Quinn sang out the front. When his eyes finally adjusted, Kurt caught sight of a row of blazer-clad boys sitting where they had just vacated and couldn't resist seeking out the lead soloist of the group who happened to be sitting in the middle and staring… _right at him?_

Tearing his attention away, Kurt continued to sing, following the limited choreography they had created at last minute - as usual - and focusing on the song. But once they had finished to loud applause, Kurt allowed himself to glance back at the boy. And yes, he hadn't been imagining it because there he was, staring at him again. Kurt deliberated for a second before offering him a half-smile which was returned. And then _Valerie _began and Kurt focused in on the music and watching Mike and Brittany dance. At least Mr. Schuester had been a little more inclusive this time, but Kurt was still waiting on his solo that he knew he would never get.

Finally they were finished and the crowd were on their feet as the group bowed. As usual, Kurt was at the back and could hardly bring himself to smile. All he wanted to do was go home.

But of course that wouldn't happen. There was still judging to wait on and since that usually took quite some time the group made their way out to the foyer. The rest of the New Directions group converged on the snack bar, Kurt choosing not to. He didn't have much of an appetite these days after all. Instead he chose to take a seat in the far corner, pulling his phone out of his bag as he walked. Of course he wasn't looking where he was going and accidentally bumped into someone. "Oh, sorry," he said absently.

"Not a problem."

Kurt slowly looked up to see the Warbler boy standing in front of him, smiling. "Oh… um, hi."

The boy held out his hand. "Hi. I'm Blaine."

"Kurt." Kurt shook the hand quickly before letting it drop, hoping it didn't appear too rude. "Your group was amazing."

"Thank you. You were very good yourselves." Blaine was looking at him in a way that was slightly disconcerting to Kurt - not like he wanted to hurt him or ridicule him, but like he actually _noticed _him. Kurt wasn't really used to it anymore. "Were you going to sit?"

He gestured to the seat and Kurt nodded, sitting down. "You're welcome to join me. Just don't let Rachel see you, she'll be over here before you can say 'Spies'."

Blaine laughed, taking a seat. "I know what you mean. Wes is a bit like that too." He dropped his bag on the ground and stretched his arms behind his back. "So, I know you have bias but who do you think will win?"

"Oh, the Hipsters for sure." Kurt deadpanned before smirking at Blaine's incredulous expression. "No, I can't say. Quinn, Sam and Santana were brilliant but so were you."

Blaine ducked his head in modesty. "Well thank you. It'll be a close one, that's for sure. So why doesn't a guy like you get solos?"

Kurt sighed without realizing. "Because we've got our main categories. Divas, which is Rachel and Mercedes. Studs; Puck, Finn and Sam, but he's more of the cute guy stud. Santana is the bad girl, Artie's our rapper, Brittany can swap between sweet and innocent and sex appeal extrodinare, Tina and Quinn are definitely the sweet ones though - maybe not as much in personality for the latter. Mike can't actually sing so he hangs out in the background with me."

"And you? Where do you fit in?"

Kurt laughed bitterly. "I don't. Never have really. I'm basically the male diva and Ohio isn't quite accepting of guys like me singing female songs. The club preaches equality but it never happens. I can guarantee that at Regionals it'll be Rachel on lead with a Rachel and Finn duet and I'll be in the background." He hadn't meant to vent like that and immediately regretted it. "Sorry. I shouldn't have -"

"Kurt. It's alright." Blaine was still looking at him with that soft smile and Kurt actually found himself believing him. "I get the impression you don't have anybody to talk to at the moment?"

And out of nowhere, all of the previously suppressed emotion from the past month threatened to escape, taking Kurt by surprise. He looked away quickly, pushing it all back under the surface and hoping Blaine hadn't noticed. "We always have dramas and rifts around our club, I'm sure it'll all sort out."

Turning back, Kurt's heart sunk when he saw the look on Blaine's face. "No, I'm sorry, I know it's probably not my place but… Kurt, there's something going on. I can tell."

Kurt took a deep breath, trying not to shake. "Are you gay?" he asked as snidely as possible.

"Yes."

Kurt blinked, thrown off guard. He had been prepared for a negative response in which case he would quip back _well you have no idea what it's like, shut up, _or something along those lines, but this was completely unexpected. "You are?"

Blaine nodded. "I see myself in you, Kurt. I didn't want to make assumptions that you were gay, but I could see something in your eyes, even when you were up on stage. There's something going on that's a lot worse than you're letting on and I have my suspicions what it might be."

"What do you -"

The lights flashed, indicating that the choirs needed to return. Blaine shot them a glare before turning back to Kurt. "Can I take you out for coffee afterwards? I'll drop you home if you don't have your car."

Kurt knew he really shouldn't, he didn't know the guy after all. But there was something about Blaine - maybe it was in his eyes, the same way it was apparently in Kurt's - that Kurt couldn't help but trust. _And maybe he'll understand. _"I - yes. That would be great."

"Blaine!"

"Kurt?"

Rolling his eyes, Kurt smiled at Blaine who was wincing. Clearly the Warbler headed in his direction was Wes and Kurt made a quick escape, heading towards Artie who had called his name. His hopes of not having been seen by Rachel were fruitless however as she gave him a fierce glare as they made their way to the stage. "I hope you weren't sharing secrets, Kurt. Otherwise I will be making a strong recommendation that you don't get access to our setlist until the week before Regionals."

Kurt resisted the urge to tell Rachel exactly what he thought; _you don't even know him, you don't know what we were talking about, we haven't won yet, I know you're just jealous because I'm your only competition vocally. _Instead he bit his tongue like he was so good at doing and followed the group on to the stage where they stood next to the Warblers. Blaine shot him a quick smile which Kurt returned before being elbowed by Rachel.

The announcement of the tie was a good thing in Kurt's opinion but Rachel was already sending glares in the Warbler boys direction and Kurt could practically see the wheels turning in her head. _So when I walk out of here with one of them, she's not going to be impressed._

As the audience began to disperse, Kurt caught Blaine's eye and headed over in his direction. "Kurt!" came the yell of Mr. Schuester and Kurt sighed, turning back around. "Bus is this way!"

"I've got a lift home. I'll see you all on Monday."

Judging by the reactions, Kurt might as well have said he was transferring, especially when Blaine stepped up beside him. "I can assure you all that I'm not going to try to get any secrets out of Kurt. Plus, we've just finished Sectionals, so unless you guys are incredibly organized I don't think there's much he can tell me.

Rachel looked like she was about to blow a gasket, but surprisingly Quinn spoke up. "I trust him," she said, leaning against Sam's shoulder. "Plus, it's not like we can make Kurt come with us." Tina was nodding and Kurt realized that the girls must have noticed how lonely he had been the past little while. And maybe they were jumping to the assumption that something romantic was going on with himself and Blaine, but Kurt didn't really feel the need to correct them. If it meant he got to go with Blaine, then he would take it.

"Bye guys. We did well today." Kurt offered the group a smile before turning and following Blaine out of the building. He received a couple of weird looks from some of the Warbler boys but assumed Blaine had told his teacher what was going on… not that Kurt had seen a teacher with the Warblers at all. "Do you guys have a choir teacher?"

Blaine shook his head. "We have a council made up of three upperclassmen. Wes, David and Thad are on the council this year." He gestured across the road to a small cafe. "Is here okay?"

Kurt nodded and the two made their way over the road. Apart from placing their orders, nothing more was said and by the time they were sitting at the table with coffees in hand, Kurt was feeling decidedly awkward. He knew Blaine was probably expecting him to spill his guts right there and then but Kurt didn't know if he could. After spending so long not talking about what was going on, it was as if the words refused to come out.

"It's alright," Blaine said quietly and Kurt glanced up, confused. "I know it's not easy to talk about things the first time. Well it's never easy to discuss," he amended, "but the first time is always the worst."

"How do you know?" Kurt didn't mean it offensively, his curiosity simply got the better of him. _He seems so confident, what could he know about this kind of fear?_

Blaine paused for a second then sighed. "I came out in ninth grade when I was still in public school," he said slowly. "I was old enough to know who I was and the other guys… well, they were old enough to know that there was apparently a problem with who I was." Another pause where Blaine seemed to be struggling to find the words and Kurt unconsciously leaned forward a little. "It started out small - glares, pointed questions, awkward silences when I went into the locker room. Then I guess one of them thought to go online and look up some names… I'm sure I don't have to repeat them."

Kurt shook his head, his mind ringing with the names he was sure Blaine was referring to, the same names he had heard most of his high school years and especially in the past few months. "I'm aware of them."

Blaine was surveying him again. "I thought so. There's more to it than the names though." It wasn't a question but Kurt hesitantly nodded anyway. "That's what I was afraid of, because I've been there too. Kurt… I've had the crap beaten out of me, I was lucky not to end up in hospital."

Kurt couldn't hold back his gasp because no matter what else had happened, _that _hadn't. "Blaine," he murmured, raising a shaking hand to his mouth.

"I know." Blaine looked slightly unsettled as well and Kurt could see his composure beginning to slip. "I don't talk about it much, for obvious reasons. But I think you needed to hear it to know that you're not alone. I don't know what's going on with you and I'm not forcing you to talk about it at all, but there is someone else out there who at least sort of knows what it's like."

It took Kurt a matter of seconds to make up his mind. "I've always struggled with the bullying as well, but there's this Neanderthal who made it his mission to make my life a living hell. Shoving me into lockers, calling me…" Kurt made a rough gesture and Blaine nodded, clearly understanding. "And one day I just snapped. I chased him into the locker room and told him that he could do whatever, he could hit me or call me names but nothing would change who I was. I called him a scared little boy… I had no idea how right I was."

Blaine frowned. "Kurt?" he said quietly after a few seconds of silence.

Kurt took a shaky breath, trying to will himself to spit out the words. It was the first time he had told anybody about the confrontation in the locker room but the final few moments were on a whole other level of terrifying and to say the words would make it more real, undeniably so. He couldn't ignore it anymore if he did.

"He kissed me."

A heartbeat of silence and then Blaine was standing, grabbing his coffee. Kurt's heart plummeted, thinking that Blaine was leaving, Blaine was sickened by what he had heard and didn't want to know Kurt… and then a hand was being held out to him. "Come on," Blaine said roughly and Kurt grabbed his coffee before he was led out of the coffee shop and around the corner. There was a bench and Blaine tugged Kurt to sit down, looking at him apologetically. "I didn't want to continue this inside," he said, his voice still on edge. "Kurt… how long ago did this happen?"

"A few weeks now," Kurt said quietly.

"Why didn't you report it, get him expelled?"

Kurt braced himself for the next bit, his own composure beginning to crack. "Because he threatened to kill me if I told anybody," he whispered, staring down at his hands which were tightly clenched together around his coffee cup, his knuckles turning white. He couldn't look up, having no idea what to expect since this was the first time he had dared to tell someone.

Blaine stayed silent for a long moment, long enough for Kurt to begin regretting his words. "Kurt," finally came the reply. "Hey, look at me?"

Blaine's voice was so soft that Kurt barely caught it. Shaking, he looked up, still trying to avoid looking Blaine in the eyes. "I know it's disgusting," he said quickly. "I know you probably regret talking to me now and -"

"_No_." Blaine's tone stopped Kurt in his tracks because Kurt could tell Blaine's anger wasn't directed at him. "Kurt, none of this is your fault, not in the slightest. _He _is the one who did this to you and… god, I just wish you could have told someone when it happened instead of carrying it around with you for this long."

Kurt burst into tears. And he _really _hadn't meant for it to happen and definitely didn't _want _to be sitting there in front of the first openly gay guy he'd ever met (and an attractive one at that), sobbing, but Kurt couldn't keep it in any longer. Blaine was right - it had been so _long _and everything just hurt too much and Kurt was _tired. _Tired of being insignificant and useless and forgotten.

He was vaguely aware of Blaine's hand on his arm and soft words being murmured to him: "It's okay, cry it out, Kurt. You need to. I'm right here, I'm not going anywhere, I'll keep you safe."

Kurt believed it. So, for the first time ever, allowed himself to actually cry, not stopping himself when he felt like it had been too long or he was being too pathetic, but actually cry for everything that had happened to him. And when he was finished, exhausted, his voice hoarse and eyes aching, Kurt actually felt better. Not okay, not yet. But better.

"Now," Blaine said gently, "I'd like to try and help you. If you'll let me."

There was no question about it in Kurt's mind. "What do you want to do?"

* * *

"I can't do this."

Even though the car was stationary and had been for the past ten minutes, Kurt's hands still gripped the steering wheel, so tight his knuckles had lost color completely. He knew if he let go, he would do something completely embarrassing like start shaking noticeably and this itself was already embarrassing enough, considering his passenger. But he really _couldn't do this. _

And even though this was probably the seventh time Kurt had uttered the same phrase, Blaine's response was still as calm as it had been the first time. "Yes you can, Kurt. He loves you and he won't judge you for any of this. And if anybody can do something about it, it's your dad."

Kurt closed his eyes and took a few shaky breaths before nodding. "Let's go before I change my mind."

He did change his mind four times while walking up the driveway, but at that point Blaine simply refused to let him turn back. "You're here now, Kurt," he said calmly, keeping a hand on Kurt's arm as they walked. "Don't give up - wait, you knock at your own house?"

"No, not normally." Kurt could already hear the sound of his father getting up to answer the door. "I just… I couldn't just walk in."

"Courage," Blaine murmured, just as Burt opened the door.

There was a long moment of silence and Kurt watched his father's face turn confused. "Kurt? Why did you knock? And who is…" He trailed off and Kurt closed his eyes, feeling a hot pit of fear form in the bottom of his stomach. _Of course he would think that. _"Is this your boyfriend? Kid, I thought we had a deal when it came to this kind of stuff." Kurt couldn't say anything, frozen in place by _this _on top of his own fear. "You said you'd tell me when you were bringing someone home instead of just rocking up -"

"Mr. Hummel." Blaine's voice suddenly cut in, authoritative and almost sharp. "I'm sorry, I know it's not my place but you need to give Kurt a chance to speak. I'm not Kurt's boyfriend, I'm here as a friend and as support because he needs to talk to you about something important."

Kurt sent a silent thanks in Blaine's direction as his father's face softened. "Oh. Well, uh, why don't you both come in and we'll talk about whatever's going on?"

The tense silence as they entered the living room was almost more than Kurt could take, and the words rushed out of him before he had even sat down. "Dad, I'm being bullied." He winced as his dad froze halfway to his seat and his voice dropped to a whisper. "I - I didn't know how to tell you."

Burt sat down slowly and Kurt did the same. "Okay, I know things have been rough at that school for awhile, what with the slushies and stuff. You're telling me it's worse than that?"

"Locker shoves," Kurt began quietly, not even sure how he was able to say it. "Lewd, sick, _disgusting _comments, being locked in closets, things getting stuck to me or thrown at me, trying to push me down the staircases…" he trailed off, casting a helpless glance at Blaine who nodded. Kurt had already flat out refused to discuss the kiss with his dad, but Blaine had insisted that he mention the death threat, and Kurt knew if he didn't then Blaine would. "And… and one of them threatened to kill me."

Kurt wasn't sure what he had expected. Knowing his father's explosive temper, he wouldn't have put it past him to immediately call the school or threaten to march down there even though it was a Saturday. Instead, Burt took a deep breath before letting it out in a sigh. "Why am I only learning this now?"

Forcing back the lump in his throat, Kurt could only go with the truth. "You and Carole are so happy and you were _just _getting married. I couldn't do that to you then. And then you went away on the honeymoon and by the time you'd gotten back… I couldn't talk about it to anybody. I just -" he cut himself off, struggling to reign in his emotions.

"Kurt, you know nothing means more to me than your safety," his father said, sounding almost disappointed but far too weary, before turning his attention to Blaine. "So, how did you find out what's going on?"

"Kurt and I met at Sectionals," Blaine explained. "I'm from Dalton Academy, I sing for the Warblers. I recognized that something was going on with Kurt pretty much straight away, having been there myself, so needless to say I wanted to give him the opportunity he needed to talk about it with someone who understood. And once I found out the extent, I told Kurt I'd do whatever it took to help him out."

There was a long silence after that and Kurt ducked his head, feeling the hot tears welling up in his eyes. This was what he had been afraid of, his father not being able to say anything not able to help, being _angry _at him for not having told him what was going on. "Well," Burt said finally, his voice taking on an odd tone that Kurt had never heard before, "at least someone's been looking after my kid, because I sure haven't."

Kurt's head snapped up at that. "Dad," he whispered. "Dad, it's not your fault."

"I should have known something was wrong, Kurt. You're a teenager, of course you aren't going to tell me everything that's wrong - I should be able to figure out the more serious stuff myself. And clearly something has been off, you've been different. Quieter. I put it down to that teenage angst but I should have known."

Without a second thought, Kurt was across the room throwing his arms around his father's neck. There were no words - maybe his father _should _have seen it but Kurt should have told him too. But now it was out in the open and they could move forward from here.

"Okay," Burt said as Kurt pulled away, sitting next to him. "Blaine, Dalton Academy. Is that the zero-tolerance bullying school?" Blaine nodded. "Kurt, how would you feel about going there?"

Kurt paused, blinked a few times. "But… we can't afford that…"

"You think I didn't set up a college fund?" Burt asked, almost incredulous. Kurt turned to stare at him and he shrugged. "Okay, your mother prompted it. But there's money in there, Kurt, money that you were going to take to New York or wherever you wanted to go to help you out, but I think it's far more important that it's used now. But it's your choice."

"Yes," Kurt said instantly. "I _need _to get out of that school."

"I'll call Dalton tomorrow," Burt promised. "See how quickly we can get you in."

Blaine coughed politely. "Mr. Hummel? It shouldn't be an issue, Dalton always reserves a few extra places for students in Kurt's situation so they can transfer in case of an emergency. I - I know this firsthand."

Burt, who had still been looking at Blaine suspiciously, relaxed and Kurt could see the pity in his eyes. "Okay. Thank you, Blaine, I'll be sure to call them straight away and get Kurt in then. Kid, you going to be alright telling that Glee club of yours that you're leaving?"

Kurt glanced at Blaine instantly who nodded. "I'll have some backup. I'll be fine."

* * *

Walking into Glee club with the same boy he had left Sectionals with certainly caused a stir. Rachel looked indignant but the twin glares of Mercedes and Quinn thankfully kept her silent long enough for Kurt to begin speaking. He might have interrupted one of Mr. Schuester's post Sectionals pep talks, but Kurt couldn't bring himself to care right now.

"The bullying is at its worst," Kurt explained quickly. "It's dangerous for me to be here, not just physically but emotionally. I can't handle the comments, the hatred."

"Kurt," Mercedes whispered, and Kurt could see the guilt flooding across her face. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Kurt shook his head. "I didn't know how. I was scared, too scared to tell. But Blaine… Blaine knew." And that was all Kurt was going to say, no matter how curious the room looked at that. Blaine's story was for him to tell, just like Kurt had to stand here and tell his own now. "I know we'll be competition at Regionals now, so good luck. I'll - I'll see you there."

Nobody said a word as Kurt left. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or hurt.

"I'm proud of you," Blaine said softly, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Kurt tried to smile, unconvincingly.

At least it was over now.

* * *

The first locker door slam had Kurt jumping a mile high. Except this time, he was blushing and immediately looking around to make sure nobody had noticed. After all, this was Dalton and Kurt wasn't supposed to be scared anymore.

"It'll take awhile," came the soft voice from behind him. "Just because you're out of that school doesn't mean your mind feels any safer."

"How long does it take," Kurt asked, his back still to Blaine.

There was a moment of silence. "Longer than you'd like. But it will get better."

Kurt turned, still shaking. "I'm so _tired _of being afraid," he whispered.

"Come on," Blaine said, putting a hand on his shoulder and gently leading him back down the hallway, away from the classrooms. "You and I are going to spend the day watching whatever movies you'd like in my dorm room, and then we'll get you initiated into the Warblers this afternoon."

And as they entered Blaine's room, Kurt continued to tell himself that what he was feeling for Blaine was nothing but gratitude and admiration. Nothing more.

* * *

A month in to his time at Dalton and Kurt had to face it - he was crazy about Blaine.

At first it _had _just been gratitude because Kurt owed Blaine so much for rescuing him, for noticing what nobody else had, for helping him to have the courage to get out of the situation. But as Kurt settled into Dalton and his own skin again, he recognized the feelings from back in the days he had been completely enamored with Finn, except stronger. Possibly because Blaine actually played for his team, or that Blaine paid attention to him in a good way. But he was definitely crushing on Blaine.

The only issue was that Blaine seemed so very determined that Kurt was still broken and needed to be fixed that Kurt knew he would never look past that and into any feelings he might or might not have for him. And Kurt wasn't trying to delude himself that Blaine was interested, but the possibility would never be discovered or explored if Kurt couldn't make Blaine believe that he was okay.

So he began slow. The first time Kurt had spoken up in a Warbler rehearsal with a contrary opinion, Blaine had stared at him like he didn't even know who Kurt was. But when Kurt's idea was shot down and he sat back down, the same old comforting Blaine was back with a hand on Kurt's arm. "It's alright, that's just the way things work here. It's nothing against you."

Kurt shrugged. "I know that. I don't care."

Blaine frowned. "You know you can be honest with me -?"

"I know," Kurt said again, giving him a thin smile before returning his attention to the Council, hoping Blaine would leave it at that.

Of course he didn't, and as the other Warblers were making their way out of the room, Blaine touched his arm gently. "Don't feel like you have to keep it inside anymore, okay?"

"Blaine, there's nothing to keep inside," Kurt said, trying not to snap at the boy. "It honestly doesn't bother me that they didn't like my suggestion. Each to their own."

Blaine looked confused even as he nodded his acceptance and Kurt suppressed a sigh. This was going to take a long time.

* * *

"So, I haven't asked you in awhile," Blaine began, his tone oh so familiar, "but how are you going with the whole Karofsky thing."

Kurt rolled his eyes before looking up with a smile. "Absolutely fine. I haven't thought about him in ages, actually. It helps not seeing him every day and I know he doesn't have any power over me anymore."

Blaine's smile was almost blinding and Kurt couldn't resist his own smile in return because Blaine really was gorgeous when he smiled. Well, Blaine was gorgeous all of the time, but that was beside the point at the moment. "I'm so proud of you! You're really getting there, Kurt."

_Getting where? _Kurt wanted to scream. _I'm as 'there' as I'm going to get! I don't see what else I have to do until you realize I'm okay now!_

Instead he continued to smile, stirring his coffee absently. "So, what did you think of the latest _Vogue? _That cover spread was a little too bland for me but the shoots more than made up for it in my opinion."

Blaine still shot him the usual reassuring look before answering but Kurt figured - and desperately hoped - that that would go away in time.

_And hopefully that time is soon. I don't know how much longer I can go without telling him that I'm crazy about him._

* * *

Not long, it turned out.

* * *

Today was the day, Kurt told himself once again as he walked past Blaine's door for the seventh time. Today was the day he was going to go in there, sit down and tell Blaine he was interested, fear of rejection be damned. He was just going to turn around, walk straight back to that door and…

Kurt walked past it again, cursing himself under his breath. "Okay, that's okay. That's only the eighth time," he told himself. "Just go back and -"

"Kurt?"

Adopting a neutral expression, Kurt spun around to see Blaine peering out the door. "I thought I heard someone walking out here. What's going on?"

"Can I come in and talk to you for a second?"

"Of course!" Blaine pushed the door open, ushering Kurt in. "What is it, did something happen? Are you okay?"

Of course, this whole thing would work a _lot _better if Blaine wasn't looking at him like he was going to cry any second. "Nothing happened," he explained calmly, because at least this was something he didn't have to freak out over. "I'm fine, honest."

"Are you sure? You know you don't have to be afraid to tell me anything, right?"

"I know that," Kurt said, taking the words to heart. If he could tell Blaine _anything_, he could definitely tell him about this crush. Definitely.

Any second now…

"Kurt, you look really nervous." Blaine was holding both of his arms, staring at him intently. "Did someone call you?"

Kurt shook his head, patience wearing thin. "Blaine, nothing happened, okay!"

Blaine stepped back, nodding. "It's okay. If you don't want to talk about whatever it is now, that's _absolutely _fine, just know that I'm here for you and -"

Kurt snapped.

"Right, that's it!" he demanded, pointing to the seat furiously. Stunned, Blaine sat back down, staring up at him. "You are going to stop treating me like I'm _broken_! Yes, I went through hell, so did _you_! Just because it was more recent for me doesn't mean I need to be mollycoddled all the time, I'm _fine _now! Okay?"

"Kurt -"

"Look," Kurt said quickly, his voice softer. "I know you're trying to look out for me and I appreciate it. But I'm sure of myself now. Very sure, in fact, and sure enough to tell you that I'm pretty sure I'm head over heels for you, which is what I've been _wanting _to say."

"You -"

"And before you say anything, this isn't one of those things where I'm just glad you've helped me or I feel safe with you, I mean, all of that is true but it's not _just _that. I'm honestly interested in you, Blaine -"

"Kurt -"

Kurt sighed. "This would go a lot faster if you didn't interrupt. I get that you want to protect me, especially after what happened with Karofsky, but I'm over that now and I'm _sure _about this, Blaine. You're amazing and I've fallen for you and I just want to be able to have a normal relationship -"

"I -"

"Well, as normal as I could get in Ohio anyway. But I'm sure about this, so please don't insult me by trying to tell me that I'm _wrong _because -"

_Oh. _

"I believe you," Blaine said as they broke apart, Kurt raising a hand to his lips in shock. "I didn't want to believe you because I didn't want to get my hopes up, I didn't want you to get hurt and then this never have a chance of happening because I've _wanted _you for so long. But I couldn't, not straight away, not until I was _sure_, which is why I took it so slow -"

"Blaine, I think _turtles _have gotten together faster than that."

Blaine rolled his eyes but the smile was permanently attached to his face, Kurt had decided. "But now that I believe you that you are sure, I think it's time that I finally get around to asking you out, to making you mine, just like I've wanted to ever since I saw you from the stage that day."

Kurt was pretty sure his heart had skipped at least three beats. "Yes," he whispered before getting himself back under control. "But if you treat me like I'm broken again, I can't be held responsible for my actions."

"Don't worry," Blaine said, taking his hands softly. "I'll treat you just like you should be treated. Like the most precious person in my life."

And as Blaine kissed him again, all Kurt could do was melt.

* * *

**It's a little choppy at points and if I had the time, I would have elaborated on a few more of the scenes. But I'm still happy with it. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"You just looked at your hand. Come on, get it over with."**_

_**Andrew sighed and got to his feet, shooting an apologetic look in Wes's direction.**_

_**Then he walked to the council table, picked up the gavel, and kissed its head.**_


	181. Admissions

**When I work night shift, I always crave bacon when I get home or once I've woken up. It's strange. Regardless, I am currently eating bacon so I can't argue with the system. **

**My area is due to be hit with some heavy storms over the next few days which is going to make work utterly painful. I have to clean the floors every night at the start of my shift but it will be so pointless because by the end they'll be a mess again. And there's already been hail and going to be more and it's all a little depressing since we're meant to be just about in summer. **

**From **_**Full-Empty-Spirit **_**and similarly prompted by**_** wynnie the pooh and hermionemallark: Now, I know everyone is gonna request this, but when Blaine confesses!**_

**I'm sorry but this isn't canon, except it still works with the clip, mostly. Obviously it changes near the end ;) but basically they didn't get together during Original Song. I felt like being different.**

* * *

Admissions

"Oh my god, you should have seen it."

Kurt shook his head, still in disbelief as he laid the story out for Blaine. "We all look at the top ten list for Showcase and we all just went numb. And then Jesse kept going on and on about how Rachel and Finn's kiss is what cost us Nationals -"

"While I understand passion," Blaine interrupted, "I do think that was unprofessional. But sorry, keep going."

Kurt tried very hard not to think about Blaine _understanding passion _(especially not wondering if there had been anything going on in Blaine's romantic life since Kurt had left) as he continued on with his speel. "Okay, then we get back to the hotel, and Santana loses it. Goes absolutely off her nut and starts screaming at Rachel in Spanish, it took three of them to hold her back!" Blaine shook his head, clearly trying not to laugh. Kurt knew if he hadn't been such a strange mixture of disappointed, slightly afraid and tired at the time, he would have been doing the same thing. "I mean, and the plane ride home was completely silent. Like, no one said a word. We all just sat there with our faces buried in our complementary copies of Sky Mall."

Kurt glanced back up at Blaine, smiling, waiting for his reaction. But Blaine looked more confused than anything. "Wait, I don't get it. You don't seem that sad at all."

Kurt shrugged, trying to find the words. It was something he had thought a lot about himself, considering that on said silent plane ride, Kurt had had so much trouble from keeping the smile off his face even though everybody else looked so upset. But it was very simple to figure out in the end. All he had to do was look at the memories he had when he thought of New York. "It was still amazing. I mean, I flew in a plane for the first time in my life, I had breakfast at Tiffany's, I sang on a Broadway stage…"

Even in the overwhelming excitement, Kurt couldn't miss the way Blaine was staring at him, tilting his head to the side a little as he examined Kurt like he was the most fascinating person he had ever met. Slightly overwhelmed by the scrutiny, Kurt grabbed his coffee cup and took a sip, possibly at the worst moment ever.

"I love you."

_Don't choke, _was his immediate reaction as Kurt stared at Blaine who was looking supremely unconcerned for what he had just admitted. Only the slight flicker in his eyes and a smile that was slightly less confident than usual gave away the fact that Blaine was probably freaking out internally.

Because it wasn't like they were a couple saying they loved each other for the first time or anything like that. In fact, up until a few seconds ago, Kurt had had _no idea _that Blaine even thought of him as more than a friend. And now to find out that Blaine _loved _him…

Of course Kurt had been crazy about Blaine almost since day one and in love with him since Christmas. But after the Valentines Day fiasco, Kurt had given up on Blaine ever returning his feelings and wanted to make it very clear to Blaine that there was no pressure on him to reciprocate. So he had made the decision in the time coming up to Regionals to go to Blaine, sit him down and tell him exactly that. The conversation had been brief - Kurt had said what he needed to say and then left, not wanting to see what Blaine's reaction was. After all, he was expecting relief and he really didn't want to see how happy Blaine was that he didn't have to reciprocate the feelings Kurt had.

And then Regionals had happened and Kurt had been all set for Blaine to dominate the stage until that amazing twist where Blaine had somehow wrangled a duet for himself and Kurt to sing. And _god _did Kurt want to ask why Blaine had chosen him, but he was still hesitant about putting the pressure on. So he simply let it lie, sang the duet and ignored the way Blaine was looking at him while they sang. Blaine was a performer after all, he knew how to get into character.

Transferring back to McKinley was much easier than Kurt had thought. Yes, he missed Blaine like crazy but at least now he didn't have to see the boy every single day and know that Blaine didn't feel the same. They still met up for coffee frequently, although that had gotten less frequent as Kurt had prepared for Nationals, but the pressure seemed to be off. They could just be friends.

But now Kurt was back from New York, staring across the table at his friend who had just told him he loved him. And there was no way that was just a 'I love you as a friend' kind of statement, especially not with that little smile Blaine had just given him, asking a million questions with his eyes that Kurt now had to answer.

_What do I do now?_

And there was only one answer.

"I love you too," he said, probably too rushed, too fast, too unsure but _true. _And yes, this was probably going to change everything but maybe Kurt wanted it to change. Maybe it was time for it to change.

Blaine's expression barely changed, still giving the same old smile, but his eyes flickered with so much emotion that Kurt nearly had to shut his own eyes, overwhelmed by it all. _How long has he felt this way?_

And then Kurt realized he could just _ask_ all of these questions.

"Why?"

Somehow, Blaine understood all of the meanings behind it. "I wanted to tell you, Kurt. But when you came to me before Regionals and made it clear that I didn't have to reciprocate, I figured coming back to you a few days later and saying I did like you would make it seem like I was just trying to feel the same out of guilt. And at first I thought that might be the case but… Kurt, it was watching you do _Blackbird _that did it."

"That long?" Kurt whispered. He put the coffee cup back on the table and reached out to grab Blaine's hands, needing something to anchor him to the moment.

Blaine nodded, staring down at their clasped hands for a few seconds before looking back up. "That long. I think I've only just figured out that it's love but I've definitely been feeling something for you all of this time. When you were talking about Prom and saying you didn't have a date and all you wanted was a real date, you have no idea how hard it was for me to not say anything, to not just ask you there and then to be my date. But it was still too early and it's probably still too early now and -"

And Kurt was just a little bit sick of hearing Blaine talk about second guessing himself, so he did the best thing he could for both of them - leaning across the table and softly brushing his lips against Blaine's. And if _that _was too early, well, screw it. Kurt had spent far too long trying to convince himself that this moment would never come and it was actually here. Like hell he was going to sit back and play it safe. Plus, Blaine was kind of an _amazing _kisser and Kurt wanted as much of this as he could get.

They finally broke apart, aware of where they were. But somehow in the hustle of the coffee shop, nobody had spared a glance for the two of them. Kurt's theory was that they had started blending into the chairs by the sheer amount of times they came here. "That was…" Blaine trailed off.

"That _was_," Kurt said, smiling at him. "And no, it wasn't too early. I'm going to say it was just _perfect."_

There was a cough from behind Blaine and Kurt glanced up, freezing when he saw Sam and Mercedes standing there. Blaine caught his line of sight and turned around to join in with the awkward silence. "Uh, hi?" Kurt finally ventured.

"When were you going to tell me about this?" Mercedes put a hand on her hip and Kurt was slightly thrown by the gesture before realizing what was wrong with it and beginning to smile. "What?"

"When were you going to tell me about _this_?" Kurt asked in response, gesturing to her hand which was linked with Sam's. "At least my 'this' only happened a few minutes ago, this 'this' looks like it's been going on for some time."

Mercedes sighed. "Since Prom," she admitted. "Okay, how about we forget this ever happened and I'll call you tonight and we'll share our gossip, okay?"

Kurt nodded and the two turned away guiltily. Kurt rolled his eyes before turning his attention back to Blaine, realizing they were still holding hands across the table. "Well, I do believe you were going to tell me about your summer plans? Something about Six Flags?" He squeezed Blaine's hands again, trying to get the unspoken message across. _We'll talk about this later. Right now, I just want to enjoy being with you._

Blaine got it. "Okay, so here are the nominees for my setlist…"

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Blaine, I think turtles haven gotten together faster than that!"**_

_**"Not true!"**_

_***sigh* "Blaine. Look at the tank in the corner. Those turtles are Molly and Fred, some of Brittany's pets. She got them for me when I started here. They've been a couple for going on 2 months."**_


	182. Sneaky

**So I've been on Tumblr as usual, reblogging Chris's tweets because he's been tweeting people a lot lately and for some reason they never come up on my feed so I have to rely on Tumblr to show me. And I keep finding out more and more things about him and I'm convinced that he is just about perfect and then I realize... how am I ever going to find a guy for myself if I can't stop thinking about this one? Is anybody else concerned about this, that their 'fangirl' crushes on Chris or Darren or other celebrities will one day impact their own relationship and love life? **

**From **_**wynnie the pooh: Rachel and Kurt have a conversation about how Blaine has changed Kurt's life "For Good" and Rachel sneakily tells Blaine all...**_

**I was SO thinking this as I watched it. Even though it looks like he's singing to Rachel, I honestly believe half of the song is about Blaine for Kurt. **

**It works best if they're not a couple yet.**

* * *

Sneaky

Rachel knew she was many things. Talented was a given, as well as a diva. She was known to be bossy, insecure, sometimes unable to keep her nose out of things that didn't involve her, jealous and unpopular. She accepted herself for who she was, knowing that many people saw the bad before they saw the good.

But one thing that Rachel Berry _knew _she was, was perceptive. And watching Kurt sing his lines of _For Good, _gazing wistfully across the stage, she knew what was going through his mind. So when the final notes had run out, when they had hugged and she had declared her love for the stage, Rachel turned the conversation around.

"You were thinking about Blaine, weren't you?"

And there was another thing that Rachel certainly was; blunt. Kurt immediately blushed, shaking his head, but Rachel pressed forward. "I know that look, Kurt. That's how I was looking at Finn when he sang songs to Quinn or slow danced with her at Prom. You're in love."

"Yes." It was barely more than a whisper, but it was there.

"How long?"

Kurt sighed, sitting on the edge of the stage. "It feels like forever now. At least since Christmas."

Rachel joined him, touching his arm gently. "Why haven't you told him?"

"Because he's not interested."

As Kurt stared out over the seats, Rachel frowned incredulously. Every time she had seen the two boys interact, it had been clear as day to her that Blaine certainly _was _interested in Kurt. But something must have happened to make Kurt believe that Blaine wasn't, and she wanted to know what. "Why do you think that?"

Kurt sighed. "When all that Valentines Day stuff went down, I basically admitted my feelings, and he did nothing with them. We did a heartbreaking duet together at Regionals because he said my voice was magical. He came to Prom with me so he could stand up to the bullies he had let rule him for so long - even if they were different ones. None of that was because he's interested."

Rachel shook her head, grabbing Kurt's hand. "How do you know if you haven't asked him?"

"Because he's Blaine Anderson. Lead soloist for the Dalton Academy Warblers. Always in control, always so _perfect_..." Kurt brushed a hand through his hair in frustration. "How could someone like me stand a chance with him?" Rachel began to interject, but Kurt overrode her. "But you know what? It doesn't matter." He turned to face her, a smile appearing on his face. "Yes, I sung that song about Blaine. But I didn't sing it about Blaine as the boyfriend I want. I sung it about Blaine, the friend who has been there for me and helped me through so much. We've had our ups and downs, just like all friendships, but he's been my rock this whole time. I love him, but if I can only ever be his friend then I'll happily take that."

The smile on his face was so genuine that Rachel reached out for another hug. "You're a braver person than I am, Kurt."

Kurt pulled away, smiling ruefully. "It comes with the title. Only gay kid who's out of the closet, you have to be." He stood, brushing imaginary dirt off his pants. "But enough of that. We need to get back before Mr. Schue notices we're gone."

Rachel jumped to her feet, heading across the stage to grab her jacket. As she picked it up, she saw her phone lying on top of it and suddenly remembered a very important fact that she should have thought of quite some time ago.

When Kurt had pulled her up onto the stage, she had known what was coming next; of course neither of them would pass up an opportunity to sing a _Wicked _song on this stage. So, as she had taken off her jacket, she had quickly grabbed her phone and set an audio recording going. With a bit of editing, she could make the sound relatively clear and hopefully run the number by Mr. Schue next year so he might consider more _Wicked _numbers for their repertoire.

But not only had the phone picked up their performance, it had picked up their conversation afterwards. The conversation that was entirely dedicated to Kurt revealing his love for Blaine.

"Rachel!"

Hitting the stop button on the recording, Rachel hovered over the file for a second before deciding that yes, it was worth it. As she turned towards Kurt who was already halfway down the aisle, she pulled up her emails and attached the file quickly, with the subject line _For your consideration. _Finding Blaine's name in her contacts, she hit _send. _

So yes, Kurt may hate her later. But it would blow over - the drama between them always did - and right now the main priority was to make sure that he was happy. Kurt deserved it, after all.

* * *

The buzzing of his phone jolted Blaine out of sleep. He frowned, rubbing his eyes and looking over his bed which was strewn with textbooks and various class notes. Somehow, amidst his study session, Blaine had fallen asleep. _No surprise there, _he thought to himself as he grabbed his phone.

A smile spread across his face as he saw a message from Kurt. He had gotten a few texts already, mainly picture messages of all the amazing things Kurt was seeing, and this one was no exception. A photo of the outside of the _Wicked _theater, captioned _'Guess who just sang on this stage! - Kurt'_

Blaine shook his head in amazement, quickly typing out a reply.

_Beyond jealous! Glad you're having fun :) - Blaine_

He then turned his attention to the next message and frowned. _An email from Rachel? _The subject line was simple: _For your consideration. _

Deciding it was at least worth checking out, Blaine opened the email to find an audio file. Clicking on it and turning his volume on, Blaine heard the sound of Kurt's voice, talking to Rachel.

"_Sing."_

"_But there's no orchestra."_

"_Make one, in your mind."_

As Rachel began to sing the opening lines of _For Good, _Blaine once again marveled at the girl's talent as she effortlessly hit all of the notes. The quality was slightly rough, but Blaine could still make out every word. And then his jaw dropped as _Kurt _began to sing Glenda's lines, just as effortlessly and _beautifully _as Rachel had. _He's incredible..._

The entire duet was amazing, and Blaine could finally understand why Kurt had decided to return to McKinley. His voice shone next to Rachel's, and as the final lines rang out, Blaine had tears in his eyes at the sheer beauty of what the two had just created.

He was about to close the file when the sound of voices could be heard - something about Rachel belonging in New York. Blaine understood the pull as well. His family had gone to New York two years ago, and Blaine had fallen in love straight away, knowing this was where he needed to be for college.

Then, Rachel's voice shot through the speakers again. _"You were thinking about Blaine, weren't you?"_

Blaine fell off the bed. As he picked himself up, he could hear Rachel talking about the expression on Kurt's face as he sung - something Blaine would have loved to have seen - and how it was obvious.

And then, so quiet that he almost couldn't hear it. _"Yes."_

It took all of Blaine's restraint not to fall off the bed again. He focused his full attention on the audio clip, his jaw dropping again when Kurt admitted he had been in love with him since Christmas. But when Kurt started talking about Valentines Day, Blaine felt the lump form in his throat.

Yes, he knew he had screwed up on Valentines Day. But he had never realized he had hurt Kurt so _badly_, and made Kurt believe that Blaine wasn't interested. Because Blaine _was _interested. Very interested, in fact.

But he pushed all that aside in favor of listening to Kurt and trying not to tear up at just how little Kurt seemed to think of himself to think that Blaine would never consider him. And then Kurt's voice rose and Blaine could almost hear him smiling.

"_...I sung it about Blaine, the friend who has been there for me and helped me through so much..."_

Blaine smiled, even as a tear slipped down his cheek. He had never realized his friendship was so important to Kurt and needed to make sure that Kurt knew that Blaine felt the same. Kurt's friendship was what kept him strong, no matter what was happening.

"_...I love him, but if I can only ever be his friend then I'll happily take that."_

Kurt's voice was wistful, but Blaine knew he wasn't unhappy. He truly meant the words he was saying, and it only made Blaine fall in love with him more.

Well, there were still three days until Kurt arrived back from New York. Plenty of time for Blaine to plan. But first...

Hitting _reply_, Blaine tapped out a message, before tossing his phone aside and falling back on his bed. _Okay, time to think._

* * *

As Brittany began to sing a few lines of their new song, Rachel's phone buzzed. Subtly, she pulled it out and opened the message.

_Consider it considered - Blaine_

Rachel smiled, glancing across at Kurt who was humming along softly. Perhaps things were going to work out for at least one person romantically from all of this.

* * *

Kurt woke suddenly, not sure where he was. It took a few moments of blinking and staring blearily around his room for it to kick in. _Right, just got back from New York... didn't make it into the top ten..._

Falling back into his pillows, Kurt sighed. The club still weren't talking, with the exception of a few texts between neutral parties such as himself and Mercedes. Something had changed with his friend and Kurt was currently trying to get it out of her without pushing her away as well.

As if his phone - or his friend - was reading his mind, his phone buzzed. Kurt slid it open, expecting to see a text from Mercedes. Instead, he found himself staring at Blaine's name.

_Hey, how are you feeling? Hope you're not too down about not making it through - you guys were still amazing! - Blaine_

Kurt couldn't help the smile that crossed his face as he replied.

_How did you know? - Kurt_

The reply was almost instantaneous.

_Internet is a wonderful thing ;) - Blaine_

Sitting up, Kurt kicked his feet out of bed and stretched. He and Blaine hadn't had a proper text conversation - let alone any kind of conversation to be honest - for some time, and it was nice to just chat to his friend.

_I concur. Well, I guess I'm bummed that we didn't get through, but I still had an amazing time and our songs were awesome. There's always next year :) - Kurt_

As Kurt dressed for the day, his phone buzzed again. There had been a significant gap between texts, and Kurt was expecting something lengthy. Instead, there were only a few words on the screen.

_Glad you're staying positive. Plans for today? - Blaine_

Kurt hadn't made any plans, and told Blaine as such. He was still tired, hadn't seen his dad in awhile and just wanted to hang out with his family. But as he made his way downstairs, Kurt realized that wasn't exactly a possibility. Carole had already left for work and Finn was gulping down breakfast, muttering something about going over to Rachel's house before leaving the table hurriedly. As Kurt sat down, Burt came in, dressed in his overalls.

"Emergency down at the shop. Sorry, kid. You'll be alright alone?"

Kurt nodded, pouring himself a bowl of cereal and trying to hide his disappointment. He felt his pocket buzz but waited for his dad to leave before reading the text.

_Any chance you'd come to Dalton? The guys do miss you, and we want to congratulate you on your performance at Nationals - Blaine_

Kurt suddenly realized how long it had been since he'd seen the other Warblers. He and Blaine had gotten coffee before he had left, but keeping in touch with an entire show choir of boys who lived in another town had been quite difficult. So of course Kurt had to go.

_I'd love to. Be there in a little while :) - Kurt_

* * *

"KURT!"

Kurt laughed in delight as he entered the choir room, seeing all of the Warblers sitting waiting for him. Nick and Jeff were the first to reach him, hugging him roughly as the rest of the group piled on. "Okay, let me breathe, let me breathe!"

As the group parted, Blaine stepped through and Kurt's smile grew wider. "Hi," he said simply, pulling Kurt in for a hug that lasted slightly longer than the others.

"Hi there," Kurt murmured quietly to him before pulling away and turning to the other Warblers. "So, I gather you've all seen our performances?"

Everybody began to talk at once until Wes grabbed his gavel and rapped it on the coffee table. "Yes, we did," he said unnecessarily in the silence that followed. "Would you like to hear our opinions?"

Kurt rolled his eyes lightly. "I'm sure I'll hear them anyway," he murmured to Blaine who chuckled.

"Your song writing was phenomenal, we have to say," David chipped in, "and the choreography was a lot better than what you usually bring. No offense."

Kurt nodded, turning to Wes. "What he said, pretty much. I'd like to know why one of the girls walked in front of your dueting couple instead of behind, something I'm fairly sure lost you points."

"Hold on," Nick interjected. "Are we all ignoring the elephant in the room? What about the two that kissed?"

Murmurs filled the room again and Kurt laughed softly. "Yes, we know. Rachel and Finn got thoroughly chewed out for it, don't worry. In their defense, their breakup lasted about six months this time."

Blaine laughed, knowing the history of the New Directions club. "Anyway, apart from that I feel like we did well. It was an amazing experience and I just hope we make it there next year, and I hope we're competing against you guys."

The rest of the Warblers began to talk, and Kurt could see the Council already putting their heads together - no doubt talking setlists. Rolling his eyes again, Kurt glanced around the room and took in the feelings of nostalgia from being back with the Warblers again. Of course he was better off at McKinley, but there had been something about these boys that would always stay with him.

"Hey, can we talk?"

Kurt turned to Blaine who was still standing next to him. Something in his expression had changed and he was looking slightly more serious. "Sure," Kurt replied, wondering what was going on, especially as Blaine led him out of the choir room and down to the student commons where they had sung _Baby, It's Cold Outside. It seems like forever ago now, _Kurt thought to himself, sitting down on one of the couches next to Blaine. "So, what's up?"

Blaine had pulled out his phone and was flipping it lightly in his hands. "Rachel sent me some audio - an impromptu performance you guys did in New York."

"Which one? We did a few." Kurt smiled, remembering their mashup as they danced through the streets... another thing that felt like it had happened in another life.

"This one was just you and Rachel and appears to be a little... shall we say, _illegal._"

Kurt's hands flew to his mouth. "She sent you _For Good?_"

Blaine nodded and Kurt buried his head in his hands. "I can't believe she did that, I was so close to crying that whole time from the sheer _unreality _of being on the _Wicked _stage so my voice probably sounded terrible -"

"Kurt. Stop." Kurt lifted his head to see Blaine staring at him in disbelief. "You sounded _incredible."_

Kurt ducked his head again, this time to hide a blush. "Oh. Well, thank you."

There was a moment of silence and Kurt glanced up at Blaine to see his friend deep in thought. A second later, Blaine snapped back out of it, looking at him with a smile. "Yeah, I listened to all nine minutes of it. It was... enlightening."

And now Blaine was staring at him as if waiting for something. Kurt frowned as he realized what Blaine had said. "Nine minutes? The song only went for just under four..."

"I know."

"So what were you... _oh my god."_ Kurt froze, staring at Blaine. "No."

Blaine nodded. Kurt was immediately stumbling to his feet, one hand pressed against his mouth. "You weren't meant to hear that, you weren't meant to _know_..."

"Woah, Kurt! Stop, it's okay!" Blaine grabbed his arms, pulling him back down to the couch. "I should have said that better, I'm sorry. Just ... listen to me, please?"

Kurt could feel himself shaking, but forced himself to nod. Blaine leant back, biting his lip and Kurt knew he was looking for words to say. _This wasn't meant to happen, I worked so hard not to tell him, now I'm going to lose his friendship and that's what I've been clinging to for so long now..._

"Why didn't you tell me?"

Kurt shook his head. "You heard it, Blaine. You know why."

"You said to Rachel that you didn't stand a chance with me. I disagree." Blaine hesitated for a second before placing his hand over Kurt's. "You're Kurt Hummel. The best countertenor I've heard in ... well, _ever_. You're always true to yourself, no matter what the cost. So the real question is, how could someone like me ever stand a chance with _you_?"

Kurt couldn't breathe. He knew Blaine was holding his hand, but he couldn't feel it. "You.. you want to be with me?" he asked when his lungs finally started working again.

Blaine gave a strangled laugh. "Kurt, I got it all wrong on Valentines Day, and I regret that _so _much. But I never wanted to give you the idea that I wasn't interested. Because I really am. I kind of _love _you, Kurt."

Now he really couldn't breathe. Reminding himself that breathing was vital for staying alive and he really _really _didn't want to die right now, Kurt managed to take a deep breath, still staring at Blaine. "Why didn't _you _tell me?"

"Because I don't know how to work relationships. And then you went to McKinley and I figured you wouldn't want a long distance relationship and ... and like you said, it was your friendship that was important. More important than anything."

Blaine finished his sentence in a rush, staring down at their linked hands. Kurt gave him a moment, knowing the feeling. "Blaine, look at me?"

And as Blaine looked up, Kurt leant in and kissed him. The second their lips made contact, Kurt knew. He knew Blaine had been worth waiting for, worth giving his entire heart to. Blaine was worth fighting for, and Blaine was worth keeping forever.

They both pulled away from the kiss, staring at each other. Kurt knew he looked shocked, but the smile on his face said it all. "Um... won't the other Warblers be wondering where we are?" He hated to say it, but the last thing he wanted was for a nosy Warbler (read: Cameron) to walk in and catch them in their ... private moment.

Blaine shook his head. "They all knew I was telling you today, pretty sure. Besides, who cares about them? After all, we have a lot of lost time to make up for."

As Blaine kissed him again, Kurt allowed himself to smile. _Oh, I don't think we'll have any trouble making up for it, somehow. _

_And note to self; kill Rachel. Then thank her._

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"I love you too." *kliss***_

_***Warblers pop out of nowhere***_

_**"SWEET! You all owe me $20 now!"**_

_**"Hey, what're we supposed to bet about now?"**_

_**"I propose we bet about the next point in their relationship! 50 that he transfers to McKinley!"**_

_**"30 that they adopt a pet duck and move to NYC to live in a condominium overlooking Time Square! With an instant juicer!"**_

_**Trent always WAS the odd one...**_


	183. Association

**Today is a very important and special day for all of us _Kiss _readers but especially for me.**

**Today my baby is six months old. **

**That's right, I started posting this story six months ago today. You guys have been getting a chapter a day of Klaine for six months now. Six months. I can't stop saying six months because _six months. _I can't believe it. Some days it feels like I just started about a month ago, other days I can't remember life before I was posting a chapter every day. It's amazing and so very crazy.**

**From **_**GleeWicked (Anonymous): Kurt, Blaine, Wes and David are doing a word association game and they start saying people's name. someone says 'Blaine' as a word and Kurt says 'boyfriend' or 'kiss' in response without really thinking about it.**_

* * *

Association

"How on earth are you failing English?"

Wes paused his pacing long enough to throw Blaine a frantic look. "I thought I was doing fine! Well, maybe not _fine_," he amended when David snorted. "But C's were keeping me on a pass and then I completely flunked the last exam and now I'm down to a D average and if I don't ace this next assessment, I'll be off the council!"

Blaine shook his head, trying not to look too amused. "Well, I guess you'll have to study, won't you?"

"That's the thing, I can't!" Wes threw up his hands and fell backwards, thankfully landing on David's computer chair in the process. "Well, I mean, I can study for the exam. But part of it is this weird 'whole class participation' thing where we do word association and throw words around to test our knowledge of the language and I can't do that!"

"Why not?"

Wes sighed. "I just choke up. I can't think of anything, or I think of a word and then I decide it isn't right when it actually _was _and I over think -"

"You also tend to ramble," David chipped in helpfully, ignoring the glare that came his way as a result. "Look, why don't we help you with it?"

"Help with what?"

Kurt wandered through the door, texting someone madly. "We need to help Wes out so he doesn't flunk English," Blaine explained.

That caught Kurt's attention. "Wes, you're flunking _English_?" he said in disbelief, pocketing the phone and staring at Wes in shock. "Why didn't you tell me, I'm in your class! And I'm on straight B's, I could have helped you out."

Blaine and David both turned in unison to look at Wes who at least had the grace to look sheepish. "I thought you were struggling to get used to the class load… I didn't think to ask."

"English doesn't really change all that much from school to school, it's all down to the assigned books and, contrary to popular belief, I actually _like _Shakespeare. So that gives me an advantage straight away." Kurt plopped down on the bed next to Blaine who considered shuffling over to give Kurt more room then changed his mind - there was noproblem with a little proximity after all. "Where are you struggling?"

"The word association thing."

Kurt nodded. "Okay, I see where David was headed. Let's run through it a few times and get you used to it. Remember, all you need to do is say the first word that comes to mind. You might get it wrong a few times but the more you think about it, the worse it's going to end up for you." Slipping off the bed, Kurt settled himself on the floor and gestured for the others to join him so they made a square of sorts with Wes across from Kurt. "Okay, so we'll go around in a circle. David, you start, we'll go around clockwise so Wes can get an idea before it's his turn."

"Any word?" David asked.

Kurt shrugged. "Start simple. It'll get weird pretty quick but we can try to keep it on some kind of normal plane for the first while."

David thought for a second, looking around the room until his eye caught on the mirror. "Glass," he said.

"Cup," Kurt immediately responded, turning to Blaine.

Remembering the rules - because Blaine had never actually done anything like this - Blaine did his best not to think too much into it. "Water," he said, shrugging a little before smiling when Kurt nodded his approval.

Wes frowned. "Ocean?" Kurt nodded again and the relief was tangible on the Head Warbler's face. Blaine had to hide a smirk at how much this was stressing Wes out before realizing he had been exactly the same before his French midterm. _If only Kurt had been around last year… _

"Beach," David said happily and Blaine grinned as well. David's beach house was the best Blaine had ever seen and he was fully expecting an invitation in the summer to spend long lazy days out on the beach, doing absolutely nothing. Without really meaning to, Blaine made a note to ask David whether Kurt could join them.

Kurt was smiling as well. "Holidays."

And that was definitely a pleasant thought - only a few more months and they would be out for _three _months of relaxation. Speaking of which… "Road trip," Blaine offered up, winking at Wes who shook his head. Last summer, all of the Warblers had gotten together, hired a minibus and travelled for a few days down the coast. It had easily been one of Blaine's best summers ever and he fully intended to find out who was available to do the same thing in the coming summer, especially now that Kurt was one of them. Something about the boy just seemed to tell Blaine that it would be a whole lot more interesting if he came.

Wes looked relieved - clearly his next word was easy. "Warblers," he said confidently, still looking at Kurt for confirmation which was given. Apparently Wes was much more at ease about it and Blaine only hoped this confidence would last in the classroom.

"Blaine," David said suddenly and Blaine glanced over, a question already on his lips before he realized that David was still playing the game. He rolled his eyes before turning to Kurt to see what he would say in response to that, maybe just a _little _bit more curious about this one than about the others.

"Hot."

And by the time Blaine had actually comprehended the word, Kurt was gone.

"Did he just…" David turned to Wes who looked shocked. "He just called Blaine hot?"

"I think so." Wes turned to Blaine, one eyebrow raised. "Blaine, what do you know about this?"

Blaine just shook his head. "Maybe it was a mistake?" he offered, because it was probably a really bad idea to get his hopes up right now, especially since he had just realized that Kurt thinking he was hot was actually a really _good _thing.

"I doubt it," David said. "Remember, this is about saying the first thing that comes to mind and apparently the first thing that Kurt thinks about when he sees Blaine is that he's hot." And there was the smirk, reflected on both of their faces. "What do you think about that, huh?"

Blaine sighed. "I think that's between me and Kurt… crap. I should probably have gone after him already." Without waiting for any comments - and he was _sure _that, given the opportunity, David would have made a particularly lewd innuendo - Blaine was heading out of the room and down the hall to Kurt's room, hoping the boy was there.

He wasn't. But his car keys were still on his desk, at least telling Blaine that Kurt was still at Dalton. So Blaine set off, slowly working his way through Kurt's favourite hangouts at Dalton and allowing his mind to whir as he did. _So, if Kurt said that off the top of his head, he thinks I'm hot. And if he had just said it and stuck around, well, that would have been ignorable. But this… he ran. And if he ran, it means he has something to hide which means there's something more to him thinking I'm hot than just that. There's something behind it._

_Kurt likes me._

Blaine actually froze mid-step as that realization hit him, mainly because it was quickly followed by another telling him that he _wanted _Kurt to like him. Because maybe he liked Kurt back.

And it was probably a good thing that Blaine had chosen that particular patch of hallway to have his 'moment' on because otherwise he would have missed the flash of movement in the choir room to his left. The flash of movement that was wearing outrageously tight skinny jeans.

"Kurt?" Blaine said quietly, pushing the door open fully and inadvertently stepping right into Kurt's path where he had clearly been pacing. His hair was messed up and Blaine could tell he had been tugging at it, one of Kurt's tells when he was upset. "What's wrong?"

Kurt turned to stare at him, his eyes almost wild. "What's wrong? What do you think is wrong?"

"I don't know," Blaine said carefully, taking a step towards Kurt. "Everything seems _right _to me." And that was very true - it felt like a weight had been lifted from Blaine that he hadn't known he was carrying, that he was free to live and love and tell Kurt how he felt. Which was probably a priority. "So, you think I'm hot."

He had hoped that, put gently enough, it could lead into a conversation. Instead, Kurt groaned loudly and flopped onto one of the couches, burying his head in the armrest. "I know, I know," came out, muffled into the leather. "It's mortifying enough, just take your moment, bolster your ego and go."

Frowning, Blaine crossed the room and knelt in front of Kurt. "What do you mean?"

"I know you don't feel the same and this is pretty much hilarious right now. Yes, I think you're hot. No, I don't want to talk about what that means. Let's just let it go."

And, okay, Kurt's voice was just a bit too heartbroken for Blaine to handle. As gently as possible, Blaine reached under Kurt's chin and lifted it so he had to look up. "Hey," he said quietly. "Do you think I'd ever follow you just to make fun of you?" Kurt blinked at him, clearly not sure what to say and Blaine sighed. "I know you're used to being rejected or laughed at when a guy finds out you think he's attractive or you're interested, but I'm not like that. For one, I actually play for your team. But even if I didn't, I would _never _treat you that way."

"I know." Kurt rolled his eyes and Blaine could tell it was at himself. "Sorry about all that. Can we just forget all that happened?"

"No."

Kurt frowned. "I don't see why we need to talk about it, Blaine."

"Do you like me?"

For close to half a minute, there was absolute silence. Blaine simply stared at Kurt, waiting, willing him with his eyes to just tell the truth. And something must have worked because Kurt finally nodded, dropping his eyes. Blaine stayed silent, waiting. "Yes," Kurt murmured. "And now that that's out of the way -"

"We can do this?" Blaine interrupted, waiting until Kurt looked up again in confusion before resting one palm against his cheek softly and leaning in to kiss him. And where that idea had come from, Blaine couldn't honestly say, but it was probably one of the better ones he'd ever had, even if Kurt hadn't actually started kissing him back yet. Except… maybe that meant something, and Blaine pulled away to stare at Kurt in concern who looked dazed. "I'm sorry, was that too forward? I'm so sorry, I should have asked -"

"Shut up and kiss me again."

Blaine froze in shock before a smirk curved across his face. "Kurt _Hummel_!" he teased. "Do you kiss with that mouth?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "I don't know. You tell me."

And _yes_, Kurt _did _kiss with that mouth. If you had asked Blaine at that moment, he wouldn't have been able to tell you about the weather outside, the color of his blazer or his own middle name, but he could tell you exactly how Kurt's lips felt against his.

As they broke apart, Blaine grabbed Kurt's waist and pulled him closer, eliciting a squeak from the other boy. "And if you hadn't run out, do you know what the next word would have been in our little game there?"

Kurt shook his head, his eyes wide and slightly glazed over. Blaine smirked and leaned in so his lips were brushing against Kurt's ear, whispering the single word and delighting in the shiver that resulted from it.

"_Kurt."_

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Kurt, I messed up on Valentines Day."**_

_**"Really? How so?"**_

_***sigh* "I sang to a closeted mop in a GAP store, not because I liked HIM, but because I fell in love with his silky locks."**_

_**"Blaine. Really? Never do that again or I will personally see to it that your shampoo bottle *accidentally* gets switched out with orange hair dye."**_


	184. Overheard

**Sarah is so tired. **

**From **_**Queenoftheworld98: A Very Glee Christmas, when Mr. Schue asks Kurt if Blaine is someone special and Kurt reveals that he's in love with Blaine, Blaine overhears the entire conversation?**_

**Okay, when this story came up to join my queue, I was completely confused. I _swore _I had already posted this chapter ages ago. I went on Tumblr and asked and a lot of people said yes, they'd already read it. But I skimmed _Kiss_, others skimmed it and we cannot find the chapter. This chapter hasn't been published in this story and I am so completely confused right now. If I messed up and this has been written in this story already, _please _let me know ASAP and I'll switch this chapter for another one. But you have to actually prove to me that it was in this story, okay? Don't just say you've read it, send me a chapter number or a link. **

* * *

Overheard

"I think you're ready."

Kurt's voice had grown suddenly breathy, a quality Blaine had never quite heard from his friend before. As his mind immediately jumped to conclusions, Blaine began to stand. "Well, for the record," he said, pulling himself to his feet, "You are _much _better than that girl's gonna be."

And it was absolutely true. Blaine had been to rehearsal just yesterday and the girl, while a good singer, certainly could take a few tips from Kurt on how to actually _perform_. Once again ignoring the little voice in his head that tried to tell him exactly _why _Kurt was a good performer, Blaine started leaving the room and nodding to the man who walked past him. He heard Kurt's delighted comment as he left and smiled, realizing the man must be Kurt's old Glee teacher. _Wonder what he's doing here..._

Just as the door was about to shut behind him, Blaine suddenly remembered he had left his boom box back in the room. Stopping the door with his foot, Blaine turned to walk back in before pausing as snatches of conversation drifted through the door.

"Someone special?"

Blaine frowned. _Wait, are they talking about me? _He quickly realized he shouldn't be eavesdropping and decided he could get his music player later. But just as Blaine was pulling his foot out of the door, Kurt's voice wafted through. "No, just a friend. But on the upside, I'm in love with him and he's actually gay. I call that progress."

_Woah. What?_

Kurt continued to talk, something about how he was doing at Dalton, but Blaine had completely lost his concentration. Allowing the door to close, Blaine leaned against the wall and took a deep breath. _Okay, Blaine. Process this calmly and ration - Kurt's in __love__with you!_

Blaine sighed, burying his head in his hands. It wasn't that it was a _bad_ thing that Kurt had feelings for him, not at all. But Blaine wasn't sure Kurt was ready for a relationship. He had been through so much drama at his old school and Blaine knew he was still healing from that. So to enter into a relationship now might be the last thing that would help Kurt recover.

But, at the same time, his selfish side was already yelling at him. _You both like each other! Just get in there and say something before your noble side can start to repress those feelings and make you do something stupid like go after someone 'experienced'!_

Before Blaine could make a decision, the door opened again. Hastily standing, Blaine tried to think of an excuse before turning slowly to face the man who had walked into the room a few minutes earlier. "Um... hi?"

Blaine breathed a sigh of relief. "Hi there. You must be Kurt's old teacher. I'm Blaine."

The main gave him a strange look. "Yeah. Will Schuester. Not to be rude or anything... but have you been standing out here the whole time?"

_Crap_.

"I know how it looks," Blaine began immediately, "but I wasn't eavesdropping or ... I mean, I guess I ended up overhearing but that wasn't my _intention_..."

Sighing, he gave up and ran a hand through his hair. To his surprise, the man chuckled. "It's alright, Blaine. I'm not going to get mad at you or anything. I've seen much worse from my Glee club." Will stopped and scrutinized him. "I'm guessing you didn't know that Kurt was interested before now?"

Blaine shook his head. "I mean, I had hoped, but.."

"Well, now you know. Better get in there and talk to him right?"

Will moved to walk away but Blaine stopped him. "Hold on a second. You know Kurt pretty well, right?" Will nodded. "Well, will he... I mean, do you think he's ready for a relationship?"

Will paused and thought for a moment before sighing. "Blaine, that's a call that only Kurt can make. You and I both know his last little while at McKinley wasn't great, and I get the feeling you know more than I'll ever find out." Blaine shuffled a little, looking down at his feet. "There's no problem with that. I wasn't exactly there for Kurt when I should have been so I'm glad he had someone. But from what I've seen of Kurt over the past year and a bit of having him in my club, he's a strong guy. You know that." Blaine nodded thoughtfully. "Just because someone's had something happen to them doesn't make them incapable of ever experiencing happiness again. But if you really want to know, just ask Kurt. I'm sure you'll be able to tell."

"Thank you, sir. I - I think I will."

Will placed a hand on his shoulder gently. "Kurt's a great guy, and he talked about you a lot before he even came here. Just treat him right, that's all we ask of you."

Blaine nodded, knowing the message came from all of McKinley. Will gave him another smile before leaving. Blaine watched him walk out before taking a deep breath and walking back through the door. Glancing over at the desk, he saw Kurt flipping back through his textbook as he resumed his study.

As he picked up his boom box, the noise alerted Kurt to his presence. "Oh, Blaine. Didn't hear you come back in."

Blaine smiled. "Just forgot this," he said, lifting the box a bit higher, Kurt nodding. He paused for a second before putting it back down and walking over to the desk. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Kurt put down his pen and looked up at him.

Blaine began to speak, then changed his mind. Gesturing for Kurt to follow, he sat back down on the couch they had finished their performance on not five minutes ago. "How are you going with the Karofsky stuff?"

The first few times Blaine had mentioned the antagonizer's name, Kurt had flinched. Now, he barely batted an eyelid. "I'm actually doing pretty good. I mean, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alleyway or anything, but I know he doesn't have power over me. What I said to him that day, although badly put, was true. He is just a scared boy." Kurt shrugged. "I can't do anything for him, but I'd say I've moved on to a better chapter of my life." The smile that crossed Blaine's face was nothing short of ecstatic, and Kurt seemed to pick up on it too. "I - I guess that's a good thing?"

"So... theoretically, that would mean you're ready to start looking at other guys? I mean," Blaine waved a hand dismissively, "there's a few of us out of the closet here. Jeff. Nick. Richard." He paused for a second. "_Me._"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, but Blaine noticed the slight flush to his cheeks at the last word. "Last time I checked, Nick and Jeff weren't into threesomes -"

"You _checked_?"

Kurt laughed. "You know what I mean. Richard's... nice, but probably not my type."

Blaine waited a few seconds, but nothing more was forthcoming. "And me?"

Now the blush was definitely apparent. "Well... I mean, you're very nice, charming even. We're good friends, we get along well..." Kurt trailed off, clearly trying to find a reason to add a 'but' to the end of his sentence.

Blaine gave him another moment before chipping in. "So?"

"So... why do you ask, Blaine?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow. He had to hand it to him, Kurt managed to flip the conversation into Blaine's court with one sweep of the hand. "Touche, Hummel." He took a deep breath. "Maybe - maybe I've been looking around myself and... and maybe I didn't find anybody until you came along."

Kurt froze. Blaine gave it a moment, but continued when Kurt didn't respond, hoping for the best. "I think I've liked you since the first day you transferred, possibly before. I just didn't think you were ready so I didn't say anything -"

"Why don't you let me decide what I'm ready for." Kurt's voice was breathless, but so confident that Blaine couldn't be mistaken as to what he was implying. Smiling, he moved to reply -

- only to find Kurt's lips pressed gently against his.

Blaine was shocked into stillness for a few seconds before realizing that kissing _back_ was probably the best move. Plus, kissing Kurt felt far too good to _not _do.

It was only when the need for oxygen became the more pressing issue that the two broke apart, breathing heavily. Blaine wanted to feel shy - after all, he had never kissed anybody before - but the look of pure delight on Kurt's face meant he couldn't look away. "So.." he trailed off, lost for words.

Kurt laughed. "So," he agreed. "Does that mean you've found that 'someone' now?"

"That depends." Blaine reached out to take Kurt's hands. "Does he want me?"

"You were listening outside the door, you know perfectly well."

Blaine dropped his hands in shock. "You - how did you know?"

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I heard you and Mr. Schue talking." Blaine looked down sheepishly and Kurt laughed again. "Hey, anything to get your act into gear works for me."

"You're amazing," Blaine murmured quietly. Kurt beamed, then his smile turned almost devilish.

"Besides, this all started with spying. We're just following tradition."

* * *

**I just... deja vu. I don't know. I wish I knew. It's bugging me so much.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

**_*after Klaine is together*_**

**_"I'll start off. Cookie."_**

**_"Awesome."_**

**_"Redvine!"_**

**_*smacks* "You were supposed to say ME, idiot. Y'know, Kurt, your boyfriend? Who can tell Wes and David about that time at the mall with that Care Bear-"_**

**_*grabs face and kisses* "I'll just make sure you can't, then..."_**


	185. Playground

**Okay. Yesterday's chapter, when I talked about the deja vu? I didn't mean a similar chapter and I definitely didn't mean a chapter that someone else had written that I'd read. I was absolutely referring to that chapter written by _me _published somewhere. Half of you have read it, half of you haven't... so I'm still at a loss.**

**Let's move on. **

**From **_**eli7abeth: But... have you got a prompt with a playground? Don'**__**t know why, but I always find playgrounds romantic :D Especially when it's dark and there's moonlight... *swoon***_

**Kurt and Blaine got together during BICO. Just because on the day of writing this story, Angela and I sang BICO to each other via email and lamented about the boys being so oblivious. So they got together during that episode... but didn't kiss. So this can be set somewhere when all of that drama was going on that is now unnecessary :)**

**I just had to get this perfect, for my sake. It's based on a photo I saw and fell in love with and based so many of my ideas of romance on. If you've seen the photo and figure out which one I'm talking about by my description, then I've done it right. **

* * *

Playground

Kurt sighed, trying to block out the sound of Wes's snoring. All of the Warblers were currently sprawled on the floor of Nick's living room, fast asleep. All, that is, except for Kurt, who was still wide awake at four in the morning, an hour after everybody else had crashed. He wondered again, for about the twentieth time that night, why he had bothered to come to this party.

That said, the rest of the night had been quite enjoyable. Instead of alcohol making the night fun like at a New Directions party, Trent and David had both brought along their gaming systems and hooked them up to Nick's big screen TV which distracted the guys for most of the night. Kurt had even been convinced to join in - something that was immediately regretted when they realized the stereotype _wasn't _true and Kurt was kind of good at video games. Kind of, meaning he beat everybody else into the ground. It was only when people began to crash was when the problem started. Kurt was still wide awake when the last person fell asleep and knew he wouldn't be sleeping any time that night.

Pulling himself out of his sleeping bag, Kurt stood and quietly tiptoed out of the room, grabbing his clothes on the way. He slipped into the bathroom and dressed quickly, pulling on his jacket as he left and made his way towards the front door. _Maybe if I wander for a bit, I'll get tired. _

Stepping out into Nick's front yard, Kurt made sure to close the door quietly behind him. He took a couple of steps down to the sidewalk then paused, looking around. _I'm sure there was a park around here... where?_

The sound of the door opening again jarred Kurt out of his thoughts and he turned to see Blaine walking towards him, shrugging his own jacket on. "What are you doing up?"

Blaine stopped beside him, staring out into the dark street for a moment before looking at Kurt and smiling. "Heard you get up, thought I'd see what you were up to."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up."

Blaine shook his head, taking his hand lightly. "I was awake. I ended up sleeping right next to Wes."

Kurt mock-shuddered and Blaine laughed. "So, where were you headed?"

"Um, I think there's a park down the road... that way?" Kurt pointed to the left. "I saw it on my way in."

"Works for me." The two boys began to walk down the dark road, their hands lightly clasped between them. "So why couldn't you sleep?"

Kurt shrugged. "I always struggle sleeping at someone else's house. Add to that the snoring and ... yeah."

Blaine murmured in agreement. A second later, the moon disappeared behind a cloud and Blaine stumbled slightly, Kurt grabbing his arm. "Easy, there. You alright?"

"I can't see too well in the dark," Blaine admitted.

Kurt chuckled, keeping his arm wrapped around Blaine's. "Didn't eat enough carrots as a kid?" he teased lightly, leaning slightly into Blaine's shoulder as they walked.

"Clearly not," Blaine said, laughing quietly. A moment later, the moon reappeared, but Kurt made no indication of letting go. They walked together comfortably for another minute or so until they turned the corner and a large playground was in front of them. Blaine immediately tugged out of Kurt's grasp, turning to face him. "I have something very important to say to you."

Kurt frowned. "Yes?"

"Race you to the swings!"

Before Kurt could register the comment, Blaine was gone. "That's so not fair!" Kurt yelled, chasing after him. Of course he couldn't catch up, and by the time he got there Blaine was on the only adult-sized swing, poking his tongue out happily. "Come on, you do track!"

"And you played football." Blaine shrugged. "I think we're even."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I was the kicker. Totally doesn't count." He stared down at Blaine who was scuffing his feet absently through the bark. "Go on then."

Blaine looked up, pouting in the exact same way he had been during _Baby It's Cold Outside_ that had set Kurt's heart wild. "Can you push me? Please?"

"What are you, five?" But Kurt knew he couldn't say no to that face, especially when Blaine widened his eyes further. "Put the lip away before someone gets hurt," he muttered, walking around behind Blaine and beginning to push him gently, letting his fingers rest on Blaine's back for a second longer than necessary each push.

Blaine tilted his head back and grinned so happily that Kurt practically melted where he was standing because _wow_, he had never imagined he would be able to do something like this. He had seen plenty of heterosexual couples doing the same sort of thing but never had he thought he would be able to do something as simple as this in the middle of Ohio with his _boyfriend_. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night, they were still here and Blaine was still his and sometimes it was a bit too much to take and Kurt found himself wondering when he was going to wake up and realize he had just hit his head during one of the dumpster tosses and imagined up the whole thing.

Kurt took a step back since Blaine was swinging high enough without needing to be pushed. Wrapping his arms around the railing, Kurt leaned his head against the cool metal bar and simply watched Blaine as he hung from the swing, leaning back as far as he could without hitting his head on the ground and smiling like it was his job. "You should totally try this!" he called out before laughing as his hair brushed against the ground.

"Well I would but someone's hogging the swing, you see." Blaine immediately scuffed his feet into the ground to slow himself down and Kurt rolled his eyes. "I didn't say you had to stop. I'm sure I won't have as much fun with it as you are."

But Blaine was already jumping off and grabbing the chains of the swing to stop it completely. "Come on," he said, reaching out to tug at Kurt's arm lightly. "I'll show you just how much fun it can be."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, intrigued, but obediently walked over and sat himself on the swing. Instead of moving behind him, however, Blaine was still standing right in front of him, his arms holding onto the chains at the top. Kurt looked up at him and smiled because in the soft moonlight, Blaine was kind of gorgeous. Not to say that Blaine wasn't gorgeous in _any _kind of light, but there was something about the soft shadows caressing his face that Kurt fell in love with all over again. "Hi," he whispered without thinking about it.

Blaine stared down at him for a few seconds before smiling, soft and sudden. "Hi there," he whispered back, dropping his arms from the chains. "You might want to hold on."

Kurt frowned but took the chains in his hands, letting his forearms rest against Blaine's shoulders. And then Blaine was stepping forward, pushing the swing back so Kurt could barely reach the ground and wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist tightly. Whether it was a combination of the chill of the night, the tight grip around his midsection or the simple fact of what they were _doing_, but Kurt could hardly breathe. "Is this too much?" Blaine murmured, and Kurt suddenly realized the detail that he _should _have noticed before; Blaine's face was only inches from his.

"No," he managed to get out, overwhelmingly aware of Blaine being right _there_. He shut his eyes for a moment, wondering whether he was still dreaming. But when he opened them, Blaine was still standing there, staring at him, smiling like he had everything he wanted in his arms right now.

_Maybe he does._

That realization was nearly too much for Kurt to take. With a muffled whimper, he buried his head into Blaine's shoulder, pulling himself as close as he could to his boyfriend, his feet leaving the ground completely as he did. "My god, Blaine, I love you."

Blaine took a quick breath and his grip around Kurt's waist tightened. "I love you too," he whispered in Kurt's ear, sending goosebumps down his body. "You have no idea, Kurt."

"I do," Kurt murmured, pulling away just enough to look Blaine in the eye. "I really do, I promise. I've been wanting to say that _forever_."

Blaine's expression shifted completely and then he was leaning in, brushing his lips softly against Kurt's. Kurt didn't even have time to be shocked before he was kissing Blaine back, soft hesitant touches turning into a connection of lips and bodies and _hearts_. And, yeah, it was a safe bet to say that Kurt never wanted to stop doing this, never wanted his feet to touch the ground again if it meant he could stay here and kiss Blaine for the rest of his life.

Although, when Blaine pulled away to whisper, "I love you," in his ear again, Kurt figured slight interruptions were acceptable. Especially when he got to repeat the words and watch Blaine's eyes light up and just _know _that this boy right here was his.

Then they were kissing again with everything they had in them, no care for consequence or regret because there were none. And as the sun slowly rose, sending their conjoined silhouette across the grass in soft glows, Kurt's heart had never felt lighter.

* * *

***sniffs***

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Kurt and Blaine aren't the only spies...**_

_**"Agents 3 & 6 paging agents Gavel and Kazoo."**_

_**"We hear ya. Quick, while they're making out! Take the hair gel!"**_

_**"Should I grab the cake?"**_

_**"What the- cake in the bathroom? Sure, I guess. Oh crap, here he comes. Bye!"**_

_**"No! Don't leave us! NOOOO- oh, hey, this cake is really good."**_


	186. Innuendos

**Again. Prompts. Closed. **

**I just got home from work and I just... **

**Okay. So I work in a low ranking, minimum wage style job. I do a lot of work for not very much money, I deal with many many customers and I'm blessed with the fact that about 95% of them are just wonderful. I have a lot of regulars who I can chat with every time they come in and it's good. But that other 5%... right. Just because I am working a job that is lower than yours does _not _mean I am lower class. It does not mean you get to throw your money at me and walk away. It does not mean you absolutely do not acknowledge my greeting, thank me for serving you or completely ignore the fact that there's a person behind the counter. It does not mean you get pissy at me for our equipment not working. **

**It just really sucks sometimes. It's not like my job is easy, not when you look at all of the stuff I have to do and the fact that I'm working 81 hours this fortnight _and _then add in my stories on top of that. I just want to throw it all in sometimes and curl up in bed and not come out. **

**Rant over. **

**From **_**StarkidGleek2011: Okay what about one where Kurt is texting someone and we get to see a Jealous!Blaine because Kurt keeps giggling and stuff then Blaine just looses it and kisses him**_

**Man, you all **_**love **_**Jealous!Blaine, don't you? That's good because I love him too ;) and this is so innuendo-ridden and gets slightly sexual… just a warning.**

* * *

Innuendos

Kurt was _his_ boyfriend.

Blaine suppressed a low growl as another burst of laughter came across the room, followed by the sound of Kurt's fingers tapping away at the keyboard of his phone. And yes, Blaine was perfectly used to Kurt being glued to his phone when it was one of the New Directions girls, but he had already determined it wasn't one of them by a sneaky process of elimination ("What's Mercedes up to that's so funny?" "Oh, how is Tina?" "Please tell me Santana isn't sending you more innuendos about our supposed sorid sex life?")

No, Kurt wasn't texting one of the girls at McKinley, because Kurt had accidentally let slip that he was texting one of the boys at Dalton. And he wouldn't say who.

The worst thing was, Blaine wasn't even sure how long this had been going on for. He and Kurt had only started dating a few weeks ago and their progression from friends to boyfriends was slow and gradual - just the way they had both wanted it to be. They had already spent a lot of time together as friends, but that time had begun to change from public coffee dates to spending time alone together in one of their dorm rooms. Not that anything untoward would be happening in that time - that was one area where their relationship was still strictly in the friend zone - but it was just an area where they could be alone together to talk, watch movies and cuddle a little.

Because of that, Blaine was still learning about Kurt, something that never ceased to amaze him and brighten his day, especially when he found some new way to make Kurt smile or laugh, or discovered a new memory from Kurt's past, or basically just found out something about the boy he was beginning to love that he hadn't known before they were dating. But he was also learning things about Kurt that he wouldn't have expected - Kurt's nightly skincare routine lasted two whole hours, something that Blaine hadn't quite developed the patience to sit through yet. His tendency to shrug off compliments with witty and sarcastic retort was a defense mechanism that Blaine was still working on breaking past.

And Kurt seemed to enjoy spending a lot of time texting one of the boys in particular and keeping it a secret.

Another giggle and Blaine glanced up from his textbook to see Kurt covering his mouth. "Can you even _do _that with your tongue?" he murmured under his breath before beginning to reply, still smiling.

Blaine's jaw dropped. Was… was Kurt _sexting _someone?

Kurt was still completely preoccupied, giving Blaine time to weigh up his options. He could confront Kurt directly, demand to see his phone, refuse to take no for an answer… and deal with the inevitable fight and possible breakup from there. He could pretend nothing was going on and deal with the fact that his boyfriend could be cheating on him right in front of him. He could stoop to Kurt's level and start texting another guy… except he didn't know who Kurt was texting and if they started texting the same person things could get very awkward very quickly.

Or, Blaine could simply play dirty.

Stretching his arms above his head, Blaine let out a sigh and pushed the textbook aside. "That's me done," he said, loud enough for Kurt to have to notice before standing and crossing the room to fall onto the bed next to his boyfriend. "And you are too addicted to that phone. Come on, let whoever it is wait for half an hour and come spend some time with me."

Kurt raised his eyes from his phone, his face softening. "Just give me a minute, okay? I think he's close."

_Oh dear god, I do NOT want to know!_

Blaine coughed awkwardly, ducking his head away a little and trying to deal with the information he had just been given. Kurt suddenly seemed to realize he had spoken and clamped his lips together, shaking his head. And then his phone buzzed again and Kurt glanced down at the screen almost fearfully. "Can I…?"

"You may do whatever you want," Blaine informed him, leaning back against the wall and closing his eyes. He really wasn't sure what was going to happen now - scratch that, he had no idea what was happening _right now_, but Blaine figured it was easier to just pretend he wasn't even there until Kurt decided to fill him in on what was going on. Plus, if he wasn't looking at Kurt, he wasn't dealing with the raging jealousy that threatened to overwhelm him at any second. Blaine had honestly never felt this way about anything before and wasn't sure what he would do if it exploded.

Two seconds later, Kurt was by his side, pulling Blaine close. "Hey, don't do this, please?" he asked softly. "You know I'd tell you if it were up to me."

"Do I?"

Blaine kept his eyes closed, not sure he wanted to see Kurt's face right now. The silence that followed his statement almost certainly meant that he had hurt Kurt and he couldn't bear to look at his boyfriend right now and see the expression on his face, because if he saw that Kurt was upset, Blaine wouldn't be able to hold on to his righteous anger because _he was right. _

Kurt finally sighed. "Come on, Blaine. It's not what you think."

At that, Blaine's eyes flew open. "Oh, isn't it? Maybe you should tell me what it _is _then so I can stop speculating. Because all I know right now is that _my _boyfriend is enjoying someone else's company much more than mine and it _kind of _hurts."

Blaine certainly hadn't expected anger to cross Kurt's face at that, but there it was. "Right, of course," Kurt retorted hotly. "So when you want to spend time together, I should drop everything and just devote all of my time to you? What about the fact that this is the first time we've had alone together all _week_ because you've been too busy to spend time with _me_?"

"Kurt, that's completely _different!_" Blaine couldn't believe Kurt was actually doing this right now. "You know I've been working with the guys on setlists this week."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "And that's your job, why? You're not on the council, you just sing the songs they give you, Blaine. Well, maybe someone has given me a job to do, something to make me feel _useful _and _wanted_."

That should have been a clear warning sign to Blaine right there but there was a reason Blaine didn't let himself lose control very often - he got rather irrational. Besides, the thought of another guy _wanting _Kurt more than Blaine did was just a little too hurtful to ignore. "Are you saying I don't make you feel _wanted_, Kurt? You're _my _boyfriend, damn it, what do I have to do to prove to you that you mean the _world _to me?"

"I don't know, figure something out!"

And before Blaine could think it through he was pulling Kurt towards him, crushing their lips together. The second they made contact, the anger visibly disappeared from both of the boys but neither made a move to break the contact and a moment later they were kissing, suddenly soft, tentative, exploring. After all, this was the first time either of them had done this properly and they certainly weren't going to waste it on something like being angry.

Blaine broke the kiss hesitantly, hoping like hell Kurt wouldn't regret it or hate him for doing what he had just done. But Kurt simply stared at him for a few seconds before laughing. "Did our first fight just lead to our first kiss?"

"I think so." Blaine ducked his head sheepishly. "And our first fight was just me being stupid. I'm sorry, Kurt, I shouldn't have gotten so worked up over it."

Kurt took his hand gently. "Hey, not your fault. It's such a stupid thing to have so much secrecy over too and I'd tell you except Jeff said -"

"Jeff?" Kurt winced but the pieces were slotting into place for Blaine. "Would this have anything to do with the reason Nick's been walking around so confused the past week and why Jeff will barely look at him?"

Kurt sighed. "Okay, yes. Jeff's sick of waiting around for Nick to get his act together and realize that Jeff _does _feel the same way, so he decided to see if he could make Nick a bit jealous. So he asked me if I'd sext him and he'd change my name in his phone so if Nick saw it - which he fully intended on happening - then he wouldn't know it was me. And then it just turned into a joke with us because Jeff started replying and I shouldn't have let it carry on that far without telling you."

Blaine blinked slowly at Kurt. "Okay… so you've been sexting Jeff."

"Yes." Kurt looked endlessly apologetic. "I promise, it didn't mean anything, I just -"

"You've been sexting Jeff," Blaine said again, "and you didn't send any of them to me?"

Blaine was mostly joking and thankfully Kurt picked up on that. But the unspoken, that small percentage that _wasn't _joking, remained between them - maybe this was something they could consider doing in the near future. So, with a smirk, Kurt picked up his phone and began to scroll through. "Let me think… would you like to hear about the dream I had two nights ago involving whipped cream? Apparently Nick won't go near dessert lately."

As Kurt began to read out some of the more hilarious messages, Blaine subtly slipped his phone out of his pocket and began to compose a text.

Maybe the future could come a little quicker than they thought.

_Your lips look delicious - Blaine xx_

* * *

**I feel like I have to apologize for this... but I'm laughing as I do so, you know ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***awesome kliss***_

_**"I love you."**_

_**"I love you too." *smile at each other***_

_***Brad appears, sitting on a piano magically in the air Gaga style and starts playing romantic song***_

_**"What the-"**_

_**"Don't ask. He's there, and he has magical piano man powers so he can appear whenever we need him. Sometimes he brings cookies, too."**_


	187. Help

**I found out that my friend - although she doesn't watch the episodes religiously like I do - is pretty much just as Glee obsessed as me. It's such a beautiful day. We spent ages talking about the 3x05 rumours and she's on exactly the same page as me so I get the feeling she might be over at my house for that episode when it airs...**

**From **_**Tinaklaine99: How about if one day(when Kurt is at Dalton still) some random Warbler is all like "hey I was thinking of singing a song to my girlfriend" and he asks Kurt for help so he practices singing the song on Kurt and the Blaine comes in and is all like "WHAT IS GOING ON?" and Blaine runs out all sad and Kurt runs after him and is confused…**_

**Oh Blainers...**

* * *

Help

Kurt Hummel had always prided himself on having a very distinctive voice. It had been the source of much teasing in the past, but Kurt would never change it, not for anything. After all, it had opened up so many possibilities for him, especially in an all boys school. Songs that other boys couldn't even attempt, Kurt could perform flawlessly which was always appreciated when the group wanted to perform a duet that was traditionally male and female led. Nobody would ever forget who he was, that was for certain.

But having such a feminine sounding voice certainly had its setbacks. Being mistaken for a woman on the phone was something Kurt had gotten used to a long time ago, yes, but it was still a point of slight irritation every time it happened. And then there were events such as these.

"Please?"

Kurt sighed, leaning forward and resting his chin on his hands. "So let me get this straight. You want to serenade your girlfriend… with a duet?"

Mark nodded eagerly. "She loves to sing just as much as I do and when I thought of _You and I_, I couldn't turn down the opportunity. I came to you because I just want to get it down perfect with the choreography and -"

"Woah, hold on there Casanova. Nobody mentioned _choreography._"

Mark grinned sheepishly as Kurt put his hands on his hips. "It's not complicated," the boy assured him. "Just a few spins, couple of dips, you know? I just want to know what I'm doing before I sing it to her. Please, Kurt? Nobody else can sing the part and I know you can dance too."

Kurt thought about it for a few seconds longer before relenting. "Just once though. And don't tell me what the choreography will be," he said quickly as Mark opened his mouth, presumably to do exactly that. "She won't know when you're doing it."

"Okay." Mark pulled out a chair from one of the tables and gestured for Kurt to sit. "So she'll be here and I'll… I'll be over here, coming in." Mark walked over to the door and returned slowly, clearly getting 'in character' and Kurt suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

"_Just you and I, sharing our love together,_

_And I know in time, we'll build the dreams we treasure."_

Kurt nodded his approval. Mark had sped the song up, thankfully, and it was an excellent choice for his voice - and Mark had a wonderful voice too, making Kurt wonder why exactly he wasn't a Warbler. But he pushed that aside in favor of listening to the song and trying to pretend that he was a love-struck girl, which was easy to do by simply picturing Rachel whenever Finn sang to her.

Mark stepped towards him, holding out a hand and Kurt tried not to laugh as he took it, allowing Mark to pull him to his feet and twirl him lightly.

"_We'll be alright, just you and I,_

_Just you and I,"_

Mark gestured to Kurt who laughed quietly before repeating the line softly as Mark took both of his hands, pulling him closer.

"_And I know in time, we'll build a dream to treasure,_

_We'll be alright, just you and I."_

Kurt felt himself twirled around again and couldn't help but smile. He had met Mark's girlfriend once before and knew she would absolutely love this sappy display of affection that was currently on display. Her voice wasn't _quite _as good as Kurt's, but Kurt knew it would be beautiful for the two of them anyway.

Pulling him back in, Mark stared into his eyes as they sang, Kurt inwardly feeling proud of himself for being able to sing this close to a boy without blushing or feeling uncomfortable. _It probably helps that he's definitely not singing to me. And that I'd be much happier if there was another boy singing to me right now. _

"_And I remember our first embrace, the smile that was on your face,_

_The promises we made,_

_And now, your love is my reward, and I love you even more,_

_Than I ever did before."_

And then Mark was dropping to his _knees_ and Kurt bit back the urge to laugh because that was just a little too far for Kurt's liking. But he played along, parrying back the lines as Mark sang to him before mercifully climbing to his feet and spinning Kurt around again as they reached the chorus for the second time. Kurt sung his way through it, wondering how he actually knew this song well enough to sing it considering how _old _it was.

"_We'll be alright, just you and I."_

And as Mark dipped him, Kurt laughed because _this is so ridiculous _and Mark was grinning down at him like they were in _love_ and then there was a sudden sharp pang of hurt that Kurt probably wasn't going to experience something like this that was _real _for a long long time. _"We made it, you and I_," he sang softly before lifting his head slowly as the song finished.

Blaine was standing in the doorway.

Kurt shot up so fast that he overbalanced, Mark grabbing his shoulder to keep him upright. "Woah, careful there. I didn't realize I'd literally swept you off your feat," he teased, clearly joking around.

Of course that was the worst possible thing to say because now Blaine looked like someone had kicked him. Hard. _But why? _Kurt asked himself as he stared at the boy in the doorway. _Why does he look like he's been hurt or betrayed or - oh._

_OH._

"Blaine," Kurt whispered helplessly, extricating himself from Mark's grasp and taking a tentative step towards the door. "I -"

Blaine turned on his heel and fled.

"Kurt? What's wrong?" Mark turned to the door to find it empty. "Was someone there?"

Kurt nodded mutely, giving himself a few seconds to process the realizations that had just hit him. "Blaine," he finally said. "Blaine was there. And he thought -"

"Go," Mark said instantly, shrugging when Kurt shot him a confused look. "You're the only one around here who hasn't worked out that he's head over heels for you. Just like he never figured out how crazy you were for him."

"Are," Kurt corrected softly. "I still am."

Mark grinned again. "Then what are you waiting for?"

Kurt gave himself a second before realizing. _Nothing._ Without another word he brushed past Mark and hurried out of the room, hoping it wasn't too late and Blaine hadn't done something rash like jump into his car and go driving off somewhere. The last thing Kurt needed was for Blaine to get into an accident, especially not _now_.

Blaine's room was empty and Kurt cursed under his breath, running back down the hall and taking the stairs three at a time down into the foyer. A couple of students looked up in surprise but most had knowing looks on their faces and Kurt realized Blaine must have come through here already. He caught David's eye who was sitting with Wes and Thad, clearly going over setlists. David jerked a thumb towards the side door which led to the back courtyard and Kurt waved a hand in thanks, jogging over to the door before slowing to open it gently and let himself out. It took a few seconds to find Blaine but finally Kurt saw the glimpse of a Dalton sleeve behind a large bush. Slowly he walked across the courtyard, not wanting to sneak up on the boy but wanting to see what was going on with Blaine before making his move.

And then he heard the sniff and that entire plan went down the drain. "Blaine," Kurt whispered, crossing the last of the distance between them and kneeling in front of his friend. "Hey, it's alright."

Blaine stared at him, wide eyed and attempted to wipe the tears from his face but Kurt grabbed his hands before he could. "I want you to listen to me for a minute. What you saw in there was not what you thought it was and I'm not just saying that. Mark is completely straight, in fact it happens to be his and his girlfriend's one year anniversary this weekend and he wanted to sing to her. So, because I have the only voice in this school that can be mistaken for a girl's…" he trailed off, waiting for Blaine to make the connection himself.

"You sang it to help him out," Blaine finished, closing his eyes slowly. "I'm such an idiot."

Now Blaine looked even more miserable and Kurt sighed, shaking his head. "I get how it looked, okay? What I didn't quite get was this reaction. Why are you so upset about it?"

Of course Kurt knew _now _what was going on but he needed to hear this from Blaine. If there was any chance of them starting a relationship - and _wow_, that made it really hard for Kurt not to smile right then - then everything needed to be out in the open right from the start. Plus, it could've been something else entirely. Blaine could have a crush on _Mark _and the reason he was more upset now was because he knew Mark was _straight _and why hadn't Kurt thought of that earlier?

But then Blaine sighed and opened his eyes. "I thought I had lost my chance with you completely," he whispered so quietly that Kurt barely caught it.

Kurt had to close his own eyes for a second there because he had honestly never thought this moment would come and that his crush on Blaine would just end up dwindling out of existence like his one on Finn had. Instead, here was Blaine, _crying _because he thought Kurt was interested in another guy. "Blaine, I have to be honest," Kurt found himself saying, "to have had a chance with me, I would have needed to know how you felt in the first place."

Oh. So that's how it looked to break someone's heart.

"I - god, I'm such an idiot," Blaine repeated. "I'm just gonna -"

He moved to stand but Kurt refused to let go of his hands and ended up tugging Blaine down to his level. "So since I need to know how you feel," he continued calmly, "why don't you tell me?"

Blaine had apparently decided that he couldn't be hurt any more and began to speak in a monotone that clenched at Kurt's heart like nothing else. "I am crazy about you. I've only realized it recently but it's grown more than anything else I've ever felt in my life and I was trying to work out how to say it and then work up the courage to tell you and I just didn't get there. Which is probably good if you don't feel the same way."

"Who says I don't?"

And, okay, there was the moment that made the whole conversation worthwhile - the second that Blaine realized he might still have a chance. "You… Kurt, do you _like me?_"

In response, Kurt closed the distance between them, pressing his lips lightly against Blaine's. Blaine was still frozen, clearly in shock, but Kurt knew it wasn't a rejection even as he pulled away just a few seconds later. "I do."

There was approximately three seconds of silence and then Blaine was _lunging _across the gap between them, kissing Kurt properly - or as properly as he could with his breath still ragged and laughing every few seconds and there were still tears on his cheeks and it was the strangest and most _amazing _thing Kurt had ever experienced. Blaine was an emotional wreck for _him_.

Apparently Blaine was painfully aware of that as he pulled away rapidly blushing - _blushing! _- and ducked his head. "I can't see why. I'm an absolute _mess_ and I've never done this sort of thing before, I don't know how to be someone's boyfriend, Kurt. All I know is that I really like you and I don't want to mess this up."

And Kurt, acting purely on instinct, reached out a hand to touch Blaine's cheek gently, wiping away a tear. "Don't worry," he said softly. "I'll take care of you."

* * *

**Blainers...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***kiss***_

_**"Wow..."**_

_***text rings on phone***_

_**"It's from Jeff... 'according to our cameras, you guys finally kissed. My job is done. I'm going to make our with my boyfriend, Nick, now.'"**_

_**"Wait. So he's already with Nick? You sexted him for no reason?" *le grr***_

_**"Another text. 'P.S. You and Blaine owe us $20. Also, these texts are good blackmail material ;)' I'm kinda worried now..."**_


	188. Sardines

**I've signed my final contract. Now I'm just relying on the International post, my father and then the post service in New Zealand to guarantee my acceptance on time. Fingers crossed.**

**Now excuse me while I pass out on the keyboard.**

**From **_**Practically everyone: Sardines**_

**The sheer amount of prompts I got for this after the Hide And Seek chapter... well, I stopped counting names after about seven. So this one is for all of you :) **

* * *

Sardines

Of course Kurt should have known it was coming.

The snowfall had started during first period, completely distracting anybody from concentrating because no matter how upstanding and dapper the Dalton boys were supposed to be, they were still teenagers and snow meant snowball fights to them. First break had been spent standing just outside of firing range as Kurt watched the rest of the boys go crazy and become absolutely saturated with snow, leading to most of them having to get changed before the next set of classes. According to Blaine, it was well worth it.

But by the time it was final period and the snow hadn't let up, Kurt was starting to get worried. As one of the non-boarders, he still had a two hour drive home that afternoon and the roads were starting to look dangerous. If he left straight after school, he would probably make it, but there was still Warbler rehearsal and, this close to Regionals, Kurt wasn't planning on missing a single practice. Five of the other Warbler boys had already left, but Kurt wasn't planning on being one of them. So with reluctance he dragged himself to the choir room, settling on the couch next to Blaine who frowned at him. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I'm just worried about getting home," Kurt admitted, glancing out the window again. "I don't want to get stuck here."

Blaine's hand slipped into his, the action natural by now. "We have plenty of spare rooms if you need to spend a night here," Blaine said smoothly. "I'd much rather you did that than tried to drive now, anyway. So would your father, I imagine."

"My father would assume I'm spending the night with my boyfriend and probably drive out here himself to drag me home," Kurt retorted, smirking at the way Blaine's eyes grew just that bit rounder. No matter what he said, Blaine was definitely afraid of Kurt's dad.

Before they could continue, Wes walked into the room and took his position, rapping his gavel for silence. "Listen up. I've just been to the office and they're putting the school into lockdown at four. If anybody needs to leave now, you're excused from practice, but I strongly suggest that you don't drive, simply because of the roads. And we all remember two years ago…" Wes trailed off and a few boys murmured quietly in response. Kurt squeezed Blaine's hand, having been told the story of one of the Dalton boys who had lost his life from driving home in treacherous conditions and knowing exactly what Blaine was thinking. "Kurt?" Wes continued. "I know you have the furtherest to go and we don't know what it's like in Lima -"

"I'm not going to go," Kurt said, pulling out his phone. "But do you mind if I call my dad and let him know?"

Wes nodded towards the door and Kurt stood, extricating his hand from Blaine's grasp. Leaning against the wall outside, Kurt dialed his home number and waited until his father picked up. "Dad? It's Kurt."

"Kurt! Where are you, are you safe? Do I need to get the truck out to you?"

Kurt winced. "No, Dad, I'm totally fine, I'm still at Dalton. I figured it's not safe enough to drive and the boarders told me there's plenty of bedrooms available here for situations like this so it'll be fine if I stay overnight."

There was an almost imperceptible sigh of relief. "Yeah, that sounds like a good idea," Burt said. "If you can't come out tomorrow, I'll come get you myself for the weekend, okay?"

"Thanks, Dad. I'd better go, we're having Warbler practice now."

"Hold on," Burt said, just as Kurt was about to hang up. "You're sleeping in an _empty _room, right? Not with that boyfriend of yours?"

Kurt sighed. "If I have to share a room, it won't be with Blaine unless circumstances dictate," he said wearily. "Trust me, Dad, I'm nowhere ready to take that kind of step with Blaine and you know it."

"Alright. I do trust you, kid. Look after yourself."

Kurt pocketed his phone with a fond smile. Yes, his dad could get overbearing sometimes but Kurt knew it was because he cared about him. And he was telling the truth - he and Blaine _definitely _weren't ready to take that step just yet. Turning back towards the door, Kurt opened it quietly, aware that the Council had probably started the meeting, before freezing.

All hell had broken loose.

Kurt could only stare at the boys racing around the room in front of him. A few were hanging out the window, gathering snow in their hands. Others were cranking up the fire and producing bags of marshmallows - from where, Kurt had no idea because nobody had passed him to go to the kitchen. And amidst it all sat Blaine who was working quietly on his homework. Of course.

"Okay," Kurt said, finally making his way through the room without being knocked over or roped into any of the craziness. "I know I should be used to this by now but… how?"

"Don't question it, you'll go crazy too," Blaine said mildly, pushing his assignment away and slipping an arm around Kurt's shoulders. "Just sit tight, let them run their course and pray that Wes doesn't come up with -"

"Hey, I've got a great idea!"

Kurt and Blaine groaned simultaneously. "A 'great idea'?" Kurt completed. "How bad do you think this is going to be?"

The rest of the Warblers were already gathering around the Council table where Wes was whispering in David's ear. Sighing, Blaine stood and held out a hand to Kurt who allowed himself to be pulled to his feet. "Just stay near the back and don't let yourself get volunteered for anything."

"Now, we need a volunteer!" Wes called out and Kurt stifled a laugh. _We really know them too well now. _"Blaine?"

"Oh no, no way! I remember what happened last time you got me to volunteer for something."

Wes pouted. "Come on, your eyebrows grew back!" Kurt immediately turned to stare demandingly at Blaine who winced and shook his head. "Kurt?" Kurt raised his hands to cover his eyebrows on reflex and Wes sighed. "Nobody's getting burned, maimed or injured in any way… that I have control over. We can't speak for Cameron but you should be fine. In fact, you'll probably like it."

"Why don't you just tell us what we're volunteering for _first_?" Kurt asked reasonably. "Because right now in our minds we're just signing a death wish without choosing the form."

"Okay," David said smoothly, taking over. "Everybody listen up! We're playing Sardines!"

There were a few murmurs of interest, a loud sigh from Blaine and a general blank stare from Cameron. "What's -?"

"Sardines is the opposite of hide-and-seek," David continued, clearly having anticipated the question. "Instead of everybody hiding and one person finding them all, one person hides and everybody has to find them. But instead of sending them home, they have to hide _with _the person, and the last person to find them is in. Obviously it's inside only, no dorm rooms, nothing that will be dangerous or break property and somewhere that people can actually get into. Other than that, anything's fair game."

Cameron still looked lost and Andrew sighed, pulling out a piece of paper. Diagrams generally worked best in situations like this. Kurt glanced at Blaine, grinning wickedly before raising his hand. "I'll volunteer."

Wes blinked a couple of times before letting out a sigh of relief. "Nobody ever volunteers. I was going to have to get them to draw gavels."

Kurt decided it was best to let that one go. "Okay, so you guys are going to count to.. what, two hundred?" Wes nodded. "Alright." Leaning over, Kurt kissed Blaine's cheek before whispering in his ear, "_You know the place." _

He just had time to see Blaine's eyes light up with comprehension before he was disappearing out of the room, breaking into a jog. He had plenty of time but the spot was across the other side of the school and he definitely wanted to get hidden with plenty of time so nobody else had any chance of spotting him. Heaven forbid someone else get to the spot before Blaine could!

Finally arriving, Kurt scaled the last flight of stairs and gave himself a moment to breathe before tiptoeing along the hallway. He was sure it had only been a minute but wouldn't put it past Wes and David to change the rules with no warning. Besides, he was fairly sure he was just above the choir room now and it wouldn't do to have them know where he was without actually looking. Once he reached the end of the hallway, Kurt slipped around the corner to the small alcove nestled into the corner, almost invisible unless you actually walked right up to it, and settled himself on the window sill, staring out across the snow covered grounds with a smile.

This was Kurt's spot.

He had needed somewhere to go during his first week at Dalton, that week when everything had hurt too much and the bruises on his back were still healing over and his mind was replaying the words over and over in his head. Most of the time, Kurt had just gone to Blaine to talk things over, but sometimes Kurt just needed to be alone, to spend a lunch hour or the half hour before Warbler practice of an afternoon with just himself. So Blaine had led him up to the top of the boarding residence where the rooms were empty and shown him this spot.

"_You can come here whenever you like," Blaine had told him. "And this way I'll know where you are and I can come and get you if you lose track of time or if you need anything."_

Naturally, once he and Blaine had actually decided to take the step from friendship into relationship, Kurt had started inviting Blaine to join him. Not to get up to anything, like the rest of the Dalton boys seemed to presume was happening when the two disappeared together, but just to talk and learn each other and be together. So technically it was now their spot. But, more important than anything, they were the only two who ever went there, and possibly the only two who knew it existed.

So naturally, they were going to win.

Kurt heard the sound of laughter and footsteps and realized that the boys must have finished counting. He wasn't sure whether any of them would think to have a plan or not so stayed silent, waiting for the sound of footsteps.

It took a lot longer than Kurt anticipated but finally a near silent tread echoed down the hall, purposefully heading in his direction. "Sorry," Blaine whispered as he ducked around the corner. "Jeff realized it would probably be smart to tail me. I managed to shake him off though, I think."

Kurt rolled his eyes as Blaine sat down across from him, resting their knees together. "Did anybody have any thoughts about where I might be?"

"Cameron's determined you'll be in my room, regardless of the rules." Kurt stifled a laugh, placing his hands on Blaine's knees and leaning closer so he could hear his boyfriend's whispering clearer. "The others all think this'll be cake because you're the newest and you don't board, so they're all headed for the obvious spots. So I think we have a little while before anybody starts poking around properly."

Kurt smiled as Blaine took his hands, closing the distance further between them so there were only a few inches between their faces. "So, whatever shall we do with ourselves until then?"

Blaine tilted his head to the side a little and Kurt watched his eyes flicker down before making eye contact again. "I've got an id -"

Kurt kissed him. Blaine stuttered to a stop, but it was only a second later that his arms were around Kurt's waist, attempting to pull him closer even though their legs were in the way. Kurt bit back the urge to laugh and instead focused on the fact that he was kind of kissing Blaine right at this second and it was kind of _amazing_.

And then Blaine was pulling back, attempting to look at Kurt sternly. "Now, interrupting people isn't very polite," he mock-lectured. "And this is rather counterproductive to my idea of planning a way to make the Warblers think we're somewhere else in the school."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kurt shifted back as far as he could go, leaning back against the window frame and grinning wickedly at the expression on Blaine's face when he realized Kurt had called his bluff. "What do you suggest?"

Blaine gaped at him for a second before pouting in the most obnoxiously cute manner. Laughing softly, Kurt conceded and kissed him again quickly. "I don't know how to make them think we're not here," he whispered, fairly sure he could hear the sound of footsteps echoing up the stairs already, "but I know how to make them not want to be here."

As someone began walking along the hallway, Kurt winked at Blaine before closing the distance between them again. Half of his focus was on Blaine's lips, of course, but the other was on the footsteps that were growing louder and closer and… _there_.

There were a few seconds of silence, then a low chuckle. "We can do that too, you know."

Blaine pulled away and groaned. "Damn it, why does it have to be you two?" he demanded of Jeff and Nick who were watching them, identical smirks on their faces. "Fine, pull up a spot. How did you know where to come?"

"You really thought you shook me off?" Jeff said, still smirking as he elbowed Blaine. "Move along, lovebirds. We need some room in here."

It was a tight squeeze but they managed to get all four of them sitting on the seat side-by-side. Now that they had been discovered, Kurt remembered that this actually _was _a game and it was probably important that they stay quiet and not get discovered. After all, this spot would probably only hold another two or so people before things started getting really awkward and, being the first one to get there, Kurt was not looking forward to being at the bottom of a pile up.

And then there was another set of footsteps, but unlike Nick and Jeff, this person didn't sound like they had any idea that there were people along here, instead just scoping out the area. Kurt held his breath as the person moved closer, knowing they were probably about to be discovered but just praying it wasn't Cameron. Knowing the boy, he would stand in the middle of the hallway and decide it was a decent hiding spot.

A head poked around the corner and Kurt breathed a sigh of relief. "Come on, get in," he whispered. "Before someone sees you."

Wes slipped into the small space, raising an eyebrow before leaning against the wall, just out of sight of the hallway. "You know David will be here in a matter of minutes," he stated calmly. "We went separate ways but -"

"David always knows," Nick completed, rolling his eyes. Another set of footsteps was coming and Kurt stifled a laugh. "Speak of the devil."

David slipped around the corner, winking at Wes. "There's a group hot on my heels, I think one or two might have seen me coming up here so be ready."

Sure enough, the sound of running could be heard and Kurt glanced at Blaine who was wincing. Four Warblers skidded around the corner, stopping to stare at them. "Um… guys, we need to actually get in to make it count," Richard finally said. "How are we gonna fit?"

Kurt rolled his eyes and grabbed Blaine, pulling the boy into his lap and laughing softly when he squeaked in surprise. Nick did the same to Jeff and Kurt grinned up at the newcomers innocently. "By that logic, there's room for all four of you now."

After much grumbling - under their breath of course - Ethan and Andrew sat down, allowing Thad and Richard to sit on top of them. "At least there's only three more to go," Andrew muttered.

"Yeah, but one of those is _Cameron_," David pointed out and a set of simultaneous groans echoed around the corridor.

"Down here!" came the whisper, unmistakably Trent's voice. Kurt wasn't sure whether to be relieved that the game was almost over or disappointed that, once Cameron found them, Blaine would have to get out of his lap. Because Kurt quite liked having his boyfriend here and, judging by the way Blaine was leaning back against him with their heads resting together, he didn't seem to have a problem with it either.

Trent and Flint came wandering around the corner, stopping dead at the sight in front of them. "Are we last?"

"No," Wes told them, smirking from his position against the wall - because _he _wasn't squished onto the seat, he had felt the need to inform them. "Cameron's still probably walking around the choir room in circles."

The quiet snickers of laughter were cut off when Flint nodded. "Uh, yeah, he was actually doing that when we left." For a moment there was an awkward silence - because Kurt knew they all wanted to laugh so badly but that would give away their position - and then Flint raised an eyebrow at them. "So, how do we fit exactly?"

"However you can," Kurt told them.

"Bags the floor!" Flint collapsed in the last available spot on the ground and sighed happily. "Nice and relaxed down here," he informed them all.

Trent sighed before eyeing up the boys crammed into the window seat. "I can totally make this work." And before Kurt had the chance to question them, Trent was settling himself so he was lying across all of the laps of the boys sitting on the top, eliciting grunts and complaints from the bottom row. "This is pretty comfortable too. Oi!" He glared at Jeff who had just poked him in the ribs. "Can't help it if you didn't think of it."

And now all they could do was wait. Every so often, one of them would let out some kind of call, hoping it would attract Cameron's attention and at least help the boy realize their general area. Wes kept checking the time and finally sighed, stretching his arms above his head. "Guys, it's been half an hour. If he was going to find us, he would have f - is that him?"

Indeed, the familiar sound of footsteps was heading down the hall and everybody immediately quietened, waiting. They were getting closer, ready to come right around the corner -

And stopped.

Kurt's jaw dropped as Cameron _turned around _and began to walk away. "Oh for the love of - Cameron! Get in here!"

The boy stopped and there was a long moment of silence before finally, _finally_, Cameron appeared around the corner. "Oh," he said simply, staring at them all before pulling his phone out and taking a photo. "Cool. Who else are we waiting on?"

"Just you," Nick said irritably. "Game's over, Cameron lost as usual, Trent, _get off me_."

Slowly the group of boys disentangled, helping each other up and not-so-accidentally standing on Flint in the process until he managed to get off the floor. Finally it was just Kurt and Blaine left and, as Blaine moved to stand, Kurt tightened his grip around his waist. "You guys go on ahead," he told Jeff who was watching them knowingly. "I need to call my dad again."

Instead of replying, Nick simply winked and the two boys disappeared hand-in-hand. Kurt relaxed his grip enough for Blaine to turn and look at him curiously. "Why do you need to -"

Kurt leaned in and kissed him again. "I don't," he explained. "But I have the choice to either play a game where I have to cram into small spaces with a group of mostly straight guys… or stay up here with my boyfriend. Who turns out to be a very good kisser, by the way."

Blaine simply smiled, resting against his chest as Kurt stretched his legs out, entangling them with Blaine's. For a long moment they stared at each other before beginning to kiss again, softly, as relaxed as the snow falling outside.

So no, maybe Kurt hadn't seen this coming. But he planned to enjoy every second of it.

* * *

**A lot of you request stories where the first kiss happens a lot earlier in the story and then we get to see more of them. I hope this is sufficient :) **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"I'm thinking of singing Teenage Dream, what do you think?"**_

_**"Well, start the music!"**_

_***start singing and dancing***_

_***storms in* "HELL NO, KP is MY turf!" *grabs Kurt protectively* "Now we're going to sing romantic-platonic duets and gaze into each others eyes and continue to friend-zone each other, got it?"**_

_**"Mm, nope!" *grabs and klisses***_


	189. HarryAndSally

**I wrote a ficlet at work tonight on register paper at 4:30am. It's a 3x05 spoiler ficlet though so if you don't want spoilers, don't read. Otherwise, you can find the link on my profile as usual, or near the top of my Tumblr since I only just posted it. **

**I also just finished an 81 hour fortnight. So how I'm still coherent I have no idea.**

**From **_**totallygilmore: K & B kiss while watch 'When Harry Met Sally'**_

**I have to admit, I only watched this because it was referenced in Glee (and I'm glad I did because it was amazing). I saw it come up on TV one day and recorded it so I could watch it later and picked an afternoon when I wasn't at work… and then my stepdad came home early and was wandering in and out and then stopped and sat down to watch a scene with me. One scene. And the one scene he 'picked' was the restaurant scene with the fake orgasm. Fan-freaking-tastic.**

**Right now, this chapter is my favourite to date. **

* * *

HarryAndSally

"I honestly just thought you were making a joke."

Blaine shook his head, staring at the DVD hanging loosely from Kurt's hand. "I heard the vague storyline from someone once, which is why I knew they got together. But I've never seen it."

Kurt stared at him for a few moments before sighing. "Yeah, you're more of a hopeless case than I thought. Come on, we're watching this."

"I'm not that hopeless!" Blaine argued as he sat on the couch, watching Kurt slot the DVD into the player and grab the remote. "You know I'm Top 40 when it comes to music, I'm pretty much the same with my movies. New releases and all that."

"Which is why today is a very important day - the day you learn the wonder of a classic." Kurt joined him, settling into the couch and waiting for the movie to load. "Now, pay close attention, okay? There's some important themes that I need you to pick up."

Blaine obediently turned his attention to the screen as Kurt pressed play, trying to work out why his friend was so determined he watch this movie. Yes, he now knew Kurt was interested - and yeah, he was pretty much a _moron _for not having worked that out earlier - but he honestly didn't think Kurt would be the type to push him to try and reciprocate. So if that was what this was… but Blaine pushed that aside, choosing to trust Kurt. After all, Kurt had never given Blaine a reason not to trust him.

The movie began and Blaine had to wince at how old fashioned it was. Luckily Kurt was already transfixed and missed Blaine's mild disgust at the shoddy filming quality and… "Kurt, how can you stand the _outfits_? I thought fashion was your thing."

"It is. But I can respect the fashion choices of a different era," Kurt explained. "And while her hair progressively gets worse throughout the film, you can tell that she was one of the style icons of her generation and that's something I'll always admire, you know that."

Blaine raised an eyebrow but chose to stay silent, continuing to watch as the two drove to.. somewhere. Blaine must have missed that part. "So they're not together?"

"No, he's dating her friend. Which you would _know _if you were listening… or if you had watched him make out with her at the start of the film."

"I generally don't enjoy watching straight people make out," Blaine said as if it were obvious. "But okay, sure. So he's dating her friend but he's driving her to…"

Kurt sighed and Blaine knew it was going to be one of _those _movies. "New York. She's going to journalism school and he's going to start his career. Now, shush."

But it was only a few minutes later that Blaine needed to speak up again. "Hold on, that's _not _right. Guys and girls can definitely be friends without sex. I mean, we both have plenty of girl friends -"

"We're also both gay, Blaine." Kurt turned to look at him this time, but there was no irritation in his stare. "I think the way it works for us is that two gay guys can't be just friends without the sex - or romance - thing getting in the way."

And before Blaine could reply, could argue because that _wasn't _true either, Kurt was turning back to the screen, a slight pink tinge to his cheeks. Blaine realized now was probably a good time to keep his mouth shut because maybe this was one of those things that Kurt wanted him to listen to and understand… and, come to think about it, maybe it was one of those things he needed to actually think about. After all, he had thought he was just going after friendship with Jeremiah and then all of a sudden Blaine thought he was in love with him? Perhaps Kurt was right.

But what about him and Kurt? Blaine chanced another glance at the boy who was still watching the screen, absently mouthing along to some of the words here and there. He and Kurt had been friends for awhile now and Blaine hadn't exactly sung a song to declare his feelings of love to Kurt.

… Well, there had been _Teenage Dream_, but that was different. And he may have been accused of glancing at Kurt too often during _Hey Soul Sister _but that was just to check how his friend was settling in. And _Silly Love Songs… _but that was because it had been Kurt's idea to do the performance and he wanted to make sure it was up to Kurt's standards.

Except now that he thought about it, _really _thought about it, Blaine realized that every time he was singing a song, he would always look to Kurt. Always.

Blaine was beginning to realize why Kurt wanted him to watch the movie.

But he pushed it aside for now, tuning back in just as the scene switched, jumping forward five years. There was still a lot of the movie to go and if this was one of Kurt's favorites, Blaine wanted to actually know what was going on.

"So they're with separate people now?"

Kurt nodded. "He's engaged."

"Does that mean they can be friends now, without the sex thing getting in the way?"

Once again, Kurt turned to look at him, this time with an eyebrow raised. "I'm impressed. Keep watching, you'll find out."

True enough, the two characters had the exact same conversation before coming to the conclusion that they couldn't be friends, and Blaine frowned. "I swear that just comes down to their personality and temperament more than the fact that they could have sex."

Kurt shrugged as the scene switched again. For a few minutes, they watched in silence before Blaine couldn't help himself any longer. "Oh, how convenient. They're both single."

"Shut up," Kurt said, elbowing him. "It's a movie, of course there's going to be cliches. Focus."

Blaine focused, but really, how was he meant to continue watching without interjecting? "And now they're friends. Is this the part where they prove themselves wrong and realize they can just be friends, or the part where they end up getting together?" Receiving no reply, Blaine smirked and continued watching.

When it got to the late night phone calls, Blaine couldn't bring himself to comment, however, because that hit just a little too close to home. Spending hours on the phone with Kurt, watching the same show or reading the same _Vogue _or whatever it was they talked about. They did it all the time and Blaine found himself relating far too closely to the characters at this point.

_They're just friends, _he reminded himself. _It's totally okay. _

Then he had to wonder why he was making such a big deal about it anyway. Blaine knew himself, as well as one could know themselves anyway. If he liked Kurt, wouldn't he know that?

_Maybe not._

Sighing quietly, Blaine returned his focus to the movie, immediately wishing he hadn't. His jaw dropped and all he could do was watch in silence until it was over. "Did -" Blaine shook his head, trying to erase the image from his retinas. "Did she just fake an orgasm in the middle of a restaurant?"

"Shamelessly." Kurt's eyes still hadn't left the screen but Blaine could see he was smirking.

"And you said I had important things to pick up from this? Kurt, I don't think guys can really fake orgasms like that… and I don't think I'd need to. _Ever_." Kurt mumbled something under his breath and Blaine frowned. "What?"

Kurt raised a finger to his lips. "Just watch the movie."

And then things started getting tense. Not just on the screen, as Harry and Sally tried to set each other up with their friends, but in the room.

Because Kurt was so _close_. Blaine didn't know how he hadn't realized it before but there was barely an inch between them and Blaine could almost feel Kurt's arm against his and _why did it matter? _They had been close before, many many times. So why was it a big deal now, why was it driving Blaine _crazy _with the proximity?

_Focus on the movie. _

"Oh, here we go."

Blaine turned to Kurt who was biting his lip. "What?"

Kurt shook his head, gesturing back to the screen which depicted a hysterical Sally being comforted by Harry. Blaine managed to decipher that her ex was getting married and she was clearly upset by it before realizing what Kurt had meant because _wow_, there was a lot of tension in that room.

And then they started kissing and Blaine stopped breathing. Of _course _he had known it was coming but to see the shift from friendship into more… well.

Blaine knew this was the connection Kurt wanted him to make, that it was so _easy _to let friendship drift over. And Blaine presumed that now they were together and everything was going to be easy and happily ever after and that was all well and good for the movies but what about when you're two guys in Ohio and have no idea what you're doing?

And then Harry left.

Blaine blinked a couple of times before turning to Kurt who was already looking at him. "Yeah," he said in answer to the unspoken question. "This isn't one of those 'everything works out just like that' movies, Blaine. It's a bit more like real life."

Blaine nodded, having to admit that was true and suddenly finding himself immensely grateful for the movie, for reasons he had never even considered before. Now it was like there was this guy he could _understand_, someone who didn't know what he was doing when it came to the line between friendship and romance either.

Someone who Blaine didn't want to be, whose mistakes he didn't want to make. So why would Kurt be showing him this if Harry screwed up so badly?

And things weren't getting any better either, especially not with that fight. "They can't recover from that," Blaine found himself whispering, barely aware of Kurt watching him more than the movie. He was lost in the story, connecting far too close, too vividly. But more than anything, this movie was showing him what a _bad _idea it would be to go after Kurt, to try and make something work there because of the chances of losing such an amazing friendship. Watching Harry try to mend what he had broken almost broke Blaine's heart because that could have been him.

It took a little while for Blaine to realize he was actually seriously considering a relationship with Kurt, but it wasn't a thought he could dismiss once he realized. No, it wasn't something he could do, not after watching this and seeing how badly it turned out for them, but maybe he did have feelings for Kurt. Maybe the line between friendship and relationship was blurring for him, just like it seemed it had for Kurt.

But Harry didn't give up.

Blaine wouldn't have been able to look away if anybody had paid him at that point, not when Harry was running towards the party like his whole life depended on it. Not when Sally was standing there, so _lonely _without Harry. Not when Harry had realized that his life _did _depend on it, the life he wanted. He wasn't going to give up on this. It didn't matter that they hadn't started out right, that things weren't right at that point, that they were only meant to be friends and nothing more and nothing was supposed to have changed that. Harry loved Sally and he was going to tell her.

Love was worth fighting for, worth risking for. It was worth making yourself vulnerable, setting yourself up for rejection and heartbreak. It was worth admitting your mistakes and apologizing. And it was worth giving your whole heart.

And Blaine wanted to.

"… _And I love that you are the last person I want to talk to before I go to sleep at night. And it's not because I'm lonely, and it's not because it's New Year's Eve. I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."_

"Kurt."

Blaine barely realized he had spoken but found himself turning towards Kurt involuntarily, who was smiling at him. "Do you understand now?" he asked, and damn it all if Kurt hadn't known the whole time, known what it had taken Blaine _so _long to figure out.

"Yes."

Kurt leaned in, closing that final distance between them and kissed him, and Blaine realized he had no reason to be afraid.

Sometimes life did turn out like the movies.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"You know the place."**_

_**"The alcove?"**_

_**"Wht the cheese are you talking about? I'm talking about Pigfarts! Or Hogwarts, whichever is closer. Bring your spacesuits!"**_


	190. Kilt

**So most of you saw I posted a T-rated story last night and a few people have commented that they don't think they're old enough to read it so they haven't. I appreciate your honesty and restraint so much :) I don't ever want any of my younger readers to read something they shouldn't simply because it's written by me and they read all of my stories, hence the rating. For those who do think they're old enough and haven't found it, it's called _Pamphlets_, based on _Sexy _and it's basically Kurt and Blaine getting a few things straight in their relationship. It's also been getting phenomenal reviews so thank you heaps, guys :) **

**89 hour string of shifts over!**

**From **_**totallygilmore: Blaine runs after Kurt (after the kilt disapproval from Blaine and Burt) in 'Prom Queen' and tells him what he is really thinking and then in they share their first kiss. Or something like that.**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

**I set myself a challenge to write this chapter in half an hour about a month ago. And it turned out to be one of my favourites.**

**(I know I'm saying that a bit lately but I had a string of amazing prompts around this time that I just loved writing and feel turned out really well)**

* * *

Kilt

"So I am wearing this suit. I worked hard on it, and I think it's fantastic." Kurt dropped his arms, turning his attention back to Blaine, who was horrified to see that he looked close to tears. "And if you don't want to join me... I completely understand."

And with that, Kurt turned and walked back towards his room. There was a few seconds of absolute silence where Blaine just stared at the spot where Kurt had been standing, then he turned his attention to Burt helplessly. He knew the rules - he and Kurt weren't allowed to be in Kurt's room alone together - but _surely _this wouldn't...

"Go," Burt said, nodding towards the hall. "You're the only one who'll have any chance of talking to him right now anyway."

That was all Blaine needed, almost out of the room before Burt had finished talking. He twisted his fingers together as he neared Kurt's door, trying to figure out what he could say to fix things before giving up and knocking. "Kurt?"

"Don't bother," came his boyfriend's voice, sounding defeated. "You can just tell me through the door."

"Kurt, of course I still want to go to Prom with you!"

There was a few seconds of silence, then the door swung open. Kurt was clearly trying to look stern, but the redness around his eyes was affecting Blaine a lot more than any glare could. "You want to go to Prom with me, just not me in this outfit."

Kurt turned and walked back into his room, Blaine following quickly behind. "No, that's not what I said -"

"You did, out there. You agreed with my dad that I shouldn't wear this, that I shouldn't be allowed to express myself. On the one night that everybody else gets to dress up and look their best, I should have to settle for something less than that?" Kurt sighed angrily. "Blaine, you know me. At least I thought," he added quietly, continuing before Blaine could interrupt. "You know what I'm like with fashion. To wear something else, something... traditional... that's not _me_. And saying that I should is like saying I have to change myself."

Kurt sat on the edge of his bed, staring at the floor. Blaine hadn't moved since Kurt had begun talking, each sentence slamming into him with the force of a truck. _Kurt thinks I want to change him. Kurt thinks I'm ashamed of him._

"Hey, listen to me." Blaine knelt down in front of Kurt, reaching out for his hands which Kurt gave reluctantly. "Let me just start by saying I _love _your outfit. I'm serious," he said when Kurt gave him an incredulous look. "I love all of your outfits. Just because I can't pull off fashion doesn't mean I'm not fashion conscious, and you always look great. This is no exception." He stroked the edge of Kurt's tuxedo jacket with one thumb, finally eliciting a small smile from his boyfriend.

Taking a deep breath, Blaine steeled himself for the next bit. "I just don't trust your school. Just because two people are doing their bit to put a stop to the bullying does _not _mean it's gone. And you were right when you said Prom was about joy, which is why I don't want your night - our night - to be ruined because some people think that your outfit is reason to hate us. I want you to have a Prom to remember for the _right _reasons."

He knew Kurt was drawing the connection to Blaine's Sadie Hawkins dance, and that was exactly where he had been headed with the conversation. Kurt _deserved _to have his night where he could be himself without any fear of judgement, but it wasn't going to happen at that school unless he put his head down and did his best not to draw attention to himself.

"Blaine," Kurt said quietly, "I know it's a difficult topic, but at your dance, why did they beat you up?"

Blaine frowned, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Because I had just come out and I took another guy."

Kurt nodded, eyebrow raised as if waiting for Blaine to understand something. "What did you wear?"

"Just a suit, nothing fancy..." _Oh._

"Exactly." Kurt slid down off the bed so they were eye to eye. "Blaine, they _know _I'm gay. They know what me bringing another guy means. Do you think it's going to matter whether I wear a plain suit or this or... or a giant banana outfit?" Blaine couldn't help his snort of laughter at that. "Yes, bad image, I know. But my point remains. It's not about what I'm wearing, it's about _me_. They hate me anyway, if they're going to try anything, they're going to do it regardless of what I'm wearing. They're going to do it because I'm there and I'm gay and they can't find it in their tiny little brains to accept me that way."

Blaine knew he had finally gotten it. "And so you're going to be yourself to prove that their hatred can't stop you." Kurt nodded, finally smiling at him properly. "You are _amazing_."

And before he could stop himself, Blaine was leaning in to press his lips gently against Kurt's. There was a horrible moment when Kurt stiffened and Blaine immediately moved to pull away, thinking he had done the wrong thing. But then Kurt was kissing him back, softly and hesitantly but so beautifully.

Kurt broke the kiss far too soon for Blaine's liking, murmuring, "My dad is just out there, if he happened to walk in..."

Blaine nodded, understanding perfectly. He stood, offering a hand to Kurt who brushed himself off quickly before they returned to the living room. "So, what should I wear to match this wonderful outfit?"

Kurt sized him up for a minute. Just as they reached the living room where Burt and Finn were still sitting, Kurt announced, "You know, I reckon I could whip up a kilt in your size."

There was a stunned silence for approximately two seconds, then Kurt burst into laughter. "You should see all of your faces!" He shook his head, placing a hand on Blaine's arm. "No, I wouldn't do that to you. A plain suit is fine." And as they sat back down so Kurt could explain his point of view to his father, he finished his sentence, smirking at Blaine. "After all, I think I'm the only one who can really rock this look."

And Blaine had to agree.

* * *

**They're just all kinds of gorgeous.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"OH MY GOSH! Kurt, another Katy Perry moment in our relationship!" *starts singing Not Like the Movies***_

_**"No. No, Blaine, honey. If you don't stop, I won't let you touch the hair." *flips hair elegantly***_

_***stops singing and watches hair like a puppy***_

_**We all love the hair... don't we? :P**_


	191. Girlfriends

**So... guess what I'm doing? Yeah, I'm starting another story. **

**One, I'm an idiot for doing this and two, I'm an idiot for telling you all. But that's just me. It won't be published for quite some time because once _Kiss _is finished which is happening fairly soon (I just made three people cry by saying that) I want to direct my focus to _Straight Camp _and _Stalker _for awhile. But the reason I tell you all now is as a warning. This story is going to be _depressing_. Self harm, suicidal thoughts and talk, substance abuse, swearing... yeah. It's an angst fest, that's for sure. I hope some of you will read it anyway.**

**From **_**Nani CW: Okay, Kurt and Blaine are out hanging with the Warblers (specifically Wes and David) somewhere outside of campus where they run into Wes and David's girl friends and the girl friends automatically assume that Kurt is Blaine's boyfriend because of Wes and David. And you can take it from there!**_

**Now, my regulars know I usually use Jessica and Melanie as the girlfriends for these two. But I hate Melanie and I wanted someone to be supportive of the two.**

* * *

Girlfriends

"Please remind me again why I'm coming?"

"Because Jessica misses you and Sophie has never met you and really wants to."

"And why am _I _coming?"

"Because we are not good at being dragged clothes shopping. We always say the wrong things."

Kurt and Blaine shrugged in unison. "Works for me," Kurt said, buckling his seatbelt and rifling through his bag for his sunglasses. "I'll never pass up shopping."

"And I'm just glad you finally dropped Melanie," Blaine added. "That girl was so not good for you, or any of us."

David glanced at him through the mirror, making Kurt wince. Living with a father who worked in a car shop meant he had very strict rules about driving and keeping ones eyes on the road at all times was a must. "What did she do to you?"

"Made us have to listen to you whine all the time," Wes explained. "Face it, you were never really happy with her. You were whipped, and not in a good way. I just wish you had been the one to break it off, but at least Sophie is good for you."

"We've only been together for a few weeks," David said, slowing for the lights. "How do you know she's good for me?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow, Blaine mirroring his action. "Because you're so happy," Kurt said, the other two boys nodding their agreement. "Every time you get back from a date with her, you're always smiling."

"And the fact that she wants to meet me when you said you told her that I'm gay," Blaine added in. "Melanie's homophobia was always just lingering below the surface, at least Kurt and I can feel comfortable being ourselves around Sophie. I hope."

That was something Kurt hadn't thought about, but it made sense. Usually Blaine had to be threatened and bribed to go shopping with anybody, so his strange almost-enthusiasm had had Kurt wondering what was going on. And it wasn't that Blaine was an attention-seeker or anything, but Kurt knew the boy loved positive reinforcement, to know that he was accepted and cared about.

Kurt only wished he could give Blaine that love he desired, but until Blaine made it clear what he wanted, Kurt wasn't going to put his heart on the line like that. For now he would just love Blaine like a friend and spend every day trying to get a little bit closer to him. And hopefully one day Blaine would work out what he wanted - and hopefully that day would be soon because Kurt was starting to get just a little bit sick of waiting on a possibility that might never come. That was one area where Blaine melded straight back into your average teenage guy - articulating his feelings was a weak point at best.

But as David pulled into the parking lot, Kurt couldn't bring himself to think of anything but the day ahead. Shopping was one of his favorite pastimes, no matter the company he was in, and Kurt would be damned if he didn't visit all of his stores while he was there. He knew Jessica was an avid shopper - if this Sophie was anything the same then the three would get along perfectly.

The two girls were waiting out the front, Jessica wrapping herself in Wes's arms and kissing him without preamble. David and Sophie were more restrained with a simple kiss on the cheek and their hands linking together and Kurt had to smile, elbowing Blaine a little who was also watching on. David finally remembered the two boys were there and turned to face them. "Soph, this is Kurt and Blaine."

"It's absolutely lovely to meet you!" The girl was almost gushing but Kurt knew it was sincere. As she hugged Blaine, Kurt took a moment to appreciate the girl David had managed to land. Gorgeous skin, long brown hair and fashion sense that Kurt instantly approved of - the kind of girl Kurt would easily date if he were interested in girls.

Except Kurt was kind of interested in boys and happened to be very interested in the one right next -

Sophie hugged him at that point, thankfully derailing Kurt's train of thought and taking him into safer territory. Forcing his mind back to the task at hand - and that wasn't difficult at all when it came to shopping - Kurt hugged the girl back before pulling away to take her in properly. _Well __dressed, __that__'__s __a __plus._

"Good to meet you too," Kurt said, watching as her hand slipped back into David's seemingly without thought. So far she seemed lovely and exactly what David needed, but only time would tell. At least she gave a much better first impression than Melanie ever had, at least according to what Blaine and Wes had told him.

Jessica grabbed Kurt's hand, tugging him in the direction of the shops. "Come on, I got paid yesterday and my wardrobe is severely lacking in summer outfits."

"It's _spring_," Kurt heard David mutter and had to hide a smirk at how woefully uniformed boys were about how clothing worked. Except himself, but Kurt knew he was a wonderful exception to the rule.

Kurt could tell it was going to be a great day - well, great for half the group at least. While the guys were obviously happy enough to be with their girlfriends, Kurt could see the glazed over expressions cross their faces the second they were dragged into the first store. He had to admire their discipline though - there wasn't a word of complaint to be heard, not even from Blaine who had nothing at all forcing him to be there. After all, it wasn't like _they _were dating so Blaine could really do whatever he liked. Yet, he was still there, walking beside Kurt like there was nothing else he'd rather do than be bored in a clothing store.

Kurt really needed to stop falling in love with this boy.

"I don't know what I think about this season's trends," Jessica admitted as she flicked through a rack of maxi-dresses. "And leopard print is back _again_."

Sophie nodded, wrinkling her nose. "I've never been able to wear it and never wanted to. And I just hate the jumpsuits."

"I hear you, ladies." Kurt pulled out one of the shorter dresses and held it up in Jessica's direction experimentally. "With your skin tone and hair colour, I think you could pull this off. Probably with a few accessories."

Jessica took the dress and examined it. "Are you sure? I mean, I'll try it on but I've never worn anything quite like it before."

Kurt had to laugh when he glanced over at the other three boys. Blaine was at least attempting to be interested in what they were saying but David was poking the mannequin experimentally while Wes looked like he was falling asleep where he was standing. "Guys, why don't you go order lunch or something?" Kurt suggested gently. "It'll take awhile judging by that crowd and we should be done by then."

David sighed in relief before glancing at his girlfriend. "You don't mind?"

Sophie waved a hand. "Go. I can tell you're bored."

Wes was already pulling his wallet out and kissing Jessica on the cheek. "What do you want to eat?"

David was asking the same of Sophie and Kurt glanced to Blaine involuntarily who smirked. "The usual?" Kurt nodded, pulling out his wallet to cover it and Blaine shook his head. "Don't even. You'll regret it when you need the money for the seventeenth scarf you invariably find and 'need' later." Kurt hit him and a laughing Blaine disappeared with the other two boys as Kurt rolled his eyes and returned to shopping.

"So, how long have you two been dating?"

Kurt continued perusing the racks, letting the girls talk. It was only when the silence dragged on that he looked up and noticed they were both staring at him. "I'm sorry?"

"You and Blaine," Jessica explained. "How long have you been together?"

_Oh._

Kurt knew he had to tread carefully - with the guys, if he said he wasn't dating someone then they simply left it at that. Girls always seemed to feel the need to probe at it, to find out _why _they weren't dating and how he felt. "We actually aren't together," Kurt tried tentatively.

"Why not?" Jessica demanded immediately and Kurt resisted the urge to wince. "Clearly you like him."

"What makes you think that?"

_Bad __question. _The two girls looked at each other, smirking. "Well," Sophie began carefully, placing the dress she was holding back on the rack and turning to Kurt fully. "To start with, you apparently always spend time together. David tells me you're always going out for coffee, watching movies, singing songs together…"

"And?"

Jessica shook her head. "Kurt, I've seen you watching him so many times when you think he isn't looking, when you think nobody's looking and you get this _look _on your face and honey, you are so smitten."

Kurt felt a blush creeping up his face and knew it was giving him away. "Even if I did, and I'm not saying I do," he added quickly, even though it was pointless. "If I _did_ like Blaine, it doesn't matter. He doesn't like me back. We're just friends and that's all we're going to be."

"But you make the most gorgeous couple," Sophie told him matter-of-factly. "You're pretty much perfect for each other and David told me that most of Dalton are just waiting on you two to get your acts together and figure out that you'd be great together. I've only just met you and I can see it as clear as anything."

"It's not about figuring out how good we'd be together," Kurt said patiently, trying not to think about whether he and Blaine _would _actually be that perfect together. "It's about the fact that I like Blaine and Blaine -"

"Is crazy about you."

Kurt closed his eyes, willing his brain to stop playing tricks on him. But nothing could imagine up the hand resting on his shoulder, the hand that was so unmistakably _Blaine__'__s_. Just like the voice had been, the voice that had said…

_Blaine's crazy about you._

Kurt couldn't move, not even when Blaine moved to stand in front of him, both hands resting on his shoulders. "Kurt? Look at me?"

"You can't mean that," Kurt found himself saying even as he opened his eyes to stare at Blaine. "You've never shown the slightest interest in me, you _said _you didn't -"

"Because I never honestly thought about it like _that_ until these two painted that picture," Blaine explained and Kurt was floored by the emotion dancing in his eyes. "I mean, I've thought about it in passing, especially after Valentine's Day, but never really as something that _could _happen. And now that it could… Kurt, I can't _not _let it… not unless you don't want -"

Kurt finally got the semblance of mind to do something. The fact that 'something' happened to be leaning in and kissing Blaine was probably the smartest move Kurt had made in a long time, especially since Blaine was now the one too stunned to move.

_Although, that might not be positive._

Pulling away quickly, Kurt stared at Blaine whose eyes were shut. "I'm sorry, I should have asked, I shouldn't have just -"

"I'd kiss you again but I'm fully aware of where we are," Blaine interrupted softly, his eyes finally opening. "But as soon as we get out of here, I'm kissing you _properly_."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Just let me buy a few more things."

Judging by Blaine's groan, he had realized just how long that would take, and Kurt had to smirk as he turned back to the girls.

Whether Blaine was aware of it or not, this was called payback. Because Kurt Hummel didn't like waiting.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"HEY! HEY KURT!"**_

_***sigh* "Yes Finn?"**_

_**"How 'bout all of ND wears kilts to prom, to show our support of you? We could totally start a new trend!"**_

_**"Finn... *mutters* Sometimes I wonder about you, and if you really are straight..."**_


	192. Miss

**So my work is planning a Christmas party. Basically they all just want to go out and get drunk so I'll go along and... yeah, not get drunk. Great. But I realized that they're all either married or in relationships and so they'll all probably be bringing their significant others and so I'll be the one sitting there not getting drunk with nobody to talk to. Ouch. **

**For those who are apologizing for saying they can't read my newest story which I mentioned in my authors note, please don't feel at all bad. I'd much rather you didn't read it and didn't risk triggering yourself or being affected by it than trying to force yourself to read it for my sake, okay? And for those who do want to read it, it's not going to be published until _Kiss _ends but _time-to-try-defying-gravity_ has read the first chapter and she loves it to pieces so that's a good sign. **

**From **_**Jenny Crosby: During A Night of Neglect, before Karofsky showed up and **__**ruined their cute scene. Like after Blaine says "aw, you miss them" they have **__**a conversation where Kurt admits he misses them.**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

**To _KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek, _this isn't the chapter. I think I messed up the numbers but I'll leave you a note when the proper chapter comes up.**

* * *

Miss

"Aw, you miss them."

Blaine wasn't sure what he was expecting in response. After all, it was clear as day that Kurt missed the McKinley group, but Blaine had always known that. There was just something about the look that Kurt had sent after Artie and Brittany that made Blaine unable to help himself - a look so filled with longing and something akin to _regret _that stirred some of Blaine's more private insecurities about not being enough to keep Kurt, that he would always take a back seat to Kurt's McKinley friends.

But those weren't what mattered right now. What mattered was the way Kurt was turning to look at him, raising a shoulder in a half shrug that was meant to be nonchalant but never even came close. His eyes said it all. "I've always missed them. It's just harder when I see them doing things like this and knowing that I could be a part of it. I could be the one battling Rachel for the closing spot -" Both Kurt and Blaine had to smile at that one; Mercedes had called Kurt earlier that week to vent her frustration and reveal her plans. "Or singing something that didn't involve an eight part harmony backing me up. No offense," he added quickly. "You guys are fantastic, it's just…"

"Just not New Directions," Blaine completed quietly. "You told me right back at the start that neither was good or bad, just a different energy. I always knew that this energy was your kind though, not ours."

Kurt bit his lip, ducking his head a little. "Does that make me a bad person?"

"Kurt, no." Blaine took his hand, something that was familiar territory by now. "You're an individual and that's a great thing. As much as you refuse to admit it, I know you _like _screaming to get noticed. And if it weren't for Karofsky, I'd be all for you coming back here and being a part of this again, even if -" Blaine cut himself off, not sure if he was ready to go there yet.

Unfortunately, Kurt would have to be deaf to have missed that. "Even if what, Blaine?"

Blaine weighed up his options before giving in. He wanted their relationship to be based on trust and honesty after all, and it was better that Kurt really knew what kind of person he was. "Even if that means I have to share you."

Kurt frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Kurt, before we were boyfriends, we were best friends. I was the first person you met at Dalton and we connected and we always go out for coffee and spend so much time together and…" Blaine stopped, forcing himself to stop rambling and start making sense. "What I'm trying to say is that I don't have much in the way of… ah, _competition_, at Dalton. I mean, you're friends with the other guys but you don't go and hang out with them frequently or anything because you'd much rather spend your time with me… and yeah, okay, that sounds really egoistic -"

"I understand what you're saying," Kurt interrupted gently. "And you're right, I always did want to spend most of my time with you. So is it just the distance that you're worried about if I did transfer, that we wouldn't be able to spend every day together anymore?"

Blaine hesitated again before shaking his head. "No. I wish it was but… Kurt, if you go back to McKinley, you're going to be able to go out for dinner with the girls without having to be back for curfew. You'll be able to spend a lot more time with them and because you _can _you probably will and then…"

Blaine trailed off, trying to make himself look less insecure and more self-assured like he normally did. But clearly he had failed because Kurt was staring at him with realization in his eyes. "You're afraid I'm going to be spending so much time with them that I won't have time for you? That's what you meant by competition?"

"It's so petty, I know. I just -" Blaine tugged his hand from Kurt's as gently as possible and shrugged. "Don't even worry about it, pretend I didn't say it." He gestured towards the door to the auditorium. "We should go in and -"

"You're _afraid_."

Blaine stopped, frowning. Kurt looked like he had made a very important discovery and Blaine was yet to find out what it was and whether it was a bad thing or not. "I guess you could say that," he said tentatively, not sure where Kurt was going with this.

And then Kurt sighed. "Blaine… it's about time."

_What?_

"Do you know how you come across sometimes?" Kurt didn't give him a chance to answer. "You come across as a bit of a robot. You're always in control and so charming and I mean, yes, you do stupid things, but _emotionally _you're alway so put together. And I think that's because you're afraid to let your emotions out, you're afraid of how people are going to treat you if you admit you're scared or upset or lonely or whatever it may be."

"Get out of my head," Blaine whispered. It was the only thing he could think to say because this was _scary. _Somehow Kurt had pegged him completely in a few short seconds, in one slipped sentence this boy had unveiled the core of Blaine's aftermath to being bullied. "How do you do that?"

Kurt smiled. "It's a gift. I can read people well." He held out his hand which Blaine took gratefully, leaning back against one of the lockers. "I want you to show your emotions around me, Blaine. If you're scared of something, just tell me, and then we can work on it _together_."

"And you're not going to think any less of me?"

Kurt sighed again, harsher. "Did you think less of me the first time we met and I started crying? After we had confronted Karofsky on the stairs outside? When we were talking about sex and I couldn't even _look _at you? Those were all times when I had my emotions going out of control and I was _terrified _that you'd judge me for it because I was such a wreck and you always preached courage at me."

"I could never judge you for being brave enough to do what I couldn't."

And there it was. Kurt paused, coming down from his rant to look at Blaine curiously. "What do you mean? The Karofsky thing?"

Blaine shook his head. "Kurt, the bravest thing you can do is to be yourself without caring what other people think, and you do that. You let yourself cry and show emotion because that's who you are and you just do it. I can't just do that, it takes so much for me to actually be vulnerable to someone like that."

Kurt's gaze softened completely and he took Blaine's other hand, stepping closer. "I never realized. Blaine, I'm sorry."

"Don't be," Blaine said quickly, doing his best to pull Kurt close without making it obvious that he needed him, needed the contact. "It's okay. It's just something I have to work on, I guess."

Kurt's expression turned contemplative. "Will you let me help you?"

There was no question about it because if Kurt hadn't offered, Blaine would had to have tried to work up the courage to ask himself. "I think I need your help. I just want to be me and know that you won't judge me for it."

And the next thing he knew, Kurt was kissing him. And Blaine understood.

"You won't judge me," he said when they broke apart, staring into Kurt's eyes for the confirmation that he knew he would find.

Kurt simply smiled. "And if I do come back here, don't think for a second that you won't be my first priority to make time for," he said, pulling away and offering Blaine his hand again. "You mean far too much to me to ever let you slip away."

* * *

**"And I'm never saying goodbye to you..."**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"You guys are such a cute couple! Why not?"**_

_***cries* "Be-because Blaine... he doesn't love me as much- as much as-"**_

_**"WHO IS THIS PERSON THAT WE MUST DESTROY?"**_

_**"He-he loves hi-his hair gel more than me!"**_

_***evil glint in eyes***_

_**And mysteriously all of Blaine's hair gel disappeared, replaced with... a unicorn sticker book. How charming!**_


	193. Time

**So I think I forgot about this. Or I thought _Edge of Glory _was _Kiss _or.. I don't know. It's only five hours late... not that bad. **

**I am very apprehensive about this chapter. Very. **

_**AxelCat: in an alternate universe where time is all messed up, and it might be yesterday one minute and tomorrow the next minute, Kurt and Sam get together, and Blaine tries to use the time issue to get Kurt back into his loving arms. **_

**I honestly can't believe I agreed to this one. My head was spinning as I wrote it.**

* * *

Time

It was July 17th when Kurt arrived at Blaine's door in tears, and Blaine wished he knew what was wrong.

All he could do was hold his arms open and allow Kurt - and was this _his _Kurt? Blaine didn't even know right now - to cry for as long as he needed to. As he did, Blaine subtly pulled his phone out and checked his calendar, suppressing a sigh when he saw no notes for the past month. Clearly he hadn't been here yet, so he really had no idea what was going on with Kurt. For all he knew, he could have been the one to upset Kurt and Kurt was going to yell at him any minute now for something Blaine hadn't done yet. Except of course he had.

Finally Kurt pulled away, staring up at him with glittering eyes. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "It's just… Sam."

Blaine's heart dropped even as he made a sympathetic noise, encouraging Kurt to continue. He vaguely remembered Kurt mentioning that Sam was gay so clearly he _had _come to this timeline before, but at that time Kurt had been single and flirting with Blaine like mad, and Blaine had been sure if he had had one more day, they would have gotten together. Clearly not.

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked, his go-to answer for when he had no clue of what was going on. He had only ever been caught out twice, in situations where he was meant to know what was going on and truly had no idea. Never with Kurt though - as far as Kurt knew, this was the same Blaine he had talked to yesterday, the same Blaine he had been friends with for the past six months.

And he was. This Blaine just hadn't lived those months yet. At least not all of them.

"He decided he's not actually gay and he was just confused because Quinn dumped him," Kurt mumbled into his shoulder. "So he said he was very sorry but it was time for this to end. Blaine, how can you date someone for _two __months _and then decide you're not into their _gender_?"

"I don't know sw - Kurt," Blaine said, hoping Kurt didn't catch the slip. Last time he had been this close to Kurt, they had been each other's - not permanently, Blaine had known that, they had simply been friends with benefits and Blaine had truly hated it - and it was almost second nature to call Kurt pet names. Something he needed to control. "I'm so sorry."

"Two months to the _date_," Kurt continued. "He didn't even remember it was our anniversary."

May 17th.

Blaine didn't remember it, which meant he hadn't been there yet. Which meant, he might…

_Stop_, he told himself, rubbing Kurt's back gently. _You __know __you __can__'__t __pick __the __date. __Don__'__t __delude __yourself __in to __thinking __you __can __change __things._

It was a horrible gift sometimes, being the only one who was aware of the time changes going on around them constantly. Except he wasn't the only one, his father had told him, but unless it was an immediate family member, it was far too risky to try to find others. If there were _two _of you switching days in close proximity, things got difficult fast. Which was why Blaine was at Dalton instead of in New York with his family, why he couldn't go home for the holidays. The last time they had met, Blaine had nearly destroyed his own existence. His father's timeline had stopped switching a year ago when Blaine's younger sister was born, but until Blaine's had stopped it was too risky for him to go back.

At least Blaine was sure he existed now. His father had told him there were a few scares when he and his mother were first married - days when he would wake up and there would be no Blaine, no sign of them ever having had a child. The timeline still hadn't been secured and his father had been terrified that Blaine wasn't actually real, not in the real timeline. But now there was not only Blaine but Cathy, and Cathy was the trigger point for his father. Everybody's was different apparently - for some people, it was a simple event like graduating high school, securing a job, falling in love… something common that would connect their timeline to everybody else's and stop them switching around. For others, they could go through all of their major milestones before settling.

Blaine was hopeful that Kurt might be his trigger. After all, he had never felt anything like this for anybody before, not in any timeline. There were other boys, of course - some who were still around but didn't remember ever having been with Blaine, some who had ceased to exist for whatever reasons in specific timelines. But Kurt was a constant, no matter how the two of them knew or didn't know each other, Kurt always existed in the timelines.

The only way he hadn't existed yet was as Blaine's boyfriend. And at this point, Blaine was ready to do almost anything to get Kurt to be his, to be sure of his reality. But all he could do was wait, take each day as it came and hope he could hit the right timeline on the right date to be able to change things, to put things as they should be.

_This __time __switching __thing __needs __a __manual, _Blaine thought to himself, not for the first time.

Kurt lifted his head again, wiping at his tears. "It's okay, I can deal. I mean, I've been dumped before, this is normal. I mean, I have to live with my ex-boyfriend so…"

_Finn. And his dad did get married in this one. Okay. _

"You don't have to 'deal', Kurt," Blaine said soothingly. "You can take as long as you need to recover from this, and don't let anybody else tell you otherwise."

But Kurt seemed to have gotten himself under control. "It's okay, I'll be alright. Besides, we have rehearsal soon and you have that new solo to perform!"

_Crap._

Blaine smiled. "Yeah, looking forward to it. Could you, uh, maybe see if the sheet music is on my desk. I swear I left it around here somewhere…"

Kurt gave him an odd look but obediently wandered over to Blaine's desk, searching through the sheets. "I thought you didn't need the sheet music?"

"It's always good to be sure," Blaine said smoothly, and at least that sounded like enough of a Blaine thing to say. He hoped. "You know me, I like to be prepared."

"You certainly do - ah, here it is." Kurt slid a couple of sheets out and brought them back over to the bed, handing them to Blaine. "You're absolutely going to nail it." Blaine glanced down, letting out a soft sigh of relief. He had performed _Hey __Soul __Sister _before, once at Sectionals, once as an audition song and now… for whatever this was. Blaine had no idea.

It turned out that this time around, the Council had elected the song for Regionals and Blaine sang it smoothly, relieved beyond measure when he looked up at the Council table and saw David sitting there. A few weeks back - somewhere in February of last year - David had been killed in a car crash, and to see his friend alive and well reminded Blaine of how precious every single day was, and that his preventative measures had actually worked.

_One down. You only get two more._

After Warbler practice, Blaine spent the afternoon with Kurt, helping the boy through his breakup. It was difficult, of course. The last time he and Kurt had been alone in Kurt's room, they had been making out before Kurt had kicked him out to go on a date with some guy he had picked up in a bar. But that Kurt had been the result of a mother who had abandoned him instead of passing away, and Blaine had only ever encountered him once before, just like there had only ever been one Kurt whose mother was still alive. It was small details like this that showed Blaine how the timeline was most likely going to settle, the hard facts that were set reality.

It also showed Blaine how the smallest event could change everything. And watching as Kurt slipped off to sleep, tears still on his cheeks, Blaine vowed that if he could get back to that date in that time, he would stop this Kurt from getting so badly hurt.

And if that meant Blaine might get his chance, then that was a wonderful side product.

* * *

Blaine knew he couldn't control where he ended up, but waking up the next morning to find himself in early May was almost too good to be true. Of course there was no guarantee that the timeline was the same, but Blaine's suspicions were confirmed at breakfast when Kurt spent the time when the two weren't absently flirting talking about Sam. Not his _boyfriend_, Sam, but Sam who he was possibly interested in.

As he drove out to McKinley, Blaine tried to work out why he didn't feel more guilty about this. All his life, he had done his best to not meddle, not change the past because of the repercussions it could have - going out to McKinley like this could fracture things that Blaine had experienced just yesterday… but not just yesterday, two months in the future. And there was no guarantee that this would change things either. But Blaine couldn't feel bad about it, not when he remembered how distraught Kurt had been. Nobody was allowed to hurt the boy he loved and get away with it. Not when he could change things.

Blaine had promised himself that he would have three times where he would allow himself to change things if necessary and possible. He had already used one, when he had gotten an incredibly rare chance to go back to the same day of David's death, he had simply snuck out and cut the brakes on his friend's car. And that had worked - David hadn't disappeared since. This would be the second, which would leave only one more chance.

Was this worth it?

Blaine reminded himself of Kurt and nodded. Yes, it was.

At some point in time, Blaine had met Sam, but he didn't think they were introduced. Sure enough, when he casually walked the boy in the parking lot, Sam showed no recognition at all. Hopefully that wasn't just because he was trying not to stare at Quinn Fabray - a good sign in itself. And Quinn Fabray was exactly who Blaine Anderson was headed towards.

"Hey," he murmured, seeing absolutely no recognition in her eyes when she turned to him. "Look, this is going to make no sense but I would love it if you could trust me and play along for five minutes. I just need you to act like you're flirting with me."

Quinn raised an eyebrow, leaning against her car. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Because I know you're interested in Sam Evans and this will give him the courage he needs to step up and ask you out, as well as helping me out with a situation of my own -"

"Okay, look," Quinn interrupted quietly, stepping a little closer. Over her shoulder, Blaine saw Sam look up at that, watching them closely. "I don't believe in outing but Sam doesn't keep it a secret that he plays for both teams and I think he's actually interested in a friend of ours -"

"Kurt."

Quinn blinked a couple of times. "You're - of course. Dalton. So what, you're trying to make sure Sam doesn't get with Kurt because… why?"

Blaine sighed, trying to work out how well he could blur the truth and lies this time. "I have it on good authority that neither of the boys are as interested in each other as they think they are. I - I don't want to see Kurt get hurt out of this."

Quinn was watching him, some kind of recognition in her eyes that instantly unnerved Blaine. "Okay, I know there's more to this story than you're letting on, but it looks like you can't tell me." Stepping closer again, Quinn allowed a hand to rest on his arm, ducking her head. "And yes, I am interested in Sam and I have noticed him watching me. Do you think this will work?"

"He's already glaring daggers at me," Blaine said, allowing himself to smile as if Quinn Fabray were the most interesting person on the planet. "I'm pretty sure you have something in your hair right about now. At least that would be convenient."

Rolling her eyes, Quinn allowed Blaine to gently run a hand through her hair. "How long do we need to do this?"

As if on cue the bell rang and Blaine stepped back, letting his reluctance show. It was almost real too - he had never really had much of a chance to talk to Quinn and she wasn't as bad as Blaine had been led to believe. "Thank you for your assistance, Miss Fabray," he said formally, taking her hand and pressing a kiss to the back of it, watching in amusement as she tried not to blush.

"Wait," Quinn said as he turned to leave. "Forgive me if I'm wrong but you play for Kurt's team, don't you?"

"Yes," Blaine admitted. "And yes, I'm madly in love with him, but that's not the reason I did this."

Quinn smirked at him before grabbing the books off the top of her car. "Uh-huh. I'll make sure to give you a call and let you know whether Sam works up the courage to ask me out after that display."

"You don't have my number."

"Yes, I do," Quinn called over her shoulder as she walked away and Blaine shook his head in amusement. Sam was still standing in the same spot across the parking lot and Blaine caught his eye for a second before the blonde turned, following Quinn into the building. Blaine allowed himself to smirk as he turned back to his own car.

So maybe he now had to try and explain his absence from first period Spanish and would probably end up with a detention for it. And even if Blaine had known he would have to complete the detention the following day, he still wouldn't have changed anything.

_That's two. I hope it makes a difference._

* * *

June 12th.

Blaine bit his lip as he stood outside Kurt's door. It was always a risk to be the one to make the first move - usually he waited for others to come to him and connect the dots on where he was. But after his experience in May yesterday - and Blaine still couldn't _believe _he had gotten there - Blaine couldn't shake the feeling that this was the same timeline, that Kurt and Sam weren't together and Blaine had a chance. And he had to take that chance.

Blaine knocked.

The door opened a few seconds later to reveal a casually dressed Kurt grinning at him. "Hey, Blaine! What brings you here?"

"Just wanted to see if you had any plans," Blaine said nonchalantly, leaning against the doorframe. "I'm bored."

Kurt laughed, gesturing for Blaine to enter. "Only you would be bored at eight in the morning. And no, nothing planned. Did you want to hang out?"

"Sounds great." Blaine settled himself on Kurt's bed, the boy taking a seat next to him. "So, what's happening in the life of Kurt? And how's everybody from New Directions?"

Thankfully the question was taken just as it was meant to be - an innocent enquiry. "Well I was out there last weekend and got to catch up with a few of them. Finn and Rachel are back on, as usual, but I don't think it's going to last once the story of Santana and Finn gets out. Artie and Brittany are still on, of course, as well as Tina and Mike. Sam and Quinn are going strong and -"

_Oh, thank god._

"- the rest is pretty much normal," Kurt finished. "Mercedes says hi. She kind of misses you."

Blaine grinned, the expression unbelievably natural because _he __had __a __chance._"Tell her I miss her too. We absolutely have to catch up again. But tell me about you, what's going on with Kurt Hummel?"

"You see me every day, Blaine, you should know." Kurt elbowed him teasingly. "Same as ever, trying to knock you out of your solo spot and watching everybody else fall in love around me while sitting in singledom."

Blaine winced. "Yeah, I'm with you on that one."

No reaction - good, Blaine wasn't dating someone else then. That would have made things _really _awkward. Instead, Kurt smiled sympathetically and placed a hand on his. "That's okay, I'm sure we'll both find someone eventually."

_Oh, I have. He's right next to me._

Blaine had to be very careful from here - sometimes he and Kurt had talked about this before, sometimes it had never been brought up. "Do you have your eye on anybody in particular?"

Kurt blushed - actually _blushed_! - and ducked his head. "I - uh, I don't think you're the right person to be talking to about this."

"Why, because we're both gay?" Blaine asked frankly, smirking a little when Kurt nodded. "And? Can't you talk to me about anything and everything?"

"I - of course I can, but this is…" Kurt trailed off helplessly.

Blaine gave him a moment before taking the leap of courage. "Kurt, the only reason I can see it being awkward is if if was _me _you were interested in."

Kurt choked and Blaine's heart soared. _Could __it __be__…__?_

"Okay, _please _don't let this make things weird with our friendship, or try to humor me or pity me or make me feel better," Kurt rushed out, still staring purposefully at the ground. "I get that you don't feel the same way and it's totally _fine_, I promise, I just -"

Blaine ducked his head so he was level with Kurt and kissed him.

The whole world fell into place. Every other timeline shifted away, every other eventuality disappeared from Blaine's mind. If there was a chance that he would have to wake up tomorrow and _not _be with Kurt, then he would rather never sleep, never switch days again if it meant he might lose this boy who _liked __him __back_. Blaine had waited days, months, _years_ for their worlds to align and he _wasn__'__t __letting __go._

Kurt seemed to feel the same. Even when they had broken apart, Kurt was still wrapped around him like he had been waiting forever for this moment. But Blaine knew even if Kurt had been in love with him since the moment they had met, Blaine would still have loved him longer.

The rest of the day was spent in almost exactly the same manner. They didn't leave Kurt's bed except to eat, instead electing to talk, cuddle and kiss. Blaine held on to every single precious second, not wanting to waste a single one because he _could _lose this tomorrow. No matter how optimistic he was that this might have been enough to seal his timeline, Blaine knew he needed to stay real. Kurt could be gone tomorrow.

Finally, when the day had drawn to a close and Kurt had fallen asleep on his chest, still wrapped around each other, Blaine closed his eyes with a sigh.

_Even if this doesn't stay true, at least I had him for one day. One perfect day._

* * *

It was the 13th of June and Blaine woke with Kurt in his arms.

For a long moment he simply laid there, staring down at the sleeping angel he had the privilege of _finally _holding, of calling his own. Not Sam's, not Finn's, not bruised and broken because of Karofsky, not _Karofsky__'__s_, not dead, not still at McKinley.

_His_.

Maybe tomorrow that would all change. Maybe tomorrow he would wake up and Kurt wouldn't even know his name and they would be strangers, simply performing against one another at Sectionals again. Maybe he would hurt Kurt badly in the future, present, past, somewhere that caused things to be so severely fractured that Kurt would never be his again, no matter how many times Blaine visited.

But something in his heart told Blaine that this was the one. It was rare to have two days in a row, after all, so maybe this was the sign he had been waiting for, the one. All he could do was wait and hope.

Five days. If time didn't switch for five days, Blaine knew Kurt was his and this timeline was real.

Until then, Blaine simply held Kurt in his arms and knew that in this time, Kurt _was_ his.

* * *

**Oh geez, this is the most complex thing I've ever written and I don't even know if it makes any sense at all. I just kept on writing until it was all out and hopefully followed some kind of coherency.**

**Blah.**

**MusicalEscape:**

_***back in some other hallway***_

_**"He's planning on coming back?"**_

_**"Dolphin's coming back?"**_

_**"We can't have this- as much as I love Kurt, he's not safe here! We-we'll have the Warblers stage a Warblervention and New Directions stage a New Dirvention!"**_

_**"No. No, Rachel, no. It only works with Warblervention. And how 'bout instead of stopping him we conveniently tell Karofsky that Charlie the Unicorn is in Canada? He'll be out of Ohio in no time, since he's a unicorn-tracker."**_


	194. Tina

**Thank you for the amazing feedback on yesterday's chapter - it's mindblowing that quite a few of you say that was your favorite chapter to date! Unfortunately I don't plan to write anything else in the time travelling verse, it's just too confusing for me. The only thing I have considered doing with that chapter is writing the moment when the timeline cements and Blaine tells Kurt about the fact that he was a time traveller. But don't hold me to that, okay?**

**Woke up to the latest Tumblr riot - video clip of one of the 03x04 songs that I've been dying for and I kind of cried a little watching it, not just because it was so amazing but because of what it symbolizes, of where the characters were in 02x04 compared to now and... ugh. Anybody who's seen it will understand my feelings.**

**I posted another sequel to a _Kiss _chapter too. It's a sequel to Chapter 94 - Introductions, the one where Kurt brings Blaine to his house to introduce him to his family and they end up kissing in Kurt's car and get caught by his dad. I wrote what happens during the dinner and it's called... surprise surprise... _Introductions. _So feel free to go and check that out :)**

**From **_**Paige Blithiar: when they were in the benefit and Kurt runs to the choir room with Blaine in tow to comfort Tina? And Blaine sees just how much he cares and during Mike's performance…**_

**Angela and I are in agreement that not even a Kliss could have made this episode 'good'. We're just not fans. **

* * *

Tina

As Tina bolted off the stage, Blaine winced as he could hear the sound of the girl beginning to sob. He turned to Kurt anxiously, expecting to see his boyfriend looking equally as concerned, after all he and Tina were still very close. Instead he found Kurt already out of his seat, tugging at Blaine's hand. "Come on!"

Frowning, Blaine allowed himself to be pulled out of the auditorium, wondering why they were leaving instead of supporting the others. But as they headed towards the choir room that Kurt had shown him on the way in, Blaine understood that nothing was going to keep Kurt from looking after his friend at that time.

The door was open and Blaine could hear Tina crying. He hesitated for a second, not sure whether he should go in or not and Kurt stopped, turning to look at him. "What is it?"

"Should I wait outside?"

Kurt frowned. "No, of course not," he said as if it were obvious. "You care about Tina too, don't you?"

"Of course -"

"Then come on."

Kurt tugged his hand again and Blaine allowed himself to be led into the choir room which had been transformed into a dressing room. Blaine only took a second to marvel at how much work they had done before Kurt let go of his hand, crossing the room to sit next to Mike and Tina. "You were _amazing_," he said soothingly, Mike shooting him a grateful look. "I was so in love with your song and someday when you don't have the audience from hell, you're going to perform it again for us."

Tina threw herself into Kurt's arms and Mike stood, crossing the room to join Blaine. Mike was the only person besides Kurt that Blaine actually knew at McKinley due to their Asian heritage - Blaine had helped out at an Asian camp a few years back before Tina had taken his spot as the other counsellor and gotten to know the boy. "Is she going to be okay?" Blaine asked.

"I hope so," Mike said, still staring at his girlfriend, clearly worried. "I can tell her I love her all I like but other than that, there's not a lot I can do. I don't sing, I can't help her in that aspect. That's why I'm so glad Kurt's here, he always knows what to say to make people feel better."

Sure enough, Tina had begun to calm down, still clinging to Kurt. Blaine watched the two of them for a minute, noticing the way Tina was rumpling Kurt's clothing and how the boy didn't even care. And for someone as fashion conscious as Kurt, that was a big deal.

_He's wonderful._

Of course Blaine knew that. But it was moments like this, seeing Kurt at his most natural, looking after his friends that Blaine couldn't help but fall for his boyfriend even more.

Kurt had been through so much in his life already. More often than not, he would be the one who was upset, the one who needed support and love and for someone to notice that he wasn't okay. And while Blaine knew that Tina was one of the ones who had tried to be there for Kurt, nobody had really supported Kurt the way he now supported others. Blaine hated - _hated__-_that had to go through what he did to help others, but it had simply made him a better person as a result, a person more equipped to help others. That was how Kurt saw it and what Blaine was beginning to see too.

It wasn't just the McKinley group that Kurt had helped. Blaine knew of at least three Warblers who had turned to Kurt when things had gone wrong in their lives, some of them barely knowing him, only knowing that he had been through some pretty horrible stuff himself. People had done the same to Blaine before and he had helped the best he could, but Kurt's way of helping people blew anything Blaine could do out of the water in his opinion. It was like talking to your best friend who could then offer you practical advice that, more often than not, _worked_. It was one of the main reasons that the Warblers had been so sad to see Kurt go as well - on the outside it had looked like Kurt had struggled blending into the Warblers, but once the meeting was over he was one of their best friends, the guy that everybody seemed to like and get along with.

And, on top of all of that, Kurt had helped _Blaine._

From a bystanders perspective, it would look like Blaine had been the one to help Kurt through everything he had gone through - transferring schools, confronting a homophobic bully, teaching him to be a part of a group and being the friend and mentor he had needed. And Blaine wouldn't deny that those things had happened (though he would almost certainly downplay them). But what nobody saw was what Kurt had done for Blaine.

Kurt had taught him to _live_.

After so long being pushed down and hated for who he was at his old high school, Blaine had transferred to the Warblers as a shell of who he had been. It had taken quite some time before he felt safe at Dalton, but Blaine had still struggled to be himself. Yes, he had been able to act it out through song but with his interactions with everybody else he had been nothing but polite and charming, making sure to never get on anybody's bad side.

So when Kurt had sat him down one day - not long after the failed solo audition - and told him what he was doing was a cop-out, Blaine had been stunned and admittedly a little bitter. But he had listened patiently to what Kurt had told him and now Blaine was so incredibly grateful that he had because what Kurt had said made _sense._It was easy to be the person that everybody liked, what was difficult was to be yourself and know that sometimes people weren't going to like you. That was who Kurt was and that was who Blaine had been before Westerville High had tried to bash it out of him.

Blaine had taken it on and taken it to heart. And maybe it had led to a drunken kiss with Rachel and a huge argument with Kurt over sexuality that had ended up being pointless, but Blaine finally felt like he had started living again.

And now he had a boyfriend, a boyfriend who happened to be the most amazing person Blaine had ever met. Someone who Blaine owed so much to, so much gratitude and thanks and _love._

Blaine just hadn't figured out how to show that yet.

Mike had left his side and joined Tina again who had relinquished her hold on Kurt and was wiping her eyes. "You okay, beautiful?" he asked, holding her gently again. Tina nodded and Mike smiled down at her. "You're strong, I know you. You'll be okay."

It was only when Mike leaned in to kiss her that Blaine's mind clicked.

_Of course. _

"Alright guys, we can't let this get us down!"

As Mr. Schuester began his pep talk, Blaine slipped out of the room quietly, figuring he didn't need to be around for this part. He wasn't sure how much longer Kurt would stay with New Directions but was perfectly willing to wait, even though every second was making him more and more nervous about what he was going to do.

_How do I do this? Do I just… what, do I just kiss him? Or do I tell him why I'm doing this and then kiss him? Do I need to ask his permission, should I be waiting until he does this first, should I even be doing this now?_

"Okay, Mike's going on in five minutes," Kurt announced as he left the room, taking Blaine's hand again. "Quinn and the others are handing out taffy to keep the audience quiet so we have to be as supportive as we can, okay?" There was a moment of silence. "Blaine?"

Blaine realized he was the one who was supposed to have replied and smiled quickly. "Not a problem."

Of course Kurt knew him far too well. "Is something wrong? It's not the Karofsky thing, is it? I doubt he's still here… unless he is still here and you just ran into him out here -"

"No, no it's not Karofsky," Blaine hastened to reassure him, not wanting Kurt to work himself into a panic. "I was just thinking… wondering, actually, about how I managed to get such an amazing boyfriend."

Kurt stilled, turning to stare at him. "What - what makes you say that?"

"Watching you in there with Tina," Blaine explained. "You take such good care of your friends and the people close to you and I know," he added, seeing Kurt start to open his mouth, "I know it should be normal but unfortunately not everybody sees it that way so the fact that you do makes it even better and makes you all the more amazing."

Kurt was blushing and it was the most endearing thing Blaine had seen in his life. "And?" he prompted, clearly wanting to know why Blaine had brought it up.

In answer, Blaine simply leant in and kissed him.

When he broke away, Kurt looked stunned but thankfully not in any way opposed to what had just happened. "You deserve to know how incredible you are," Blaine said softly. "But more than that, you deserve to know just how much I care about you too, that I care about you the same way you care about Tina or Jeff or Mercedes -"

"Or you," Kurt interjected. "Especially you."

Blaine knew he was blushing a little but continued nonetheless. "And all that support and encouragement and love that you give to others, I want to be able to give to you when things get rough. So for now, all I can do is show you and promise you that I will."

Kurt was staring at him like he was the world. "How did I get you?"

"You decided to spy on my school before Sectionals," Blaine responded promptly, earning himself a slap on the arm. "Well you did! And now I'm going to return the favor by spying on Mike Chang's amazing dancing." He held out an arm to Kurt who, rolling his eyes, looped his arm through it. "Shall we, my good sir?"

"You're such a goof."

"I'm _your _goof," Blaine bantered back, smiling as Kurt rolled his eyes again. "Admit it, you wouldn't have me any other way."

Kurt glanced over at him, smiling in a way Blaine had never seen before, and Blaine knew it was because of that kiss. A new level of understanding had passed between them and Blaine had never felt so strongly for Kurt than he did in that moment.

"No, I wouldn't."

* * *

**I want a goof like Blainers...**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Quinn! Hi, I'm Blaine, you don't know me, but I know you, and I swear it's not because I stalk you! I need you to pretend to flirt with me so you can make Sam jealous and I can be with Kurt and the fabric of the space time continuum doesn't tear."**_

_**"Oh... Kay... Hi?"**_

_***storms over* "HEY! I'M her potential love interest!" *glare***_

_**"All yours." *runs away and into McKinley***_

_**"Umm... Who WAS that?"**_


	195. Appendicitis

**Every day, more stills seem to get released from 03x04 and I continue to die a slow painful death while I wait. Especially heightened by the fact that Lea Michele will not stop tweeting about the various musical numbers being filmed... like Chris and Darren filming something and then Cory filming something that's apparently heartbreaking and she's already in tears from it... sigh. **

**From **_**TheNorthernBelle: Kurt, or Blaine, gets rushed to the hospital because he has appendicitis. The other finds out and rushes to the ER to be with him, and while he is freaking out and worrying, he realizes that he has to tell the other how he feels before he goes in for surgery.**_

**This pulled at the heartstrings.**

**I deliberated for quite some time over which of the boys should have appendicitis. There were certainly compelling arguments for both, but in the end I wanted to have Kurt's family and friends rushing to the hospital. I still love the idea of Blaine being the one to get appendicitis because I've read a couple of good fics where Kurt does but none where Blaine does.**

**(If anybody can rec one, I'd be immensely grateful)**

* * *

Appendicitis

It had been a long week for everybody.

Exams were rolling around fast and teachers were making the most of the opportunity to load everybody up with homework and study. A couple of students had already gotten run down with their work load and had to take a couple of days off, so it wasn't too surprising when Blaine swung by to pick Kurt up that morning to find his friend sitting on the edge of his bed, looking pale. Of course Kurt would be struggling, he had come from public school after all.

"You alright, Kurt?"

Kurt nodded, quickly grabbing his bag and standing, clearly pretending he was fine. The act was ruined when he clutched at his stomach, looking pained. "Just - just a stomach ache. Not a big deal."

Blaine frowned. "I don't want you to overdo it, Kurt. You'd probably better go see the nurse."

"No, no, I'll be fine." Kurt brushed past him and headed out the door, leaving Blaine looking after him and wondering what to do. Eventually he decided to let Kurt take care of himself unless things got worse. After all, Kurt was one of the strongest people Blaine knew - he would know his limits, right?

But Blaine wasn't the only one who was worrying about Kurt. He refused to eat anything at breakfast, rousing Wes's suspicions. As the Council member wanted to be a doctor, he immediately began probing Kurt with questions which Kurt just brushed off. "Look, I'm fine, okay?" he finally snapped, grabbing his bag. "I'm going to class."

Blaine watched him go before turning back to Wes. "He's not okay, is he?"

Wes shook his head. "I don't know what it is, but do your best to keep an eye on him."

"I only have Physics with him this afternoon." Blaine bit his lip, wondering what to do. "Do you think we should let the nurse know? She can pull him out if necessary."

"No, Kurt would murder us. We'll see how he is at lunch."

The decision made, the two boys split for classes - classes in which Blaine couldn't concentrate at all. His mind kept going back to his friend and how pale he had looked, and Blaine had to fight the urge to get out of class and go and take care of Kurt. _Stop __thinking __like __that, _he told himself forcefully. _Friends __don__'__t __do __that __sort __of __stuff._

Lunch came, but Kurt didn't. "Do you think he went to the nurse?" Blaine asked Wes over the table, David listening in curiously.

"I hope so. He looked like death warmed up." Wes glanced over at him curiously, then reached across, placing a hand on his. "Don't stress, Blaine. It's going to be fine."

Blaine sighed. "I can't help but worry about him."

The bell rang and Blaine dragged himself off for his final class where, to his surprise, Kurt was sitting at his usual desk. "Kurt, what are you doing here?" he said, sitting next to him and taking a look at his friend.

"I'm attending class. I thought that was the point of school?" Kurt retorted, but without any sting - he simply sounded exhausted. He was looking worse too, one hand was wrapped around his stomach protectively while he used the other to write notes, but not many.

"Why weren't you at lunch?"

Kurt shrugged. "Wasn't hungry."

Blaine didn't know what to do. He knew if he pushed too hard, Kurt would close up and refuse any help, but he also knew his friend's health was on the line. "Kurt, I think you need to -"

"Blaine, what I _need _to do is take notes. I don't know this material and if I don't get it down, I won't pass the exam." Kurt sighed. "Thank you for looking out for me, but I assure you, I'm _fine_." And with that, Kurt resumed his work, leaving Blaine no option to do the same.

But by the time class finished and Warbler rehearsal rolled around, Blaine was starting to get seriously worried. If Kurt had been pale this morning, he was white by the time he collapsed on the couch next to Blaine, one hand clutching his stomach while the other rested against his head. "Kurt, please skip rehearsal and go see the nurse. I'm literally begging you."

Kurt shook his head stubbornly before tilting sideways - the action clearly having made him dizzy. Blaine caught him, resting Kurt against his side. "I'm taking you there the second we're done here then, okay?"

"Okay," Kurt murmured tiredly. As Wes brought the meeting underway, Blaine was relieved that it was all business and no new numbers to practice or choreograph. He knew Kurt wouldn't last long on his feet, and wasn't even sure how much longer Kurt could last sitting up.

Not long was the answer. Kurt suddenly doubled over, both hands wrapped around his midsection. "Kurt, what's wrong?" Blaine asked, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

"Kurt?" Apparently Blaine wasn't the only one who had noticed Kurt's state. All three council members were looking down at them, concerned. "Kurt, are you okay?" Wes asked again, drawing the attention of the rest of the Warblers their way.

Kurt lifted his head, sending a pain-filled glance Blaine's way. His face had lost all colour and there was a thin sheen of sweat covering his face. "I think I'm going to throw up," he whispered.

"Jeff - bin, now!"

The small rubbish bin was tossed his way and Blaine shoved it in front of Kurt just as the boy began to retch. David was already out the door, presumably headed to the nurses office as Kurt threw up, his whole body shaking. Blaine rubbed his back gently, glancing up at Wes as he did so. His friend looked thoughtful before crossing the room and kneeling next to Kurt who was wiping his mouth. "Kurt, does your stomach hurt? And not just from throwing up, like a sharp pain?"

"Yeah," Kurt murmured tiredly, leaning against Blaine who wrapped an arm around him. "Has all day."

Wes winced, "Where?"

Kurt vaguely gestured to his side and Wes was on his feet. "I should have seen it sooner. Someone call an ambulance."

If Kurt hadn't been resting against him, Blaine would have jumped to his feet as well. "Ambulance? Wes, what's wrong with him?"

Jeff already had his phone out and was calling emergency services as David arrived with the nurse. Wes immediately crossed the room to speak to her quietly, gesturing to Kurt then Jeff. The nurse nodded and made her way over, pressing her hand against Kurt's forehead gently.

"Wes, what do I tell them?"

Wes gestured for the phone which Jeff handed over. "We've got a boy here with suspected appendicitis. He's just vomited and told me he's been in pain all day."

As if on cue, Kurt was grabbing the bin again. Blaine kept an arm on his vomiting friend's back, but his mind was reeling. _Appendicitis?_"Is it bad?" he asked the nurse who was still standing by.

"It could be if they don't get him in for surgery."

"S-surgery?" Kurt lifted his head, sheer panic written across his face. "Why? What is it?"

Blaine tugged him closer, trying to keep his own shaking at bay. "They think it's your appendix, Kurt. They'll just have to get it out and you'll be alright." Kurt was still looking terrified and Blaine couldn't blame him - he was terrified too. But all he could do was be brave for his friend, after all, a lot of people

Kurt suddenly swallowed heavily. "No," he whispered, cringing. "I don't want to throw up again."

Blaine could see him fighting it and his heart nearly broke. "You'll feel better if you get it out, Kurt. Come on," he coaxed gently. He knew how Kurt felt - he _hated _throwing up. But holding back was only going to make things worse. Kurt battled for a few more seconds before giving in and throwing up again. Tears were beginning to run down his face and Blaine almost couldn't bear it. _Please, somebody do something, someone fix it__, __he__'__s __in __so __much __pain..._

"Blaine?" David was kneeling beside him. "Someone needs to call his family. Do you have the number?" Numbly, Blaine pulled his phone out and scrolled through his contacts to Kurt's home number, giving the phone to David and immediately turning his attention back to Kurt.

Kurt had finished throwing up but was still crying silently. "Kurt, can I do anything to help?"

"Make it stop?" Kurt whispered brokenly.

Blaine's heart completely shattered at that. "I would if I could, believe me." Kurt whimpered, wrapping his arms around his stomach and leaned into Blaine who held him close. A movement caught his eye from the door and Blaine breathed a sigh of relief. "There's some people here who can though, okay? They're going to take you to the hospital and get your appendix out of you and you'll be alright, honey, I promise."

The paramedics crossed the room, Wes filling them in quickly as they did. The stretcher was brought in with Warblers quickly moving couches out of the way. Kurt sat quietly as the paramedics took his temperature and checked his pulse; it was when they wanted to get him on the stretcher was when all hell broke loose - Blaine had to let go.

"No! No, I _need_ him!" Kurt was growing hysterical, reaching out frantically towards Blaine. The paramedics attempted to calm him, promising that he would be fine, but Kurt continued to struggle.

"Does he have any family here?" one of the men asked Blaine.

Blaine shook his head. "They're out in Lima, they'll be about two hours. Please, can I come along?"

The men swapped a glance before one of them nodded. "He needs to stay calm, and you seem to help."

Blaine immediately took Kurt's hands. "It's okay, Kurt, I'm going to be right there with you, okay? I'm coming."

Kurt quietened and finally allowed himself to lie back and be wheeled out. The rest of the Warblers were standing by, watching as their friend left on a stretcher with Blaine walking beside him. Wes reached out to touch Blaine's shoulder comfortingly and Blaine shot him a thankful glance before they left. He also noticed the hint of regret in his friends eyes and resolved to talk to him about it later.

The ambulance ride just about shattered all of Blaine's self control to keep it together. Kurt was still vomiting and all Blaine could do was hold his hand and tell him it was going to be alright, even when he didn't know himself. He had heard that people had died from not getting their appendix out quickly enough in the past and was inwardly berating himself on not being more insistent that Kurt visit the nurse. _If __something __happens __to __him, __it__'__s __your __fault!_

They arrived at the hospital where Kurt was immediately wheeled in to be examined. Blaine was directed to the waiting room where he spent a panicked ten minutes pacing and fielding calls from Wes, Mercedes and Finn before the doctors allowed him back in.

Kurt was dressed in a hospital gown, and the fact that he wasn't complaining about the outfit meant that Blaine knew something was seriously wrong. Kurt's eyes were still wide with panic and Blaine did his best to comfort his friend. "They're prepping the surgery room now, I've got a few minutes," he whispered.

"It's okay, it's okay." Blaine took his hands, allowing Kurt to squeeze as tightly as he needed. "They know exactly what they're doing, they're going to get it out and you're going to be all better, okay? You'll come back out in no time."

Kurt's bottom lip was quivering as he whispered, "What if I don't?"

"You _are_, trust me." Blaine knelt down to Kurt's level, vaguely aware of doctors headed their way and knew he only had a few moments to try and put everything he needed to say into words. "You are because you're Kurt Hummel, you're strong, you're a fighter and _I __love __you_. And I never got the chance to tell you properly, and _damn __it __all _if that's the last time I'll say that. So you're coming back, to me."

Kurt's eyes were wide again, but this time it wasn't with panic. "Blaine -" he began hesitantly, before being interrupted.

"Alright, Kurt, it's time to go."

Blaine leant over and pressed a kiss to his forehead. "I'll see you soon, okay. Remember; _courage_." Kurt nodded, but Blaine saw the tear slip down his cheek as he was wheeled off toward surgery. As if on autopilot, Blaine made his way back to the waiting room, but instead of pacing again, he found himself slumped into a chair staring at the door.

He had no idea how long had passed, but a movement over at the nurses station alerted him to the fact that Kurt's family had arrived. Blaine stood, quickly making his way over to rescue the nurse from Burt's wrath. "I want to see my son. We were told something about his appendix and _nothing _else, and furthermore, I want to know why nobody from _here_ alerted me!"

"Mr. Hummel?" Kurt's family turned, and Blaine saw that Carole had been crying while Finn just looked worried. "He's in surgery right now. I'm sorry you weren't given more information from us but David didn't know what to tell you either - we only had a guess to work off."

Burt looked mollified for a second, allowing the nurse to cut in. "If you want to take a seat, we will let you know when he's out of surgery and ready for visitors."

Glowering at the woman one more time, Burt followed Blaine over to the seats, Carole and Finn following suit. The two adults sat across from Blaine with Finn next to him. Burt leant forward and fixed Blaine with a look that wasn't quite a glare, but wasn't exactly offering him a cup of tea either. "Tell me what happened to my son."

Blaine nodded, taking a deep breath. "He was complaining of a stomach ache at breakfast and didn't want to eat anything. I told him to visit the nurse, he didn't show up to lunch, so I assumed he'd gone, but we shared our final class and he was there. I tried to make him go then but he wouldn't and then we got to Warbler rehearsal and -" Blaine felt his voice break and swallowed hastily. Inexplicably, there was a hand on his and Blaine realized it was Finn. Deciding to think about that later, he kept going. "He started throwing up, said he was in a lot of pain. Wes worked out what was going on and got the ambulance, but by then he was c-crying -" This time, there was no way he was continuing. Ducking his head, Blaine allowed the first of his tears to fall. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"Hey, it's not your fault, kid." Burt's voice was gentle. "Kurt's stubborn as a mule, I know that as well as you do. I'm glad you stayed with him."

Blaine nodded, making no move to wipe away his tears. No matter what Burt might say, he knew that he should have tried harder, should have done more. He heard Burt and Carole stand, mentioning something about coffee, and walking away. As soon as they were gone, there was an arm around his shoulders. "You're in love with him, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Blaine attempted to calm himself, but couldn't keep the tears at bay. "I don't know what I'd do if he doesn't c-come out of there..."

Finn squeezed his shoulder. "He will. You know he will." Blaine wiped his face, taking the tissues Finn offered him off the table gratefully. "Oh, and this is the part where I'm supposed to threaten you if you hurt him, but I kinda can't do that considering you've taken care of him so well."

Blaine laughed lightly. "Thanks, Finn. Have you heard from Mercedes?"

"Apparently she's on her way with a carload of girls.. oh, that'd be her now." Finn pointed out to the parking lot where a car was pulling in. Mercedes hopped out, quickly followed by Rachel, Tina and, to Blaine's surprise, Quinn. Finn caught his look and explained; "Quinn's more used to hospitals than the rest, and she's actually pretty calming."

The girls entered the waiting room, Tina noticing the boys first and leading the rest over. "Is he alright?"

"He's still in surgery," Finn explained, standing to greet the girls. Blaine stayed sitting, not trusting his legs or vocal chords at the moment. He was still on the verge of tears, and apparently it was noticeable; the next minute, Finn was leading Rachel and Tina away, making the same coffee excuse that his parents had not five minutes ago.

"Blaine, sweetie?" Quinn knelt in front of him while Mercedes sat on his other side. "Talk to us?"

Blaine stared at his shoes. "I - he was in pain _all __day_, and I didn't do anything." He swallowed quickly, hearing his voice shake.

Quinn's arms were suddenly wrapped around him. "It's alright, honey, let it out."

And that was all Blaine needed, finally releasing all of the tears that had been building up since Warbler rehearsal. He just couldn't _bear _the thought of something happening to Kurt, and knowing that the boy was currently unconscious, under the knife... it wasn't fair. "He's already been through _so_ much," Blaine murmured into Quinn's shoulder. "Why this too?"

Mercedes was rubbing his back in slow circles, her head leaning into his shoulder. "I don't know, Blaine," she whispered, her own voice cracking. Blaine pulled away from Quinn to wrap an arm around her, linking his other hand with Quinn who was also looking teary. "But our boy is strong and I'm sure they got it in time. We just have to be strong too until they tell us what's happening."

Blaine nodded, grabbing the tissues again to wipe his eyes. He knew he looked a mess right now but all of his focus was on Kurt. Quinn took the seat next to him as Kurt's family returned with Rachel and Tina. Finn was on the phone to Puck who was apparently with the rest of the guys, waiting to hear whether they should come out or not. For now they were staying put, an idea which Blaine thought was probably best. When Kurt came out of surgery, he would probably only want to see his family and his girls.

_What about you?_

Blaine wouldn't let himself think about that. He refused to regret telling Kurt he loved him - after all, it was true - but now that he was calmer and could tell himself that Kurt was going to come out fine, his doubts were beginning to build up. The chances of Kurt feeling the same way were so slim that Blaine had never even considered telling him before.

The time wore on. Blaine had no idea how long the surgery was meant to take, or even how long they had been there, but Finn was falling asleep in his chair, Rachel and Tina were playing on their iPhones and Burt was on his fourth coffee by the time a doctor appeared at the door. "Hummel?" The majority of the group rose except for Blaine and Quinn. The doctor glanced at the group, frowning. "He's recovering well, but it will be family first, please."

The others sat down while Burt, Carole and Finn followed the doctor through to the room. All the tension had evaporated from the rest of the group now that they knew Kurt was okay and Rachel was on the phone to Puck, letting the guys know. Blaine still sat motionless, staring at his hands until Quinn reached over and took one. "There's more to it than Kurt being okay, isn't there?"

Blaine glanced around to make sure everybody else was sufficiently distracted before nodding. "I told him I loved him before he went in. He didn't have time to respond, so I don't know..."

"You don't know if he feels the same," Quinn finished gently. "Well, you have the chance to find out now."

Blaine stared at her for a moment before realizing that she was right. _Kurt__'__s __going __to __be __okay._ "I - I do," he murmured, the smile curving across his face to match hers.

Quinn squeezed his hand. "So, how long?"

"I've known for sure for a few weeks now. There's always been something there since the day we met, it was just working out what it was that took so long."

Quinn's face was alight. "You'll be good for him," she said simply, before seeming to realize something. "Shouldn't you call your school and let them know he's okay?"

Blaine immediately grabbed his phone. "I totally forgot about that. Thanks, Quinn." Standing, he walked over to the window and punched in Wes's number.

"Blaine? How is he?"

Blaine could hear the murmuring of the other boys in the background and knew he was on loudspeaker. "He's out of surgery, and the doctor said he's recovering well. His family are in with him at the moment, but I should get to go in soon."

"Pass on our best," David said quickly. "And let him know we've got all of his notes covered until he gets back, and he won't miss anything Warbler related either."

"I appreciate it guys, and he will too. Wes, can I talk to you for a moment?"

The sound of clicking was heard, then Wes's voice came through. "What is it, Blaine?"

"This isn't your fault," Blaine said immediately. "I know that look you had when we were leaving. You're not a doctor yet, Wes, it's not your job to notice things like that."

He could hear footsteps and the background noise disappeared before Wes sighed. "I should have seen it much earlier than that though. And if I had, the surgery could have been well and truly over and he might even have been back at Dalton. I just... I should have known."

"_Hey_," Blaine said sternly. "Does that mean it was my fault because I didn't force him to go to the nurse?"

There was silence for a second. "Well, of course not, but -"

"But nothing. Same deal, Wes." Blaine softened his tone. "I know how you've been feeling. Trust me, I've been freaking out over here. But you can't pin this on yourself, it's just something that happened."

Wes sighed. "I know. I just wish I could have been of more use."

Blaine rolled his eyes even though his friend couldn't see. "Let me think. You diagnosed it, got the paramedics over, took charge of the room so nobody could even dare to panic, got David to call Kurt's family... I can't really see how you could have _been _of more use except for coming in here and doing the surgery yourself."

Finally he got a laugh. "Okay, okay. Let me know when you've seen him, alright? And -" Wes hesitated for a moment. "Tell him how you feel, Blaine."

"One step ahead of you."

Blaine hung up before Wes could question him, turning back around to see the doctor returning with Kurt's family. They all looked relieved and Blaine knew that Kurt must have been doing well. "Okay, Kurt has requested that all of his female friends come in next."

The girls all shot glances at one another before turning to Blaine. Fighting back his disappointment - because yes he had _guessed _but it still hurt a little - Blaine gestured for them to go ahead. Rachel and Tina were halfway across the room straight away, but Quinn and Mercedes hung back slightly. "It's alright," Blaine said, holding his hands up reassuringly. "Go and see him." The two looked at each other before turning to leave. As soon as they were gone, Blaine slumped back into his chair, unable to stop a sigh from escaping. _Maybe __I __freaked __him __out._

"You'll be next, kid."

Burt sat down across from him, looking far more at ease now that he had seen his son. "I think Kurt just wanted to get the girls excitement out of the way before he talked to you. He had nothing but good things to say about you, so don't think you've been left out." Blaine flushed, embarrassed that he had been caught out so easily by his crush's father. "And if you're as interested in my son as I think you are, you'd better tell him soon."

_Did __he __just __essentially __give __me __permission __to __date __Kurt?_" I already have, sir. Admittedly, it was just before he went in for surgery but... but I meant what I said."

Burt clapped a hand on his shoulder before standing. "You need a coffee, and those girls are going to be ages. Come with me." Blaine followed Burt into the small cafeteria where Finn and Carole had headed after coming out of Kurt's ward. Carole insisted on paying for his coffee to thank him for what he had done for Kurt - Blaine only accepted because he knew what Kurt's family was like about money; to buy his own right now would be considered rude.

Sitting with Kurt's family was slightly odd. It wasn't the first time he had done so, but to be there without Kurt chatting away about fashion or the latest song they were performing was strange. It wasn't that Blaine felt out of place - in fact, he was surprised by how included he felt. But not having Kurt there... it just wasn't right.

Once everybody had finished with their drinks, they headed back into the waiting room just in time to see the girls coming back out. "Blaine, he's asking for you," Quinn said softly, placing a hand on his arm. "He's alright," she answered quickly to his unspoken question. "Very tired, of course, but he's doing good."

The last of the tension left Blaine, only to be replaced with sheer anxiety. He followed the doctor down a hallway, vaguely thinking of how much Wes would love to be here right now, before being led into a small room. One look at the occupant, and Blaine just about burst into tears again.

Kurt's face was still almost completely devoid of colour and his eyes were shut - Blaine wasn't sure whether he was sleeping or not, but didn't want to disturb him either way. Lying in the hospital bed, Kurt somehow looked much smaller than usual, and overwhelmingly vulnerable. Blaine couldn't even begin to think what kind of pain his friend had been through.

Pulling up a chair, Blaine sat down next to Kurt's bed and stared at him for a few moments. He knew it was creepy and Kurt would probably make some kind of Twilight joke if he woke up and caught Blaine watching him, but Blaine couldn't help it. He had come close to losing Kurt today - yes, it sounded morbid, but if they hadn't had Warbler rehearsal, Kurt would no doubt have just gone back to his room and ignored how much pain he was in. And now that he knew how terrifying that thought was, he knew he couldn't bear to take advantage of another moment he had with Kurt. Each one was too precious.

Blaine gently took Kurt's hand, lacing their fingers together. Kurt shifted a little in his sleep, murmuring something under his breath before his eyes opened slowly. He glanced around, looking confused, before his sight fell on Blaine. "Oh, right. Hospital. Um, hi."

"Hey. Sorry for waking you."

Kurt shook his head. "It's fine. I wasn't really asleep, sort of in that half-there, half-not stage." He yawned, rolling his shoulders back to stretch them out.

"How are you feeling?" Blaine moved a little closer, feeling Kurt's fingers tighten properly around his. "I'm guessing they've got you on some pretty good painkillers?"

"I think so. I'm just really tired and I know I'm going to be in an awful lot of pain later." He squeezed Blaine's hand quickly. "Blaine?"

"Hm?"

Kurt took a quick breath. "I'm sorry. I should have listened to you, I should have gone to the nurse, then this wouldn't have turned out to be so bad, and all the girls were so worried when they came in and I could see that Mercedes and Quinn had been crying, then Rachel let slip that _you__'__d_ been crying and I just feel so awful for putting everybody through that, and all the Warblers having to see me like that -"

Blaine reached over, putting a finger to Kurt's lips gently. "Stop," he said quietly. "You're okay. That's all that matters." He removed his hand, reaching up to wipe away the tear that had escaped Kurt's eye. "_You__'__re _all that matters right now."

Kurt's eyes widened a little and his grip on Blaine's hand grew just a little bit tighter. "What you said before I went in... did you mean it?"

"Of course I did," Blaine said immediately, his voice still soft. "I _love __you_, Kurt. And you might not feel the same, and that's alright, but after what's happened today I couldn't let myself go any longer without letting you know for sure." He paused, but Kurt didn't respond. "I - it doesn't have to affect our friendship," he continued uncertainly. "Just - just as long as you know how much you mean to me."

Blaine wasn't sure what to expect from his declaration. Best case scenario would have been Kurt saying it back, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. Kurt looked like he was struggling with something for a second, before sighing. "Okay, I can't sit up. You're going to have to come here."

"I - what?"

"Well, I can't find the words, so I was going to kiss you. And it would have been a lot more romantic if I could have just _done _it, but I can't. So, come here."

Blaine stared at him for a second, not quite believing it was real, before deciding that either way he should probably do something right about now. So he leant in, allowing their lips to brush together softly.

Blaine's previous decision changed instantly. _This __is __definitely __best __case __scenario_, he decided, allowing the kiss to linger for a few seconds more before pulling away reluctantly, remembering that Kurt had just come out of surgery after all. As he moved to sit back in his chair, Kurt leaned in and pressed their foreheads together. "I love you too."

And now Blaine's life was quite easily complete. "How long?" he found himself asking, mimicking Quinn's question from earlier.

"_Ages_. I never quite knew how to tell you." There was a moment of comfortable silence before Blaine reluctantly broke the contact, sitting back in his chair and taking both of Kurt's hands in his. "But I have to confess something," Kurt murmured quietly, looking almost embarrassed.

Blaine frowned. "What's that?"

"The main reason I invited the girls in before you was because I wanted to look somewhat presentable for you. They always have emergency supplies on them."

Blaine shook his head, chuckling. "I was wondering how your hair looked perfect. I really do love you."

_Is it a bad thing that the words are getting so natural now?_

"I love you too," Kurt whispered, his face absolutely glowing.

_Not a chance._

And Blaine knew, no matter how tired Kurt looked from the surgery, no matter how much pain he was going to be in later, no matter how long it might take him to recover, then have schoolwork to catch up on, no matter _what_; neither of them would have changed a thing.

* * *

**Kurt always gets the short straw... my poor baby.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Quinn and the others are handing out taffy-"**_

_**"Kuuuuuuurt, can I get some?" *puppy eyes***_

_***sigh* "Sure. Don't start throwing it at people like you did in Warblers practice, with the alpaca."**_


	196. Inverted

**Work day from hell this morning. I was there an extra 2.5 hours which, after night shift, is just torture. Someone owes me big time. On top of that, I have customers who keep making comments about my personal appearance which just makes me feel like crap because they're always judgemental of me. I don't want to go to work tonight. **

**And then FF decided to be a pain and not let me into this for a good hour... **

**I need to just go to sleep for about ten days. **

**From **_**Klaineforthewin: Upside down (like on playground monkey bars or something. Or like Spiderman style where one is upright but the other one is upside down)**_

**One, anybody who follows Chris on Twitter should have immediately made the same connection as I did when writing this. **

**And two, KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek, this is the chapter!**

* * *

UpsideDown

The best thing about being Kurt Hummel's boyfriend was definitely seeing the side of him that nobody else got to see.

Blaine had always been aware that Kurt was very multi-dimensional, that he had so much more to him than just his talent or fashion or meticulous skincare regimen. After all, he had seen the barest hint of Kurt's closet one time when Kurt had actually entrusted Blaine to get a jacket out for him and the contents - ten inch bedazzled heels, flannel, military jackets and a certain cheerleading outfit that Blaine had needed to know more about - had been enough to show Blaine that there was a lot more to Kurt than met the eye. And the closer Blaine got to his boyfriend, the more Kurt would let him in to see those different aspects of his life and personality.

But this was one he hadn't expected. And Blaine couldn't quite believe how _hot_ it was.

"It's basically an extension on Cheerios," Kurt explained calmly as they crossed the parking lot hand-in-hand towards the large multi-purpose building. "I miss the routines and this, although different, was the next best thing."

"Something else I still struggle to comprehend," Blaine admitted. "I still want access those videos."

Kurt laughed. "Not happening. Now I said you could come if you sat quietly and watched, so please do so."

"What else do you suspect I'd do?" Blaine had to ask.

Kurt grinned wickedly. "Scream?"

And as Kurt pushed open the door to reveal the long silks hanging from the ceilings with a person holding on with her feet and one hand, Blaine realized Kurt might just have a point. "Hey," he said quickly, grabbing Kurt's arm. "Don't die. Please."

Kurt simply laughed and waved to the woman on the silks. When she let go with that one supporting hand to wave back, Blaine thought he might have a heart attack. "I thought you said this was fun, Kurt. That isn't fun, that's a death wish!"

"Oh relax," Kurt said cheerfully. "I've done much worse than that."

Before Blaine could question him and ask whether Kurt actually wanted to die and if so didn't he love Blaine enough to stay alive, Kurt was wandering across the room to stand at the bottom of the silks, chatting to the girl who was winding her way down. Blaine sighed and took a seat on one of the padded mats - and at least they were there - to watch. Or not watch. Whatever ended up happening.

In the end, Blaine was torn between covering his eyes and praying to every deity he didn't believe in that Kurt wouldn't fall, and staring in complete and unabashed awe.

Because Kurt was _amazing_. The second he had begun winding his way up the silks with a practiced ease, Blaine was transfixed. Kurt possessed a grace that Blaine had never seen in another person, let alone a teenage boy. His boyfriend was in a class of his own and it was amazing and beautiful and Blaine was so, so in love with him.

Finally the girl stepped back, smiling at Kurt who had just twisted himself upside down, his head dangling far too close to the ground for Blaine's comfort. "You're improving!" she exclaimed happily before being interrupted by her phone ringing. "Oh, can I -?"

"You're being paid by the hour and you want to take a phone call?" Kurt asked, and Blaine knew he would have crossed his arms if he wasn't using one for support. The girl simply looked at him pleadingly and Kurt rolled his eyes - an interesting gesture when he was upside down. "Go on. Blaine can spot me. But if I crack my skull, its totally on your head."

And despite that, the woman still left to take her phone call, leaving a very nervous Blaine to watch his very relaxed boyfriend hang lazily from the silks. "If you fall, I can't catch you," Blaine warned. "And I certainly couldn't handle your death on my conscience. Think of how much more work I'd have to do to find another openly gay guy to be my boyfriend!"

Kurt stuck his tongue out. "Prat," he muttered before his face softened. And even though the blood was rushing to Kurt's face, he still managed to smile far too beautifully for his own good. "Come here a second?" he asked.

Blaine crossed the room before realizing standing up would be just a touch awkward and sat cross-legged in front of his boyfriend. "Having fun?"

"Lots." Kurt was still smiling but the tone seemed to have changed. "Have you seen Spiderman?" he asked.

Blaine had but it wasn't until Kurt's smile changed to slightly hesitant that Blaine got it. "Oh," he breathed, a million other words on the tip of his tongue, questions, assurances...

A million words that just floated away because Kurt had just raised a hand to stroke his fingers gently across Blaine's cheek. Even being upside down couldn't lessen the intensity of the look Kurt was giving him, like everything he had ever wanted was sitting in front of him and Kurt couldn't quite believe it. Which was natural - Blaine wasn't at all sure whether he was even here at all. He could only hope he was because this moment was too good to be a dream, and considering some of the dreams Blaine had had, that was saying something.

But in all of Blaine's dreams, the moment when Kurt Hummel leant in to kiss him had never felt quite so real.

It seemed that the grace and beauty that filled every part of Kurt extended to his lips too, and Blaine found himself addicted after the first kiss. Even though they were upside down and the angle probably wasn't quite right, it was still _amazing_. He was already addicted to his boyfriend's words, laugh, smile, voice, personality… so just another thing to add to the list. Except it wasn't _just _another thing, but it was yet another facet of Kurt and there were still so many more to explore and Blaine might just explode from how much in love he was.

Which was why it was almost a relief when Kurt broke away, wincing apologetically. "I'm going to forget everything else if we keep doing that and considering the only thing holding me up is my feet, I don't want to ruin this perfect moment by falling on you and breaking my neck."

"Oh, right!" Blaine quickly jumped to his feet, watching as Kurt unravelled himself the final distance, somehow managing to bring himself upright before landing on the ground. "You really are amazing, you know that?"

Kurt blushed a little at that, slipping his hand back into Blaine's. "Well, I try. Does that mean you want to come back and watch next week?" Blaine nodded quickly and perhaps a little too enthusiastically, and Kurt's smile turned into a smirk. "And perhaps learn it yourself?"

"Yeah… no. I'll leave the death defying tricks up to you, I think."

The back door opened and the woman appeared, shaking her head. "Sorry, Kurt, it was just a prank call. Someone asking if I wanted to support the Klaine Foundation, whatever the heck that is."

Judging by the look on Kurt's face, he had reached the same conclusion as Blaine. Together they glanced towards the window, just in time to see a blonde head of hair flash out of sight, and Blaine growled under his breath. "Well, we'd better be off," Kurt said quickly, fishing a wad of bills out of his pocket and pressing them into the girl's hand. "Same time next week, yeah?"

With that, the couple was making their way towards the door, determined strides matching one another. "We're not really that mad at them, are we?" Blaine whispered out the corner of his mouth.

"Not particularly," Kurt whispered back as they pushed open the doors and began their Warbler hunt. "But if we really want to mess with them, we can pretend this broke us up and watch them squirm. And then when we 'get back together'..." Kurt raised an eyebrow meaningfully. "Well, they can't complain when we PDA _everywhere.__"_

Blaine quickly let go of Kurt's hand, taking a large step away from him. "Deal."

* * *

**Where did this ending come from? I was going to end it all cute and fluffy and then… freaking Jeff. Jeff just wandered in. And of course that means Nick was hiding out somewhere close by because those two are joined at the hip. At least in fandom. We can dream.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Kurt, what are you doing here?"**_

_**"I'm attending class. I thought that was the point of school?"**_

_***stares* "Kurt, I thought you learned by now. We're here because the food is good! And the furniture is good for jumping on"**_


	197. Candlelit

**Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur...**

**I've been in bed all day. I doubt I'll sleep tonight but it was lovely nonetheless. Work is still killing me but my manager pretty much loves me now so I can't complain. **

**From **_**Klainebows Everywhere (Anonymous) and similarly prompted by Klaineforthewin: Carole conveniently leaves them alone in the house for two hours and what-are-you-talking-about-Kurt-the-dining-room-is-always-bathed-in-the-romantic-glow-of-vanilla-scented-candles-and-set-up-for-a-date.**_

**So they didn't get together during Original Song. They sang the duet and all that, but not as a couple. This happens during the hiatus :)**

* * *

Candlelit

Blaine knew his reputation for making good plans wasn't exactly reputable.

Really, it all came down to the Gap Attack plan. Something that had seemed like such a good, romantic idea at the time had obviously turned out to be the biggest disaster the Warblers had ever done. It was only the fact that the Warblers needed him for Regionals that stopped them from kicking him out of the leading soloist position. But he was skating on thin ice, Wes had warned him.

And then there was the whole Blackbird thing, where Blaine had _sworn _to himself that he would go into that room and ask Kurt to not only be his duet partner, but his boyfriend too. But as soon as Kurt had asked him why he had chosen _him_, with that oh-so-gorgeous look of his, Blaine found himself completely tongue tied. Kurt had given him a moment, then gently suggested they go ahead and practice the song. And by the look on his face, Blaine _knew _he knew, but he also knew Kurt would give him all the time he needed to get there.

Which was why Kurt deserved the best. Kurt deserved something that they would both look back on later and not be ashamed of, or wish it had been done better. Kurt loved romance and he deserved it too. So Blaine knew he needed to enlist some help.

His mother was out of course. She was accepting, yes, but wasn't really the most romantic of people. The most romantic of the Warblers was probably Wes who had actually _asked_ his girlfriend out instead of sticking his tongue down her throat then calling her his girlfriend; so clearly they were all out. Kurt's McKinley friends couldn't be trusted not to spill the secret too early, and Blaine only really knew Mercedes well enough to ask anyway. After the talk Blaine had had with Kurt's dad, he knew he would probably be signing his own death wish if he asked the man how to ask his son out.

And then Blaine thought of Carole. Kurt himself had said that she was a pretty good stepmom - she would never replace his mother of course, but she seemed to understand him. Plus, she might allow him to use the house which would help a lot considering Blaine wanted it to be a private moment between him and Kurt, which they really didn't get a lot.

So it was with trembling fingers that Blaine punched in Kurt's home number, praying that Finn wasn't the one to pick up. Something was on his side, however, as the voice coming down the line was definitely female. "Hudson-Hummel household?"

"Um, Mrs. Hudson-Hummel? This is Blaine, Kurt's friend." He wasn't sure whether the woman remembered him or not - come to think of it, he didn't know whether word of his talk with Burt had spread to her or not.

"Oh, Blaine! How are you?" The friendly tone suddenly changed. "Wait, is everything alright? Nothing's happened to Kurt has it?"

"No, not at all. It - it does involve Kurt though." Blaine knew his hesitance was obvious, but pressed forward anyway. "I want to do something special for him."

There was a knowing silence from the other end. "I'm liking the sound of this. How can I help?

Smiling, Blaine began to lay out his plans.

* * *

"Blaine?"

Blaine looked up from his textbook, doing his best to act surprised at Kurt's presence at his door. "Kurt! Hey, come in. What can I do for you?"

Kurt sat himself on Blaine's desk chair, his phone still in hand. "Carole wanted to know if you want to come for dinner tonight. If so, we need to leave fairly soon."

"I'd love to." Blaine stood, quickly ducking into his closet. "Just let me get a jacket."

As he re-emerged, pulling on the nicest jacket he owned, Kurt let out a low whistle. "Well, this is certainly a change."

Blaine elbowed Kurt lightly. "Hey, just because you're always the picture of fashion doesn't mean I'm a total hopeless case." Kurt simply gave him a look, and Blaine conceded. "Okay, I know. Maybe you're just wearing off on me."

Clearly that was the right answer, and enough to divert Kurt from wondering why Blaine wasn't in uniform or just wearing his Dalton hoodie and jeans like he normally did on the weekend. _One __hurdle __cleared... __many __more __to __go._

The main issue was Blaine's nerves, which were in full force. The last thing he wanted was for Kurt to pick up on any of the plan before they arrived, so he made sure Kurt was the one doing most of the talking. That part was easy of course - simply mention the latest _Vogue _and Kurt was off with Blaine only having to add his agreement here and there. And this more than anything simply cemented the fact that Kurt Hummel was like no other guy that Blaine had ever met. _Seriously, __who __else __could __spend __two __hours __talking __about __Vogue?_

It was upon their arrival at the Hudson-Hummel house that things got a bit touchy. "Hold on," Kurt said in confusion as he pulled into the driveway. "Finn's car isn't here. Neither is Dad's."

"Your dad probably went out to pick something up for Carole. And Finn - who's he dating at the moment?"

Kurt had to think about it for a second. "Quinn. Pretty sure anyway."

"Then he's probably at her place." Blaine received a slightly suspicious glance and realized he probably shouldn't have been so quick off the bat with his answers. However, Kurt seemed to accept it and let the matter be as they headed towards the front door.

Kurt opened the door and stepped in. "Carole?" he called. "It's me and Blaine."

"Oh, honey, I was just about to call you." Carole rushed out of the kitchen, drying her hands. "I've actually just been called in for an emergency shift at work and your dad had to work late as well. So it'll just be you and Blaine for dinner, I'm so sorry."

Kurt frowned. "What about Finn?"

"He's at Puck's house, I think." Carole grabbed her bag off the table by the door. "Anyway, dinner's all done and waiting in the kitchen for you. Blaine, I'm sorry to be so rude -"

"It's not a problem, Mrs. Hudson-Hummel," Blaine cut in, winking at her when Kurt turned to put his coat down. "These things happen. Thank you for cooking for us anyway."

The rest of his thanks were left unsaid, but both knew they were there. "You're welcome, Blaine. I'll try to get home as soon as possible - have a good night!"

Carole darted out the door, clearly in a hurry to get to 'work.' In all actuality, Blaine knew she was on her way to pick up Burt from the garage before heading out for a romantic dinner for the two. Blaine wasn't sure whether Burt was in on the plans but decided not to dwell on it, focusing on the plan. After all, Kurt was about to find out what was going on, if everything had gone to plan. "Shall we?" he asked, offering Kurt his arm.

"I think it should be the other way around, it's my house." But Kurt took his arm, leading them to the kitchen. Blaine did his best to hide a smirk. _You__'__ll __see __in __due __time, __Kurt __Hummel._

The second they pushed open the door, both boys froze. Blaine took in the sight in front of them - the candles, the table clearly set for two, even flowers on the table. _She __really __outdid __herself __here. _And Blaine knew that Kurt would have to be blind to not know what was really going on.

"What - what is this?" Kurt almost whispered, staring at the table.

"How about you take a seat?" The way Kurt turned to him a moment later confirmed the suspicion. Kurt definitely knew that this had been choreographed for him. "I'll explain in a little while, but something smells delicious and if you sit, I'll go and get it."

Usually Kurt would be arguing that he should be the one to serve Blaine, but he looked a bit too shell shocked to do anything but follow orders. Blaine could only hope it was the best kind of shock as he headed into the kitchen to see what Carole had cooked up. She had mentioned something about Kurt's favourite, something Blaine realized he didn't know about his friend. So seeing the two plates steaming on the stovetop with macaroni cheese and salad on them brought a smile to Blaine's face because hey, he had just learned something new about Kurt today.

Returning with the plates, Blaine found Kurt still sitting exactly where he had left him, glancing around at the candles. Without a word, he placed the dish in front of Kurt and put his down on his side of the table, remaining on his feet until Kurt looked at him.

"Blaine..." Kurt trailed off, clearly not sure what to say.

"I know. Just enjoy it for now, okay? We'll talk about it later." Blaine took his own seat, looking at the food in front of him appreciatively. "Carole always has been an excellent cook."

Not much was said throughout the course of the meal, but the silence wasn't awkward, merely contemplative. Blaine knew Kurt had figured out what was going on by now and was probably trying to figure out the _why_. And Blaine was perfectly happy to let him think - he had his own thoughts to dwell over which were mainly along the lines of _don__'__t __throw __up, __don__'__t __pass __out, __don__'__t __freak __out, __it__'__ll __all __be __fine._

As soon as they were finished eating, Blaine was out of his seat, taking the plates into the kitchen. Only then did he allow himself to sag against the counter in half-relief, half-terror. The first part was over, but Blaine knew Kurt's curiosity wouldn't let him stay quiet for much longer and, sure enough, the second Blaine walked back into the dining room, Kurt was already firing off questions. "Okay, what's going on here? Did you plan this?"

Blaine shook his head, smiling. "What are you talking about, Kurt? The dining room is always bathed in the romantic glow of vanilla scented candles and set up for a date." His comment threw Kurt off for long enough to allow Blaine to sit down again, pulling his chair around the table so he was next to Kurt and turning to face him. "Yes, I planned this, I got Carole to set it up and make sure the house was going to be empty tonight. All the finer details are credited to her."

Kurt's mouth worked for a few seconds before he finally managed to get out the all important question. "Why?"

And now Blaine was hesitating, trying to work out what to say to make this perfect, to give Kurt everything he deserved. But in the end, all he could give was the truth.

"Kurt, I screw up a lot. I wouldn't ever consider myself boyfriend material and since I've never had a boyfriend before, I think that's a fair enough claim to make." Kurt tried to interrupt but Blaine wouldn't let him. If he didn't get this said now, he never would. "All of this is me basically taking a stab in the dark and hoping I get it right, hoping it's romantic enough for you and that it's what you deserve."

"What are you saying?" Kurt finally whispered, his voice breathless.

Blaine closed his eyes for a second, taking a deep breath. "I'm saying what I should have said two weeks ago, Kurt." He paused again, letting all of the words run through his head, everything he had thought in the past two weeks that he had wanted to say. But there was only one thing he could say. "I am _crazy _about you."

Kurt's eyes widened and his lips were quivering and either he was about to cry or this was a very good thing and Blaine sincerely hoped for the latter because all he wanted to do right now was kiss Kurt and that _really _wouldn't go down well if Kurt started crying. So, taking a chance that he was right, Blaine leaned in and gently pressed their lips together.

And _okay_ that was definitely the right decision and _wow _Kurt was a really good kisser. Like… really good, and Blaine's brain gave up trying to find proper adjectives and instead focused all of its power on capturing this moment here to keep forever. Because Blaine was pretty sure he could kiss Kurt for a hundred years and still never stop discovering how it felt and trying to put words to it that never made sense.

Blaine finally broke the kiss, running his thumb lazily across Kurt's cheekbone and waiting for Kurt to open his eyes. And when he did, the sheer emotion there nearly blew Blaine away because, yes, he knew Kurt liked him but like _that_? "Are you okay?" he had to ask.

"I'm sort of a million times better than okay," Kurt said softly. "Does this mean we're dating now?"

And Blaine had to laugh at himself because _oh __right, __that__'__s __kind __of __an __important __step._"See, I told you I'm hopeless at this romance thing."

Kurt shook his head, leaning in to kiss him slowly. "That's okay," he said when they broke apart, leaning his forehead against Blaine's. "Stick with me and I'll teach you everything you need to know."

Blaine smiled, pressing as close to Kurt as he could as if he could breathe him in that way. "I'm planning on it," he whispered.

* * *

**I have an impossible amount of love for these two. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***upside down kiss, pull away***_

_**"Hey, Kurt!"**_

_***pulls up into a sitting position* "Yeah?"**_

_**"Spiderman, Spiderman! Get it? Because we Spiderman-kissed and..." *trails off at the 'Bitch please' glare from Kurt(patented and not for sale, sorry :P)***_


	198. Taken

**I can't believe we're up to this chapter already. Those of you who follow me on Tumblr know this had particular significance because... well, read the prompt. **

**From **_**Klaineforthewin: A near-death situation. Like the cliched "Oh God we're gonna die I must confess my feelings for you now because I'll regret it if I die without you knowing". I have no clue what situation they could almost die in yet still have enough time to have a moment, but I'm sure you can think of something. :D**_

**And you know how I am with manipulating my prompts. **

**So I've read these awesome stories where Blaine's father has this empire, he's like a mega business tycoon and as such, Blaine's been enduring kidnapping attempts since he was ten and so on. That's my inspiration.**

* * *

Taken

"Blaine? Blaine... oh god, Blaine, _please _wake up!"

Kurt's shrill voice broke into the dark haze in Blaine's mind. Even though he could tell his friend was panicked, it still took a few more minutes before Blaine could bring himself to try and come back to reality, try to open his eyes. Finally, concern for his friend won out and Blaine began to pull himself out of the haze.

The second he did, he knew it wasn't good. Excruciating pain was splitting through his head and one of his arms had a strange disjointed feeling like he knew it should hurt and it probably would once he worked out what was going on. His eyes were already watering as he attempted to open them - the darkness of the room helped. "Kurt?" he murmured, wincing at the rasp in his voice.

"Oh thank god," Kurt whispered. "Are you alright?"

Finally forcing his eyes open, Blaine attempted to focus in on Kurt. "What kind of truck hit me?" he asked, before gasping as he took in Kurt's appearance. "And _you_... my god, Kurt, what _happened?_"

Kurt was slumped against the wall next to him, one of his legs stretched out at a strange angle. Blaine suspected it was probably broken. But what really got his attention was the blood coating the side of Kurt's face, one of his hands pressed against a large cut on his temple. "You don't remember?"

Blaine shook his head, hissing at the pain a second later. "Easy," Kurt murmured quietly. "You got a pretty bad knock, you might be concussed."

"Knocked on what? What happened to us?"

Kurt bit his lip. "I - we got kidnapped."

It took a second for the words to penetrate Blaine's brain before his blood ran cold. "Not again... Kurt, I'm so sorry." He raised the hand that didn't feel numb as Kurt moved to talk. "Just, wait a second. Tell me what happened, then I'll explain everything."

Kurt frowned, but began to talk nonetheless. "I don't know if you remember but we were out shopping when these men came up to us, said they were security from the last store we went into and they needed to take me back in to check my bag. We followed, but instead of going into the store they pulled us into an alley and -" Kurt suddenly broke off, taking a deep breath.

Blaine reached for his hand. "What did they do?" he urged gently, even though his veins felt like ice. If the bastards had _raped _Kurt or anything like that, he would be getting them murdered. No question about it.

"No-nothing like that. I - they knocked you out." Kurt closed his eyes, shuddering, and Blaine squeezed his hand tighter. "You were bleeding - you still are. I didn't know if you were going to wake up. And I started screaming and then... everything went black."

"They got you too." Now it was Blaine's turn to shiver, his worst fears having finally come true. _They __finally __got __someone __connected __to __me._"And I'm guessing you woke up once we were inside so you don't know where we are?"

Kurt nodded. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I should have done more, done_ something..._"

"_Hey._" Blaine pushed up to his elbows, ignoring Kurt's exclamations and his own head yelling at him to lie down. A moment later, Kurt's hand was pressing something against the back of his head, something that was already soaked through with what Blaine presumed was his own blood. Blaine realized the knock to his head must have been more serious than Kurt had mentioned. Still, he had to make his point. "This is _not _your fault. It's mine, okay?"

"Yours? But... why?"

Blaine sighed. "Hold on a second. Give me my left shoe?" Kurt stared at him for a moment, clearly worried that the knock to the head had affected him, but retrieved the shoe anyway. Blaine dug under the laces, pulling out a small chip which he flipped open and pushed the button on. A red light flicked on. "Okay, someone's on their way to get us."

Kurt's jaw had dropped, giving Blaine the time he needed to start explaining. "Kurt, the reason you've never met my family is that my father is... well, a major business tycoon. He has his own empire and everything. Because of that, I've always been at risk of being kidnapped as a tactic to get his power taken from him. I usually get bodyguards when I go out in public, but when I'm with my friends I don't do that because I just want to be a normal kid. That.. that backfired today."

"So you're saying they kidnapped both of us to hold us hostage so your father will give up money." Blaine nodded, feeling his head spin a little at the motion. "And someone's coming to save us?"

"They should be." Blaine glanced around the room, trying to determine his settings. A moment later, his sight fell on his other arm and a wave of dizziness suddenly overcame him. "I - wh-"

He must have gone pale, because Kurt's hand was on his shoulder, pushing him back with his hand still under Blaine's head. "Shh, it's alright. We'll get you out of here and everything will be fine. It's just dislocated, might be broken too, but you'll be okay, I promise."

Blaine could feel his vision blacking out and began to panic. Only one of his kidnapping attempts had been successful, when he was five and hadn't known better than to slip his bodyguards and go play on his own. On that occasion, the men had kept him in his own room but hadn't hurt him. So either this was a new group, or they had decided he was a much bigger threat at seventeen years old and with a friend.

That, or the actual intention had been to kill him. Because nobody had come in to see them at all.

The dark spots began to grow in front of his eyes and Blaine knew he was losing consciousness again. "Kurt," he murmured urgently, tugging at his friend's hand. "Kurt, I don't know if I'm going to make it."

"Damn it, Blaine, _yes __you __are_." Blaine could tell Kurt was crying and his heart broke. "Listen to me, you're going to be _fine_, you just need to stay with me."

"I - I can't." Blaine knew he wasn't going to last much longer. "Kurt, I need to tell you now... I love you."

Kurt's gasp was audible. "Blaine... don't. I love you too, I really do, but don't do this. Don't leave me!"

And then there were a pair of lips on his, and Kurt was kissing him with everything he had, and Blaine was kissing back, trying to put the last of his strength into this one moment. But as they pulled apart, Kurt stroking his cheek frantically, Blaine knew it was over.

"I'm sorry," Blaine whispered before everything went black.

* * *

**And now everybody is glaring daggers at me. I can feel it already.**

**Is he dead? Well…**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***smiles* "Candles? How roman-"**_

_***smoke detector goes off***_

_**"...that just ruined the mood didn't it?" *reaches up to turn off* "...a little help?"**_

_***reaches up* "I swear, when we move to New York I'm putting these things on the wall."**_


	199. Trust

**Readers, we need to talk.**

**Last night's chapter was emotional, yes, and for all intents and purposes quite cruel. I was fully aware that I'd have a lot of strongly worded reactions, people wanting a sequel and so on. But I didn't expect _that_.**

**Two things I need to seriously address. First, the amount of people who _demanded _a sequel. As a writer, I think I'm pretty good at listening to what you guys would like to see - considering this story is going to be 232 of your ideas, I think I've done pretty well on that front. And if someone asks me for something, I'll always consider it before answering. What I do not like, however, is when people think that they can demand something out of me and that will make me want to write it. I had a few ideas in mind for a sequel for that story that I've been tossing up and maybe I will but please do not make demands of me. People who were saying things like 'If you're not going to leave it there, tell us what happens next authors note.'? Again, it's a valid request but turning it into a _request _makes all the difference in the world. **

**And the second, and this is serious. I received death threats telling me what would happen if I didn't write a sequel.**** I get that some of you were probably just joking around but when I get a review saying 'If you don't write a sequel I will kill you in your sleep,' that kind of stuff is _not _good. In fact, it's sort of terrifying. I don't want to feel like I should be _scared _of not writing a story, yet I am. **

**Some of you need to take a serious step back and think. If you believe that putting pressure on or threatening a writer to write your ideas is a reasonable course of action then you need to actually figure out _why _you think that. In the end, this is FanFiction. It's not real life, it's not even the world that was created. It's just some people who love the world of Glee or other fandoms so much that they want to write in it. And if you want to keep reading them, don't threaten your authors. But if you're that involved in this world that you need to resort to threats, then maybe you need to think about whether that's a healthy level of involvement or not. **

**I hope this sinks in for those who need it. This was not directed at people who legitimately asked for a sequel or simply expressed their emotions about the chapter.**

**(I'll talk about Glee tomorrow. If you want to know what I thought, you'll figure it out from my reblogs on Tumblr which are so much more to do with the promo than anything else)**

**From **_**ashKITTYKAT: theres a gay bell hop or someone staff wise that works at the hotel that new directions is staying at. he flirts with kurt and kurt in all of his excitement flirts back. he calls blaine to tell him the wonder of new your and accidentely lets slip about the flirting. Blaine thinking that kurt is going to break up with him goes to new york and you can figure the rest out :)**_

**I would actually hate it so much if I was dating a guy and he didn't trust me enough to be honest with him. I think Kurt would too.**

* * *

Trust

"What on earth is taking them so long?"

Mercedes picked up the phone again but Kurt shook his head, sitting up and stretching. "Don't call. I'll go down and see what the issue is. After all the room service we've been getting, I need some exercise otherwise I'm going to be a blob on stage."

The girls laughed and Kurt blew them a kiss as he left the room. He couldn't help but stare around the hallway as he walked towards the elevator because this was a hotel in _New __York _and Kurt Hummel was here, walking down the halls like it was normal. _Normal._

And one day it would be. But for now, Kurt was just a small town kid in the biggest of cities and this was like something out of his best dreams. Considering he had spent the day singing his way around New York, had a pillow fight in one of the best hotels around and was now headed downstairs to pick up the room service meal of a lifetime, Kurt had to say it was definitely one of the better dreams. The only thing better would be if he happened to be walking down this hallway hand-in-hand with his boyfriend, but since most of the time Kurt hadn't dreamt he _would _have a boyfriend in high school, this wasn't that out of the ordinary.

But since Kurt actually _did _have said boyfriend, it was a little more difficult to not have him here. Kurt knew how much Blaine would adore New York, especially in Nationals competition season. They had already spoken on the phone twice - once to check that Kurt had arrive safely, the other so Kurt could gush about his day - and had been sending numerous texts back and forth as they were so inclined to do. Having a distance relationship wasn't anything new to them but when the distance included somewhere like New York, it got a little more difficult.

However, Blaine had made it completely clear that Kurt wasn't to spend his time thinking about what could be. Instead, he needed to focus on the here and now, the fact that he was in New York and it was going to be an amazing experience.

Even the _elevator _was classy, Kurt mentally gushed as he pushed the button for the lobby, trying not to squeal in excitement. He might be the only one in the elevator, but Kurt knew a place like this would have cameras and he really didn't want to make a fool out of himself. Leaning casually against the bar while his mind raced was the better alternative.

It was all just so _amazing_ and Kurt knew there was no other option for him - this was the place he needed to call home one day.

_One year and you'll be here again. _

Luckily the doors opened at that point or Kurt might have considered doing something embarrassing like dancing around the elevator in delight.

Crossing the lobby slowly, Kurt headed towards the dining area, not exactly sure who he was supposed to talk to. So far they hadn't bothered to come down for any meals, instead choosing to take advantage of the room service at their fingertips while pretending to write songs for Nationals - and that was something he should probably be more worried about but Kurt couldn't bring himself to think of that right now.

"Excuse me?" he called out, noticing one of the hotel workers walking by.

The man - young and actually kind of cute but considering Kurt had a boyfriend he definitely wasn't noticing that - stopped and turned to him with a smile. "How can I help you?"

"Our room ordered room service about forty minutes ago and we were just wondering what was taking so long."

"I'll just check on that for you, which room are you in?" Kurt gave the room number and the staff member pulled out his phone, making a quick call. "It shouldn't be much longer, that Vocal Adrenaline group ordered some pretty complex protein shakes for their group that took a long time to make. It's good to see your Glee club actually eats."

"I don't think you could separate most of those girls from their food," Kurt admitted, smiling when the man laughed. "So should I just wait here and take it up myself?"

The man shrugged. "Up to you. If you want to do that, I can help you carry it up. My name's Josh by the way."

"Kurt." Kurt shook his hand, Josh holding on for a little longer than Kurt was used to before letting go. "And I'm sure you have other work you need to be doing."

Josh rolled his eyes. "Probably, but I'd much rather help _you_ than deal with anybody else in this hotel." There was the slightest emphasis to the sentence that confused Kurt slightly, but by then Josh was talking again and Kurt shrugged it off. "So how are you enjoying your stay in New York so far? I saw you all slip out earlier."

"Oh, it's been fantastic!" Kurt tried to hold back the gushing but failed. "It's like nothing I've ever experienced, everything's so _big _and busy and it's all so incredible! I can't wait to live here for real!"

"Planning on moving?"

Kurt nodded. "At the end of my Senior year. I couldn't imagine staying in Lima for another _second _longer than necessary."

A woman appeared out of the kitchen at that point, carrying a tray of food. Josh quickly intercepted her, talking smoothly and removing the tray from her arms as he gestured to Kurt. With a shrug, she disappeared and Josh returned, still smiling. "Shall we?"

"Oh, do you need me to -"

"No, I've got it." Josh balanced the tray with an ease that Kurt had to admit he would have struggled with as they headed over to the elevator. "So what's it like in Lima?"

"Difficult," Kurt admitted. "People generally don't like you if you don't fit their stereotypes and… well, clearly I'm about as far from a positive stereotype as you can get." Surprisingly, Josh didn't ask. But when Kurt glanced at him as they entered the elevator, he realized the guy didn't look at all confused or surprised and realized it was probably obvious. After all, Kurt didn't exactly hide who he was.

"I understand," Josh said quietly, surprising Kurt. "I came to New York from a small town too, where prejudice and bullying ran free. I couldn't fit in there, I couldn't be the person I wanted to be. So I came here, started out as the bag boy and now I'm the assistant manager."

Kurt stared at him, wide-eyed. "You're the _assistant __manager_? Why on earth are you carrying my _food_?"

Josh laughed. "Like I said, the best part of my job is helping customers. I'm definitely a people person, especially when it comes to people like yourself."

The elevator dinged at that precise moment, letting Kurt off the hook of what he felt would have been an awkward moment - he just wasn't sure why. Together the two boys made their way along the hall, passing a little more small talk together before reaching the door, where Kurt realized he had forgotten his key. "Oi!" he yelled, banging his fist on the door. "Food!"

"You sing with that voice?"

"Like an angel, believe it or not," he bantered back, only blushing slightly. "Countertenor."

Josh raised an eyebrow. "I'd love to hear you sing."

"Come to Nationals," Kurt said immediately. "There's going to be some amazing talent there and I think our group has a great shot."

"Well, I'll certainly try my best but I can't promise -"

The door swung open, Lauren and Mercedes standing in the doorway impatiently. "About time! What took them so - oh."

Josh stepped forward, holding out the tray to the two girls. "Oh behalf of the hotel I'd like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. If there's any way we can make it up to you, please don't hesitate to give me a call."

"Oh, I think we can find a way," Santana purred, maneuvering between the two girls and dropping a hand casually on Josh's shoulder. "But really, you might have to call me. That's the way these things work after -"

"_Okay!_" Kurt said quickly, taking the tray from Josh and pushing it into Santana's arms. "You're going to go inside now and stop freaking out the _assistant __manager _before we get kicked out." As Santana pouted and turned away, Kurt shot an apologetic look Josh's way. "I'm sorry about her. She's a bit of a leech when it comes to guys."

Josh nodded before beckoning Kurt a little further out into the hallway. Frowning, Kurt followed to find the man writing something on a slip of paper. "I know you're only here for a few days but hey, nothing wrong with a little long distance."

Kurt opened the piece of paper and read it, still confused. "Why did you - _oh.__"_

"Keep it in mind."

Kurt, still staring down at the number in his hand, tried to think of the best way to put it. "I'm flattered but I'm actually -" The elevator dinged down the hall and Kurt looked up to see Josh already stepping in. "Taken," he finished before shrugging. "Oh well."

Kurt couldn't help but feel a little giddy about it - even though he was already taken, it wasn't every day that guys were giving Kurt their _number_. And he hadn't even realized Josh was gay, plus it wasn't like he had reciprocated so there was no reason to feel guilty about it. Chalking it up to the New York experience, Kurt was turning back to the room when his phone began to ring, causing Kurt's smile to grow even wider when he checked the caller ID. "Hey, Blaine!"

"Kurt!" Kurt could hear the smile in his boyfriend's voice. "I honestly wasn't sure if you'd pick up, I thought you'd be off exploring the city lights."

"Sadly no. Rachel is though, her and Finn have a date tonight so hopefully they'll stop beating around the bush and just get back together already. But the rest of us are just ordering room service and blobbing out for the night."

Blaine gave a mock-gasp and Kurt rolled his eyes. "Kurt Hummel, blobbing out? I never thought I'd hear the day!"

"Oh, shush." Kurt sat down on the ground, leaning back against the wall. "So, what's happening back in Warbler-land?"

"Nothing exciting," Blaine said nonchalantly. "We're basically just trying out new songs for next year, seeing what sounds good and what doesn't. They're trying to find someone else I can duet with too."

"Anybody good?"

"Nobody beats you."

Kurt smiled, closing his eyes and drinking in his boyfriend's voice. "Well of course I knew that. I'm simply irreplaceable." And he could almost ignore Blaine idly humming along to Beyonce because of how crazy he was about him.

"So, any more New York gossip?"

Kurt laughed. "The city never sleeps but it doesn't change _that _much. All I can really focus on right now is the food - my almost room service is in the room waiting for me."

"Almost room service?"

"Yeah," Kurt said almost fondly, smiling at the memory. "I had to go down and see what was taking so long and the assistant manager helped me bring it up. His name's Josh and I actually thought he was, like, a bellhop or something." Kurt laughed, dimly aware that Blaine wasn't but not thinking much about it. "But yeah, we talked and he ended up being gay as well and I didn't even realize until he tried to ask me out! It's going to be weird if I run into him again, that's for sure."

Silence.

"Blaine? You there, or do we have a bad connection again?"

"Yeah, I - uh. I'm going to let you go, go eat your food."

Kurt frowned. "Are you okay?"

Blaine cleared his throat before talking again. "Fine, yeah," he said, sounding normal and Kurt relaxed. "Sorry, just thinking about something, making plans."

"Plans?"

"I'll tell you later. You go and eat." Blaine hesitated and Kurt could practically hear him thinking. "I miss you," he added, and somehow Kurt knew that wasn't what he had wanted to say, but let it go.

"I miss you too," Kurt said softly. "Bye."

And if Blaine's reply was a little subdued, Kurt didn't think too much into it. Of course he knew it was hard on Blaine not being in New York too, but his boyfriend had made it very clear that Kurt wasn't to think about that.

So he didn't.

* * *

"Can I really do this?"

Blaine paced to the other side of his dorm room, staring down at the phone in one hand and credit card in the other. Of course he knew he _could _do what he wanted to do, but whether it was the right thing to do or not was what the boy was currently struggling with.

Missing Kurt was difficult enough, Blaine rationalized, without having to know that there was another guy in the same _building_ as him who was making moves. Kurt hadn't said exactly what this Josh had said or done so Blaine's mind was quickly filling in possible blanks, ranging anywhere from a simple comment about hanging out to trying to seduce Kurt away with promises of a penthouse suite and near-legalized marriage. He had more to offer Kurt and why wouldn't Kurt go for him? An older guy in an exciting city sure beat the sophomore of a boyfriend Kurt had waiting for him back in _Lima_.

Blaine had to do _something._

So with slightly shaking fingers, he punched in the number, still not sure if it was right but knowing it was at least necessary. Necessary for him and his sanity.

"Yes, I'd like to book a flight to New York…"

* * *

Of all the things Blaine had expected, this certainly hadn't been it.

"So, basically what you're saying right now is that you don't trust me not to cheat on you, even after everything that happened with Sam and how you did nothing but support me and never once asked whether anything was happening?"

"Kurt, I -"

"No." Kurt shook his head, still glaring at Blaine from across the room. "Don't you dare try to justify yourself. You flew to New York, not to see us perform at Nationals, not to spend time with your boyfriend, but to make sure I wasn't cheating on you with some guy who flirted with me who I _told _you about." Kurt reached over to the chair and grabbed a coat, shrugging it on. "I need some air."

Brushing past him angrily, Kurt stormed out of the room.

Blaine blinked a couple of times before awkwardly turning to the other occupants of the room. "Did I just make a complete idiot of myself?" The nodding heads of the entire McKinley High Glee club was pretty much confirmation enough and Blaine groaned, dropping into the nearest chair. "What do I do now? He hates me."

"Okay, first of all you are not throwing a pity party." Blaine glanced up at Mercedes who had crossed the room to sit next to him. "You made a mistake, that happens in relationships. And because you and Kurt are each other's first boyfriends, there's a lot of learning curves to go through, but you're going to get through this just fine. What you need to do is win Kurt back even though you haven't lost him."

"It sure _feels _like I've lost him," Blaine grumbled.

Finn was the next to speak, surprising Blaine who figured he would have taken Kurt's side. "Trust me, you'll know when you've lost someone you care about. Kurt's angry but he's still your boyfriend, okay?" Out the corner of his eye, Blaine noticed Rachel hanging her head and remembered Kurt telling him about what had happened on their date. "But you know Kurt and I'm sure you'll figure out a way to make it up to him. Just give him some time to cool off and then remind him why he can never stop talking about how much he loves you."

Mercedes elbowed Finn hard. "Kurt hasn't _said_that yet, not to _Blaine!_"

_Oh my god._

"He loves me?" Blaine asked frantically, groaning louder when Mercedes nodded. "I've screwed up so bad and - wait, where would he even _go_? It's nighttime in New York and he's out there _alone_?"

"I know where he is."

Blaine was up off his feet immediately, kneeling in front of Rachel. "Where?"

Rachel sighed, still looking subdued. "When we were leaving the Wicked theatre yesterday, we found an abandoned back door through to the prop room. Tried it from the back and the lock is broken so… if he's anywhere, he'll have gone there. I can show you."

"Wait," Mercedes said quickly. "You can't just go there, Blaine. Not without a plan of some kind, you need to give him something to show him that you're sorry. This is Kurt we're talking about."

Blaine stood, finding the need to pace too prevalent to avoid any longer. "I don't know about that, I just… Has anybody ever really pissed Kurt off like this?"

Half the occupants of the room looked at each other almost guiltily. "Well, Kurt's kind of easy to annoy," Rachel said defensively. "But I don't think this is one of those things where singing a song with him can make things better. How did you guys sort it out when you were angry at him?"

"It just sort of… blew over," Blaine admitted. "He apologized - and of course I'm planning to do that - and said he'd buy me coffee next time and.. that was it."

The girls all shook their heads but Mike spoke up then, surprising them all. "Well… why does Blaine need anything other than himself and a heartfelt apology? We all presume that Kurt's all into the materialistic and needs to be won over but Blaine, how did you two start dating?"

"I just… I just asked him."

Mike raised an eyebrow and Blaine got it. "Seriously, if you want to make him feel special, buy him flowers. But don't serenade him, don't fork out a huge amount of money or anything, don't do anything you wouldn't normally do to show Kurt how much you care. Because you care about him the same no matter what, no matter whether you've screwed up or he's screwed up or what. Isn't that right?"

The rest of the guys were staring at Mike in unconcealed awe. Tina was looking like the cat that got the cream, or the girl that got the best boyfriend ever in this case, leaning up to kiss him. And Blaine could almost have kissed Mike at that point in time too.

"Plus," Mike added, "the longer it takes you to go after him, the worse Kurt's going to be feeling."

Blaine swore under his breath and bolted.

* * *

Hailing a taxi was surprisingly easier than Blaine had expected. Perhaps the fact that he had probably looked like a madman had helped, but nonetheless, Blaine was now standing outside the Wicked theatre. Standing there and not going inside.

_Oh, come on. Just do it._

Blaine was terrified.

He had screwed up. Coming to New York had been the worst thing he had done for his and Kurt's relationship because he had basically shoved it in Kurt's face that he didn't trust him, didn't trust him not to be faithful while he was away, didn't trust that he cared enough about Blaine to come back to him.

And it was so ridiculous because Blaine _did _trust him. Not once had Blaine thought that Kurt actually _would _leave him, would go and have a steamy love affair with this Josh guy. He had just freaked out because he cared about Kurt way too much, _loved _him even.

_Love._

That was new, but so very right.

_The longer it takes you to go after him, the worse Kurt's going to be feeling._

Blaine quickly hunted down the back door Rachel had spoken of and slipped through it, not bothering to think about how unreal it was that security on a theatre like this would be _that _lax and _especially _not wanting to wonder whether Rachel had just broken the lock herself so she could return in the middle of the night and belt out countless performances of Wicked songs. Instead he slipped silently through the hallways leading to the stage, trying not to think about the silence around him that indicated that nobody was there. Because Kurt had to be here.

When he reached the wings, Blaine froze as he saw the figure standing over to the far side of the stage, staring out into the seats. Kurt was completely motionless, hands resting by his sides but not clenched into fists, neither smiling nor frowning nor - _thank __goodness_ - crying. And Blaine wished he had a plan, had _something _more to offer than _hey, __I __screwed __up._

But all Blaine had ever had to offer in the past was himself, and Kurt had accepted him then. So he simply had to trust that his boyfriend cared about him enough to forgive him.

Kurt's attention was caught by the time Blaine had made it a quarter of the way across the stage and he stopped as his boyfriend turned to face him. They stared at each other for a long moment, Blaine waiting for Kurt to make the first move, knowing this needed to be on his boyfriend's conditions. Finally Kurt let out a long breath and lowered his eyes to Blaine's hands. "You brought me flowers."

"I did," Blaine said softly, taking a tentative step forward. "But they're not to try and buy you back or anything of the sort. I know I screwed up and all I can do is tell you I'm sorry and that I trust you, completely. What happens next is your decision."

Kurt nodded, taking his own step forward. "You hurt me, you know?"

"I know."

They stepped towards each other again, keeping their movements level. "I wouldn't cheat on you," Kurt said, his tone measured but still soft. "I don't think I physically could."

Blaine nodded, the only sound for a few seconds being their careful footsteps across the stage. "I'm insecure sometimes," he admitted. "I play it off well enough that it doesn't get noticed, but really I don't honestly know how I got you and I'm scared that I'll lose you."

"I'm scared too," Kurt said, his voice dropping even lower as they both neared the centre of the stage. "I don't know what I'm doing. But I trust you to always be honest with me, I trust that we'll work things out."

"I'm being honest with you right now when I say that I trust you completely," Blaine said, still staring into Kurt's eyes. "I shouldn't have come. And I knew you wouldn't cheat on me, I knew. I don't know what possessed me to come, and I'm sorry I did. I'm not sorry that I got to see you, I'm sorry for the reason I'm seeing you now."

Silence, and all Blaine could do was wait. Kurt had stopped walking and Blaine did the same. There were only a few steps between them now, but they were the all-important ones because Kurt could still turn around now and walk away and Blaine couldn't hold it against him.

"I forgive you."

Blaine closed his eyes in relief, letting the tension evaporate out of his body. "Thank you," he whispered.

"We're both going to make mistakes," Kurt continued, "but it's how we recover from them that makes us who we are, who we are _together_. You followed me, you didn't try to do something showy to win me back, you just trusted and hoped that the simplicity of what we had would be enough."

_I owe Mike so much right now._

But Blaine knew it would have ended up this way anyway. Any elaborate plans he might have made would have just fallen apart because he couldn't hide behind anything when it came to Kurt. All he could be was real.

And that was why they worked.

In unison, they stepped forward to close the distance between them, close enough to hold hands, to wrap their arms around each other, to just _be __together,_ but not. Not yet. Something was missing.

"Is it too soon if I tell you that I love you?"

"Not if I can say it back."

Kurt finally smiled. "Then say it back. Because I love you."

"I love you too."

Blaine held out the flowers and Kurt took them, staring down at them for a long moment before looking back up at Blaine. And it was that look that broke everything because the next thing Blaine knew, his arms were around Kurt's waist, Kurt's around his neck and they were suddenly, inexplicably but so _wonderfully _kissing. And it wasn't a kiss of apology or regret or trying to fix things, it was a kiss that reminded them both that no matter what else changed around them, they still _were._

And, if Blaine could have things his way, they would be forever.

* * *

Later as they sat on the edge of the stage, Kurt still holding the flowers in his arms, he asked it. "Do you regret coming to New York now?"

Blaine smiled, resting his head against Kurt's. "I regret coming. I don't regret being here."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Kurt, my last wish..."**_

_***sniff* "Don't say that!"**_

_**"Kurt... Please... If I die, I want the word Redvine on my tombstone, font bolded verdana, please. And if I may, can I get a picture of a Redvine too?"**_

_***rolls eyes* "Someone here is picky."**_


	200. Songs

**So I had a serious authors note last chapter, time for some celebrations.**

**First, chapter 200! This is half celebration, half upsetting for some because this means there's only 32 chapters to go and we're starting to wind down. But don't fret! I can promise some of those chapters will be phenomenal - and I don't ever say that about my work so you have to believe it! **

**Second, I jumped over 8,000 reviews the other night which is just incredible. I'm really curious to see just how many reviews this story is going to end up on, that's for sure! Thank you to all of you, especially since 98% of those reviews are nothing but positive.**

**Third, Glee. If you don't want spoilers for Pot o' Gold or The First Time, please skip ahead now. If you're still here, I'll be brief. Pot o' Gold had my heart aching for Blainers and for Kurt, showering inordinate amounts of love on Burt, glowering at Finn and Santana, squeeing over Rory and freaking out over Puck and Shelby. And the promos just had me dead on the floor. And I may have cried a little but _would they stop being so beautiful already? Please? _(Please don't ever ever stop being beautiful).**

**That's me done. Read on! I'm proud to give you a long one for the 200th chapter :)**

**From **_**Fiona12690: In Glee Live Kurt mentioned that he missed all of impromptu performances that they had at Dalton, but where were all the teachers basically while those performances happened. What if after most of those performances Blaine was about to kiss Kurt when the teachers showed up and interrupted the moment every single time. Leaving Blaine frustrated till one day Blaine just plants a kiss on Kurt in French class.**_

**I know I've done something similar to Part C before but… I really could not resist.**

* * *

Songs

**Five Times Blaine Anderson Listened To Authority And One Time He Just Couldn't Give A Damn.**

**A.** Teenage Dream.

_You can't just kiss someone you've only just met._

"_My heart stops when you look at me,_

_Just one touch, now baby I believe!"_

But it was so difficult when Kurt was staring at him like Blaine was everything he had ever wanted. And Blaine would probably bet his family's entire fortune on the fact that Kurt was gay, but that didn't change things, didn't change the fact that this kid was clearly here to spy on them and probably had another ulterior motive for being here that Blaine was beginning to wonder about.

But Blaine couldn't help the fact that Kurt was _gorgeous._

"_So take a chance and don't ever look back!"_

It wouldn't be _that _weird, would it? After all, they had held hands running down the hallway together and Kurt had shown no inclination of wanting to let go, Blaine had smoothed down his blazer and watched as Kurt blushed at the action. So really, would it be that much more of a step to walk up to him after the performance - right at the end when the last of the notes were still ringing around the room and the others were beginning to applaud - and just kiss him?

"_I'm'a get your heart racing in my skintight jeans,_

_Be your teenage dream tonight,"_

After all, Wes was always telling him that he thought too hard about things, he never acted on impulse. This 'impromptu' performance had been rehearsed for weeks at Blaine's insistence - though he would never admit to the Warblers that it was for their benefit, not his - and he always planned things through before doing them. So maybe this was the kind of impulsive gesture that Blaine needed in his life.

But what if Kurt wasn't gay? What if he was just one of those guys who liked dressing nice and appreciated good music and had no problem holding hands with another guy and…

Okay, so Kurt was probably gay.

"_Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans,"_

So really, what was stopping him? If it got awkward, Blaine could just apologize and pass it off as some kind of Warbler tradition - the other guys would back him up before ribbing him about it later.

Even if he did it on the _cheek_. Actually, yeah. That would work just fine.

Okay.

Blaine was going to kiss Kurt.

"_Be your teenage dream tonight!"_

Of course, as soon as the song ended, Blaine found himself surrounded by the rest of the Warblers in their compulsory group hug. He smiled at the rest of the guys before turning back to Kurt who was still standing in the doorway, wide eyed and clapping. Blaine gave him a proper smile before extricating himself from the rest of the Warblers and making his way across the room.

"That was amazing!" Kurt gushed the second he reached him. "I've heard wonderful things about the Warblers but I never thought - I mean, a capella and Katy Perry? Genius!"

And Blaine found himself faced with a problem he hadn't anticipated - how to shut Kurt up long enough to kiss him because Kurt was still raving about their performance and talking about it in such intricate detail that Blaine knew he was a singer himself, which was something he would think more about later if he could just get this over with.

"Kurt," Blaine finally got in, loud enough for Kurt to stop talking and look at him. "I -"

Giving up on words, Blaine placed a hand on Kurt's shoulder and stared him straight in the eyes, all ready to just lean in and -

"Mr. Anderson!"

_What?_

Blaine had every right to be confused - the teachers _never_usually came to their performances when they were during the breaks, choosing instead to sit in the staffroom and ignore the general craziness that was their school. But yet, here was Blaine's Geography teacher - and how on earth had he missed him, he was the only person wearing _bright __blue _in the room after all. "Yes, sir?" he asked, polite as ever.

"Such a wonderful performance, I trust you'll be leading the Warblers to Nationals this year?"

"I hope so, sir," Blaine said, just willing the man to leave. After all, Kurt was starting to look shifty, clearly not wanting to get caught out.

But naturally luck wasn't on their side. "And who is this?"

"A friend of mine," Blaine said smoothly. "He wanted to see our performance today so I'm just going to sign him in and then we'll talk about it for awhile."

Apparently the man was satisfied with that. After one more smile he was turning to talk to some of the other Warblers, unfortunately electing not to stop Wes and David who were both on their way over. Blaine caught their eye, realizing they were on a mission and sighed. _Better __try __and __make __this __easier __for __Kurt._

"How about we all get some coffee?"

* * *

**B.** Bills Bills Bills.

Ever since he had entered the room, straightening his tie like he was some high-class business man or something - and David needed to _stop _choreographing now - Blaine had been on a mission.

It was time to shake things up.

Kurt had been the one to inspire it, of course. After his almost daily rants about how the Warblers needed to lighten up and have some fun and how the Council seemed to have a collective stick up their - well, Blaine usually stopped him at that point. But after awhile, Blaine had started to see it Kurt's way. Yes, they had a system for a reason, to promote equality and fairness. But they also had a reputation for being… well, _dull_.

Blaine wasn't naive either. Yes, the Council technically ran the meetings and selected the songs, but by this point Blaine knew he was pretty much running everything himself. After all, _Bills __Bills __Bills _would definitely have not been a contender for Regionals if anybody but Blaine had suggested it - and even he had his doubts, but it was always good to try everything. So if anybody was going to inspire change around here, it was Blaine.

Jumping on the couch raised a few eyebrows but Wes didn't stop them mid performance to hand out a demerit like he would have if it had been _Cameron _doing it. And the way Kurt was looking up at him as he sang his way along the couch kind of cemented Blaine's decision.

This time he was going to shake things up by kissing Kurt.

There were definitely a few motives behind it other than just causing a stir. Even though Dalton was zero-tolerance, there were still students who had their issues with homosexuality and other minorities in the school. They just flew enough under the radar that they had managed to get away with it so far. And, unfortunately, a couple of them happened to be Warblers. It wasn't like they had done anything in particular, otherwise Blaine would have definitely reported it to Wes, but there was just a certain way they acted around the four gay Warblers that irked Blaine a little. So this would be a way to show them that there was no judgement in the Warblers, no hiding who you were.

Oh, and Kurt was still kind of gorgeous, definitely gay and single. And Blaine wasn't sure whether it was a crush or not, but kissing Kurt was definitely a little appealing.

Blaine wouldn't have dreamt of doing it a few months ago, not when the pain of what Karofsky had done was still raw. But Kurt was holding together so well, recovering and being free to be himself again and Blaine could tell he would be okay with it. Maybe a little weirded out if he didn't feel the same way, but Blaine just hoped he would take it in fun.

Because it was just _fun_, Blaine reminded himself sternly, spinning with the rest of the boys as he belted out the lyrics to the song. Kurt was by his side as usual - and how did that keep happening, Blaine had to wonder - and Blaine could see that even though he wasn't the one in the spotlight, he was still having fun, still in a good mood.

_Okay, now's the moment._

"Guys, I'd say we're ready for Regionals," Blaine found himself saying instead, looking around the group with his usual smile in place. The rest of the guys cheered, Kurt clapping politely as usual - and Blaine had to wonder if he would ever see his friend actually let loose a little and just be a teenage guy. Rolling his eyes, Blaine turned to Kurt, steeling his nerve as the rest of the group broke into mindless chatter. _Time __to __cause __a __stir__-_

"Gentlemen, I know Regionals is just around the corner, but class is _now _and you know too many demerits will result in a detention - detentions I can arrange for the date of Regionals if you're not cautious."

The boys evaporated. Or at least that was Blaine's theory for how quickly the room emptied of everybody besides himself and Kurt who was smirking. Kurt's Spanish teacher gave them one last glare before turning to leave herself, and Kurt snorted. "What?" Blaine asked curiously.

"Regionals is on a _Saturday_."

It took Blaine a second but then he was laughing too. "Wow, they really are too scared of getting in trouble, aren't they?"

Kurt hummed in agreement as their laughter died. "So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Sorry?"

"Oh…" Kurt trailed off, frowning as he turned to grab his bag. "You just looked at me like you wanted to ask me something is all."

And then Blaine remembered his earlier resolve and suppressed a sigh. _No __point __now._"I was just wondering how you were settling in," he said instead as they headed towards the door.

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You kind of ask me that every week, Blaine. You know I'm doing fine."

Blaine shrugged. "No harm in making sure."

And maybe there was a little disappointment as they left, but it was simply because Blaine hadn't been able to follow through. Nothing more.

* * *

**C.** Silly Love Songs.

Kurt just looked so _lonely._

It wasn't a pity thing - Blaine knew better than to offer his friend any kind of pity since Kurt was more likely to turn a snarky retort back in his direction. It was more the fact that it was Valentines Day and Blaine had been rejected and Kurt _liked __him _and they were _both _lonely. And no matter how much Kurt was hyping it up, being single kind of _sucked_.

A kiss on the cheek, Blaine told himself, at the end of the song, to show him that maybe his chances at love this year weren't over. Maybe Blaine could identify whatever it was that had been lurking at the back of his mind since he had met Kurt, maybe he could put a name to it and maybe it would be the right name to make Kurt happy. But since he couldn't tell that to Kurt yet, couldn't bear to bring his friend's hopes up only to quite possibly dash them, Blaine just wanted to show him he cared.

Friends do it all the time,he told himself. It wasn't that uncommon, after all, and Blaine had seen Kurt and the girls act that way frequently. What did it matter that they were both boys and played for the same team? Nothing at all.

You can do this, he told himself.

And maybe he glanced at Kurt a few times during the song, maybe during some of the lines that weren't so appropriate to be looking at Kurt while singing. But really, it was all just to check that Kurt was still there, still okay and… yeah, still gorgeous. It was always good to be reminded of how gorgeous Kurt was.

"_I love you,"_

So many of the other Warblers were singing this with someone in mind, Blaine knew. He was perhaps the only one who wasn't sure, even though a lot of the guys probably thought he was thinking of Jeremiah. And yes, there were a few lingering thoughts of the boy he had disastrously embarrassed himself in front of, but there were also thoughts of Kurt and thoughts of just staying single forever if it saved him the trouble and drama of what he had gone through in the last week.

Seriously, whoever said that two guys dating would make things less confusing was _so_ deluded.

Blaine pushed it all aside for now, not wanting to feel the things he was feeling. It was all too confusing and right now it was easier to focus on the tangible, the understandable. Simple things like the fact that Kurt was lonely and Blaine was lonely and making his friend feel a little bit better was a top priority right now.

So he would try.

The patrons of Breadstix burst into applause and Blaine started a little, not realizing he had finished singing. Nobody was staring at him curiously so he had to presume he had sung the song correctly, somehow. Glancing at Kurt, Blaine noticed him grinning along with the others, still looking in the direction of his New Directions friends. There was something wistful in his smile, though, when he glanced at Mike and Tina, and Blaine was even more steeled in his decision.

Gently pushing past other Warblers, Blaine made his way over to Kurt who was now glancing around at the others. His eyes caught on Blaine and he smiled - and the fact that it was the same smile as usual, nothing had changed as a result of the past week made Blaine's heart lighter - and Blaine smiled back as he nudged Jeff to the side so he could reach Kurt -

Who was talking to _their __Health __teacher._

Blaine had to physically stop and close his eyes at that one because this wasn't Dalton, this wasn't _Westerville _and this wasn't class time and what on earth was Mr. Landstrom even _doing __here _and _why __did __this __keep __happening __to __him?_

(The logical side of his brain suddenly started kicking back in, reminding Blaine that perhaps this was a _good _thing because kissing the guy who had just admitted his unreciprocated feelings for you would only lead to trouble, but Blaine dismissed it because he wasn't _happy_.)

"… certainly didn't expect to see anybody else from Dalton here!"

"Well when I heard about the Singles event you had planned, I just had to come along. Of course I had hoped to see a few more older women here but…" he sighed, glancing around hopefully before smiling again. "It's always a delight to hear you boys perform anyway. Blaine! Marvelous as usual!"

"Thank you, sir," Blaine said politely as he stepped up next to Kurt, trying not to roll his eyes. "I hope Valentines Day finds you well."

"As well as one can be without a date - which, as you boys have shown me, is very well!" Blaine tried not to wince as the man hummed a few refrains of the song they had just completed - someone was desperately out of tune. "Well, I'm off to find something to eat and a table to sit at… by myself."

As their teacher left, Kurt shuddered. "Okay, I thought I'd escaped that 'knowing far too much about your teacher's personal life' thing when I left McKinley," he said quickly. "What is it with them and showing up at the weirdest of times?"

Blaine shook his head, still staring at the man. "I wish I knew."

* * *

**D.** Misery.

_You just spent that whole song flirting with Kurt. _

_Well, __yes, _Blaine admitted as the Warblers gathered together to sing the final chorus. But there was nothing wrong with that, really, not when he and Kurt were as close as they were. Kurt was the only person who Blaine felt like he could truly be himself around - his childish, overly-serious, puppy-dog-esque, weird, rambly self. It wasn't that Kurt wouldn't judge him - because yes he would, rather heavily at that - but that Kurt still accepted him, with eye rolls and nudges but that was besides the point.

So doing silly things like leaning against Kurt's shoulder and giving him puppy-dog eyes in the middle of a song which was basically asking _why __don__'__t __you __love __me? _seemed perfectly reasonable in Blaine's mind. A little too reasonable…

_Am I interested in Kurt? _

Blaine honestly couldn't say either way.

_Maybe a kiss will figure it out?_

And he had to roll his eyes at himself because _really? _After pretty much every performance now, Blaine had decided to kiss Kurt for some reason or another and it had always failed due to teacher intervention. But…

The teachers weren't here.

Of course they were _here_ - none of them were stupid enough to leave the Dalton boarders completely unattended for fear of returning to the school half burnt down with Wes curled up in a ball banging his gavel on the ground. But they were all in a staff meeting across the other side of the school and Blaine knew it was due to run for at least another hour.

So, what was stopping him? He could just meander over to Kurt at the end of their performance, find a reason to complement him, get his opinion on the song - and of course it would be a glowing review, Kurt always loved the songs they did - and then just… just kiss him.

It sounded so simple in his head and Blaine waited a few moments for the catch before realizing one wasn't coming.

Huh.

Okay.

"_I'm gonna get you back!"_

Pulling himself back to the moment, Blaine couldn't help the warmth and pride rising up in him at the Warblers and what they had done because they really had come so far. "Hey, Regionals!" he called out, cupping his hands together and not really caring what an idiot he looked like. "You've just met our opening number!"

The rest of the Warblers cheered, hugging each other with excitement practically radiating off all of them. Blaine allowed himself to be swept up in the chaos for a moment before seeking out Kurt as the rest of the group dispersed. _Okay, __find __something __casual __to __talk __about, __something __like__… __aha!_

"How did you manage to find a Burberry-esque canary cage cover?"

"Canaries don't like cold weather," Kurt explained before lifting the cover to look at the bird he was so clearly devoted to. "Especially Pavarotti."

And anything else Blaine was planning to say died right about there because seriously? Kurt Hummel was kind of the most adorable person _alive _sometimes and Blaine really needed to know how he felt. Like, right now.

But when Kurt was glancing behind him looking fearful, Blaine really did have to turn around and find out what was going on.

"Mr. Anderson and Mr. Hummel," announced their principal, arms folded as he surveyed them. "I understand you just completed one of your performances?"

"Yes, sir," Blaine said, not sure what was going on except that the man looked… well, angry. But that didn't make sense because what had they done? And then he glanced towards the room they had evacuated and Blaine realized. "If it's about the paper, we're going to clean it up right now, don't worry!"

Kurt elbowed him, clearly not happy about having to clean up when Blaine was the one who had thrown it all, but Blaine just continued to smile charmingly at their principal who looked slightly mollified. "See that you do," he said finally before wandering away again.

"Why did you have to bring me into this?" Kurt immediately demanded, just as Blaine had predicted.

"You don't have to help," Blaine said soothingly. "I'll take care of it."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I know you. When you sang about two hundred letters, you meant it didn't you?" Blaine just looked at him sheepishly and Kurt sighed. "I'm not going to make you pick up two hundred pieces of paper yourself. Come on."

So maybe Blaine did care about Kurt as more than a friend, but as Kurt walked towards the room purposefully, Blaine realized that he had probably just been saved from yet another potential disaster. If he did care about Kurt - _like _him, even - then it was better not to make the first time kissing him as an experiment on his feelings. Kurt deserved so much more than that.

* * *

**E.** Blackbird.

_Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever._

So it was a crush. It was possibly _more _than a crush but that was a little too scary for right now and Blaine wanted to focus on being _happy_ because life made just a little more sense right now than it ever had before. Life was Kurt, standing in front of him with tears running down his face, singing like Blaine had never seen him sing before. Singing in a way Blaine knew he had back at McKinley where he could simply express his feelings through song like he was made to do.

Right. Blaine was _demanding _that Kurt get more solos.

But more than that, Blaine knew he had fallen hard for Kurt. He didn't honestly know when that time was but he was understanding it now, understanding it for _real _and he couldn't let this go on without acting on it. Something had to happen. Now.

Kurt finished singing to silence - clearly nobody was going to clap out of respect for the seriousness of the situation. Wiping his eyes, he walked back over to his radio, picked it up and sat down on one of the empty couches. After a few seconds of awkwardness, Wes banged his gavel and resumed the meeting. As the fight picked back up over uniform colors, Blaine tried to figure out what to do.

He just wanted to kiss Kurt so _badly_.

But was it the right thing to do right now, right when Kurt was still crying…

Oh. Kurt was still crying.

Shooting a quick glance over to the Council table, Blaine waited until Cameron was talking loudly about something before darting across the room, dropping into the seat next to Kurt who hastily wiped his eyes again, looking away. "Hey, it's alright," Blaine whispered. "It's just me. Can - can I do anything?"

Kurt shook his head but Blaine noticed the way he was leaning slightly in his direction, almost as if he wasn't thinking about it. Slowly, not wanting to startle Kurt or accidentally push him away, Blaine gently wrapped his arm around him, stroking his fingers lightly down Kurt's arm. Kurt stiffened, but somehow Blaine knew it wasn't a rejection, more that he wasn't used to this kind of comfort. And after a few seconds, Kurt relaxed again, at least as much as he could when he was still crying.

They stayed that way for the rest of the meeting, thankfully not drawing attention from the other Warblers who knew how to give privacy when it was needed. Kurt had stopped crying by about midway through the meeting but neither boy had moved from the position, Blaine somehow knowing Kurt still needed comfort. It was only when the meeting was called to a close and the rest of the Warblers dispersed quickly - and Blaine probably owed a large thank you to Wes for that one - that Kurt looked up. "Sorry," he said in just above a whisper.

"Don't apologize," Blaine said immediately. "You're upset, it's okay."

Kurt ducked his head a little but Blaine could see him smiling. "You're a good friend, Blaine," came the murmur before Kurt leaned in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you."

And with a slight blush tingeing his cheeks, Kurt left the room.

Blaine raised an eyebrow, running his fingers along his cheek. "Uh, okay."

_Better than nothing, right?_

Except now Blaine wanted more. _So _much more.

* * *

**A.** French

"So listen, I've been wanting to talk to you about something."

Kurt raised an eyebrow as he slid into the empty seat. "Would it be the activity we're supposed to be doing? And would the talking be in _French_?"

"No and no," Blaine said cheerfully, lowering his voice a little.

"But we need to revise."

"You don't," Blaine said pointedly, glancing down at the trial exam that had just been handed back. Kurt's bright red A+ was staring up at them and Kurt blushed a little. "And an A- isn't too shabby for me either so I think we can slack off a little this lesson, don't you agree?"

Kurt's sigh was belayed by the smile on his face. "I suppose. What did you want to talk about?"

_How do I start?_

"I've been doing a lot of thinking," Blaine started before realizing he needed to explain something. "Oh, and I wouldn't have done this during _French_ but I've barely seen you this week and I figured I'd take advantage of the time we have together."

Kurt winced. "I know, I'm sorry I haven't been around much. There's been a lot going on back home and the fact that Rachel could put side the fact that I'm 'competition' shows that they're clearly a mess."

"It's alright," Blaine said soothingly, casting a quick look at their teacher who was beginning to make her rounds of the student pairs. "So I was going to actually get you alone and -"

"Okay, I'm sorry but you can't use that phrase anymore."

Blaine frowned at Kurt who looked pained before it hit him. "Oh god, sorry! I didn't even think… oh wow. Yeah."

Kurt laughed. "Don't worry. You were saying?"

Phrasing his words carefully, Blaine continued. "I was going to talk to you privately about this but, you know, time's been against us. And I guess I wanted to talk to you about this straight away because when you realize something like I have, you want to change your life as soon as possible." Kurt was frowning and Blaine had to laugh at himself. "I'm not making any sense, am I?"

"No, but - she's coming."

Blaine quickly picked up the syllabus and began to spout off a few of the sentences provided, Kurt delivering his responses flawlessly as usual. They received a nod of approval from their teacher before she continued to walk. "So?" Kurt prompted gently, switching back to English. "Care to explain what's going on?"

And then Blaine was suddenly hit with a memory, something he should have thought of earlier. _Kurt __likes __romance_. "You might hate me for doing this. It's really not the best setting…"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Blaine, I can't imagine it would be _that _bad. I mean, it's not like you're asking me out or some… oh." Blaine smiled sheepishly, knowing his face had given him away completely and Kurt sucked in a breath. "_Oh.__"_

"Is that a good 'oh'?" Blaine asked anxiously. "Because if it's not a good 'oh', I won't do it at all, or if it's an 'oh' like 'oh, right now?' then I can do it some other time, I just -"

"Blaine!" Kurt interrupted, laughter evident in his voice. "It's a shock but it's not _bad_. I just… I didn't think you'd ever feel this way about me."

"Well, like I said, it's something I finally realized. And… I'm doing this in French class, why am I doing this in French class?"

Kurt was still laughing at him and opened his mouth to say something, hopefully to reassure him or say _yes _or….

"Gentlemen, that is exactly what I am asking myself."

_Oh crap._

One last look at Kurt and they both put their best innocent expressions on, turning to their unimpressed teacher. "You see, I'm not sure exactly what you're doing," she continued, "but I know it's not French. Considering the rest of the class is nearly finished and the bell is about to ring, I will have to ask you to stay back during your lunch period and complete the exercise."

"Yes, ma'am," Kurt said quickly, smiling at her and Blaine suppressed a smirk. If anybody was going to charm the French teacher successfully, it would be her star student. But as soon as she walked away, amidst the noise of the rest of the students packing up, Kurt leaned in to whisper in Blaine's ear, "Oh, and I know you haven't asked but when you do, the answer will be yes." Blaine shivered and Kurt's smile grew wider. "And I really can't wait to kiss you."

_This is torture._

The thing Blaine had been thinking about for _so_ long now and Kurt just came out and _said _it like that? After Blaine had tortured himself for _months _with the thought of it, being stopped every single time?

He just wanted it _now._

The rest of the class dispersed but Blaine's hope of being left alone was shattered when their teacher settled back into her seat, looking at them expectantly. With a sigh, Blaine turned back to Kurt and began to talk again, glancing down at the sheet occasionally more to distract himself from how _kissable _Kurt Hummel was than to focus on the words.

And then Kurt began to speak and… _oh_. Right.

Kurt was the only person at Dalton who was not only fluent at French, but could make the language so…

_Sexy._

_Damn it._

And he _knew _it too, the devil. With a smirk playing around his mouth, Kurt flawlessly rolled out a few gorgeous French sentences, keeping complete eye contact with Blaine the entire time. Well, complete except for the part where Blaine's eyes kept dropping to Kurt's lips and _oh __my __god, __stop __it._

It was when Kurt's tongue darted out to lick his lips, slowly, _seductively, _that it happened.

Blaine snapped, grabbed Kurt's tie and pulled him in for that long-awaited kiss.

And _oh_, was it worth it. Blaine was immediately so thankful for every other interrupted moment, every other time that he had thought kissing Kurt would be a good idea because nothing, _nothing _could possibly compare to kissing someone when you knew they felt the same, knew they wanted it, and having the first kiss as a celebration of finally being _together._

They broke apart slowly, neither wanting to break the kiss, simply staring at each other. "We kissed," Blaine finally said.

"Yeah," Kurt agreed, smiling lazily.

"I've kind of been wanting to do that forever, you know?"

"Mm?"

Blaine paused. "We - ah, we just kissed in French class."

"We did."

"Our teacher is probably watching us."

"Most likely."

"Do - do you think she cares?"

Kurt smirked. "Ask her."

They finally broke eye contact, turning to face their teacher who was rolling her eyes. "Usually that would result in demerits, but since this has been coming for quite some time, I can only say if you don't repeat this, there won't be any trouble." After assurances from both boys that there would be no further public displays of affection, she actually smirked at them. "Besides, I just won the pool."

Blaine closed his eyes, trying to pretend he was at a normal school. "That's - what?" Kurt spluttered from next to him. "Seriously, we never see them unless they're teaching our classes or interrupting our performances -"

"You noticed that too?"

Blaine presumed Kurt had nodded. "And now they're betting on our _love __life_?"

Sighing, Blaine opened his eyes and turned back to Kurt. "Just accept the fact that our crazy happens behind the scenes and try to ignore it," he said, his tone resigned. "Want to blow off the afternoon periods and go get a coffee?"

Kurt shrugged. "If you're going to ask me out and consider it out first date, sure."

Blaine smirked, grabbing Kurt's hand and leading him out of the room, mind already working overtime on how to make this perfect.

* * *

**Happy 200-days-of-Kiss!**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"How could you possibly think I liked HIM!" *sobs***_

_***shocked* "Kurt, I thought we were over this!"**_

_**"No, Blaine! How could you THINK I liked him for a second with his ATROCIOUS sense of fashion?"**_


	201. Speech

**I just want to make a note of this. My Angel (_xXLittle Rose AngelXx) _sent this headcanon in from last chapter: _And my headcannon is that the teachers' bet was on which teacher they would kiss in front of, and that is why they were all turning up after performances - in hopes to win that bet. _First, I just adore the fact that she has a _headcanon _for my story and second, this is such a brilliant idea. So if it wasn't 'canon' to the story then it is now.**

**Happy birthday to KiKiFliesDW13 Gleek! I hope this is a great birthday celebration chapter for you :)**

**And a question: is there anybody out there who has so far successfully avoided spoilers for 3x05? I mean, obviously the promo is another story but apart from that, are there still people who have managed to avoid all of them? Because a bucket load were released today and my sister and I have already made plans to kick my parents out of the house that night and I just don't see how people couldn't know. So I'm curious.**

**From **_**freakyfee91: I was thinking... could you maybe do a chapter in which Kurt practises an "I love you" speech in front of his mirror and doesn't notice Blaine standing in the doorway or something like that? Or it could be the other way round, Blaine practising the speech, which maybe would be nicer because I hate the fact that in the show Kurt always has to chase after the boys and never gets some being chased of his own.**_

**So, 1. Kurt deserves to be chased and 2. Blaine's the perfectionist type. I bet he would have practiced his little post-Blackbird speech, even though it seemed all off-the-cuff at the time. I think he knew what he was going to say but actually _doing _it shook him up a little.**

* * *

Speech

Blaine stared at his reflection in the mirror, drawing up all of his courage. A few seconds went by before he opened his mouth, waiting for the words to come out, the words that would sum up everything he felt right this very second.

"I feel ridiculous."

Okay, well that _was _true, but it wasn't exactly helping things along. Sighing, Blaine ran a hand through his hair, watching his mirror self do the same. "Okay, get it together," he told himself sternly. "This is for Kurt."

Blaine watched his reflection break into quite possibly the _sappiest _smile he had ever seen on his face, but he couldn't bring himself to wipe it away. It was already difficult enough not to smile that way every time he saw Kurt, which was why he was currently hiding out in his room, trying to work out a way to talk to Kurt without basically blurting out, "I think you're gorgeous and your voice is _amazing_ and your emotions are so _emotional _and let's make out. Please."

Because somehow Blaine didn't think that was exactly _romantic._

And romance was definitely what he was going for here. Not after he had spent the past hour and a half on various music search engines trying to find the perfect song - and even _Candles _didn't _quite _feel right but Blaine wasn't stupid enough to try and write an original song with only a few days until Regionals. But at least the song had plenty of emotion behind it and that was what Blaine was going for, an emotional song to lead into an emotional conversation. A conversation that Blaine was yet to work out.

Turning back to the mirror, Blaine stared himself down. "Okay," he said, trying not to feel too foolish about what he was doing. "Talking to Kurt."

Blaine quickly thought about how the first part of the conversation would go. He would tell Kurt about his song choice and explain that he had picked it because it was an emotional song. And then he would have to explain why he wanted an emotional song.

"Okay," he said again. "So, I picked _Candles _because it has a lot of emotions behind it. And maybe they're not the exact emotions that I wanted to express in this duet, but it's very hard to find a song that is written 100% perfectly for my situation, which is what I want to explain to you now."

It got easier as Blaine continued talking, trying to pretend he was saying these words to Kurt, the boy he had just realized he was a little bit crazy about. "Kurt, there is a moment when you say to yourself, 'Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever.'" Blaine allowed himself to smile a little at that one. _Thank __goodness __for __Google. __That__'__s __kind __of __the __perfect __quote __to __sum __my __feelings __up._" Watching you do _Blackbird _this week… that was a moment for me, about you." Blaine paused, trying to find the right words, the way the performance had made him feel, made him realize… "You _moved _me, Kurt. And this duet would just be an excuse to spend more time with you."

_What else?_

Blaine tried to figure out how to put everything else into words - how sorry he was for taking so long, how he really hoped that Kurt hadn't changed his mind since Valentines Day, how he had never had a boyfriend before but if Kurt wanted to become the first that would be fantastic… and realized there was no way he could. There were so many things that Blaine would have to leave unsaid because what he had said already was emotional enough - he hoped - and the rest would just be rambling.

"I hope he likes it," Blaine said to himself, closing his eyes for a second to imagine how he hoped Kurt would take it, that gorgeous little shy smile that Kurt would give him and saying he felt the same and the moment being perfect enough, _good _enough that maybe Kurt would want to be his.

"He will."

Blaine froze, his eyes still closed. _Okay, __that __was __a __figment __of __your __imagination, __you__'__re __imagining __Kurt __so __hard __that __you __heard __his __voice, __that__'__s __all._

But there was no imagining the footsteps that crossed the room and Blaine had to face the truth - Kurt was _here, _Kurt had just heard his speech and Kurt… _said __he __would __like __it?_

Opening his eyes, Blaine turned around to find Kurt standing behind him. "What are you doing here?" he asked in just above a whisper.

"Your door was open," Kurt said simply. "I wanted to talk about what song we were going to do for Regionals… but I guess you've got that sorted. And a few other things," he added, looking at Blaine so intently that Blaine knew every part of his soul was up for scrutiny, even if Kurt hadn't overheard what was going on.

Blaine struggled for words, finally managing to find some. "Kurt… I would repeat myself but it's not going to sound genuine enough and I really want this to mean something -"

"Shh," Kurt said softly, closing the distance between them and reaching out one hand to touch Blaine's face gently, followed by the other. "Don't speak then," he finished before leaning in and kissing him.

When Blaine had imagined this moment, he had only dared to dream that he might be able to kiss Kurt, he might be able to get away with it and Kurt would like it and to have Kurt being the one to kiss _him _derailed Blaine's brain for a few seconds. Luckily his mouth seemed to be on autopilot, kissing Kurt back softly and almost hesitantly because _is __this __real? __Really?_

It was only when they broke apart that Blaine was hit with what had just happened. Kurt had just _kissed _him, Kurt _liked _him…

Kurt had just overheard his speech that he had planned out for a much different setting than this.

Blaine couldn't help the twinges of regret and they must have shown in his face because Kurt frowned, suddenly looking a lot less sure of himself. "Are you okay? Was - was that too far?"

"No, I just - Kurt, that was meant to be _perfect_ and I feel like it didn't happen properly and I wanted to make it a moment you'd remember," Blaine heard himself rambling, trying to keep the disappointment from spreading across his face. It wasn't that he was disappointed in what happened, but in what _didn__'__t_, what there was the potential for that would never come to be now. And Blaine was a perfectionist at heart and he had just wanted this to go _right._

But Kurt shook his head and somehow Blaine just knew he was resisting the urge to cluck his tongue. "Don't be silly," he said firmly. "It _was _perfect."

* * *

_**MusicalEscape:**_

_**"...betting pool? Wait, you didn't tell me or Kurt about this!"**_

_***laughs* "Well, the whole school is pretty much involved. There's the teacher betting pool- the headmaster is on that too, he's be devestated he lost- the Warbler one, then the big one for everyone else."**_

_**"...do you mind if I have some of that money? I need more Redvines. And hair gel. Always good."**_


	202. Makeover

**I've had a few people who have stayed spoiler free but have asked me in general to tell them whether the episode is family friendly or whatever. If you don't even want to know this information, skip straight ahead to the prompt because I will also be talking about the latest video spoiler in the following paragraph. Okay, everybody's gone? Cool. This episode _can _be family friendly but it depends on your family. There will be adult themes and some families will have serious issues with what is happening in this episode. I think the best way to figure it out is if your family had some misgivings about what happened in Original Song with the kliss, you may want to reconsider giving them television access when Glee airs. Because this is going beyond that - as a lot of you have worked out from the promos even if you are spoiler free - and again, some people have issues with this. I think if you just give your parents a general warning, they can go from there. Or just watch it online yourself. Or kick your parents out. That's what we're doing! ;)**

**Now for actual spoiler stuff so turn away completely if you don't want them: I woke up late today (8pm) and I'd known since about 2am that Uptown Girl was up and I made myself go to sleep without watching it and my goodness, the suspense paid off! That was... well, I am beyond proud of Curt Mega right now. He's earned that, he _killed _it, he was simply phenomenal and I loved watching every second of him. Twice. And probably more once I've posted this. But Sebastian is freaking the _hell _out of me. Seed much?**

**Okay, I'm done! On with the story!**

**From **_**(Anonymous): Blaine reluctantly agrees to have Kurt do his hair, and Kurt can't resist himself once he sees Blaine's curls :)**_

**Oh my gosh... so when I first started in the world of FanFiction, I wrote this oneshot that was Kurt giving Blaine a makeover, and I never posted it because it wasn't completed and I wrote it in present tense and all that. But when I saw this, I realized I could tweak things to work in my favor =D**

**(I don't even know what I'm saying anymore)**

* * *

Makeover

"We're going to do what?"

Blaine was sure he had heard his boyfriend incorrectly. When he had arrived at Kurt's room for their Saturday date, he was expecting them to be seeing a movie, going for lunch or shopping, no matter how abhorrent the last one was to him. He certainly wasn't expecting to see his boyfriend lining up all of his hair and skin products, just about beaming at Blaine.

"A makeover. Surely you know what that is?"

Blaine gave Kurt an affronted look. "Yes, I know what a makeover is. My sister gets them and gives them to her girlfriends. _Girl_friends, Kurt."

Kurt simply raised one of his perfectly manicured eyebrows - something Blaine was sure he was doing on purpose to just rub in the fact that he didn't have what Kurt dubbed as a pair of caterpillars on his forehead. "Blaine, you're a gay teenager. You have to do it at least once. I do it frequently."

Blaine crossed his arms. "Not happening, Kurt."

Of course, Kurt then decided to pull out the worst card a boyfriend could ever use. "Don't you trust me Blaine?" And oh, there was the _freaking __puppy __dog __eyes_.

Before Kurt had come to Dalton, Blaine was the only one who had been able to pull off that look perfectly, and had used it to his advantage constantly. But suddenly, there was Kurt who could make _anybody _do what he wanted. Blaine found he was getting a taste of his own medicine, and it wasn't fair in the slightest.

"Fine." Blaine spat out through gritted teeth while Kurt squealed - Blaine storing that mental image away for later recollection when he wasn't annoyed - and jumped into action. "But you so owe me."

"Yeah, sure thing," Kurt muttered. "Now, lie down on the bed. I'm giving you a facial."

Blaine groaned, following Kurt's orders. _How __did __I __sign __up __for __this __torture?_

Half an hour later and Blaine had no idea how he managed to get signed up for this, but sign him up again! Maybe he wasn't so sure about the multiple products going into his skin, but considering Kurt was currently running his hands in soft, sweeping moves across his face... Blaine wasn't sure whether he was still alive or whether he had somehow gone to heaven. Either one was fine by him.

There was also the fact to consider that this was the most physical their relationship had gotten. Sure, they hugged and held hands a lot, but the only time Kurt had ever really touched his face was to pat his cheek in a condescending manner. This amount of contact was sending all kinds of shockwaves of pleasure through him, and Blaine thought he might possibly burst if it continued.

"Blaine, you take ridiculously bad care of your skin. What do you clean it with?"

"Um, soap?" Blaine knew straight away that he had said the wrong thing. Kurt's hands froze on his face before being removed completely. Sighing, Blaine cracked open an eyelid to see his boyfriend almost hyperventilating as he stared at him in shock.

"Soap? Blaine, do you have any idea what that DOES?"

"No," Blaine replied. "But I'm sure you'll tell me," he added in an undertone as Kurt proceeded to begin his rant on skin care and wrinkles and acne and how these were things Blaine should _care __about_.

Blaine sighed again. _I__'__m __in __for __a __long __day._

And so it went on:

"Kurt, I don't think a manicure is really necessary -"

"Blaine, your nails are atrocious. Trust me, it is."

"Kurt, my clothes are fine."

"Mine are better."

"Kurt, what - oh hell no! You are NOT putting those things anywhere near my face!"

Kurt pouted, attempting to hold Blaine still as he moved towards his face. "They're not going to hurt you... much."

"Let's try not at all! You are not plucking my eyebrows!"

Kurt gave a long suffering sigh of someone who had just been asked to do a huge favor. "Fine." He set down the tweezers and examined Blaine scrutinizingly, before snapping his fingers. "Give me a minute," he said, disappearing into the bathroom. Blaine could hear the sound of running water, then Kurt came back carrying a bowl and a few towels. He set the bowl on the desk and pushed Blaine's chair so he was facing away from it. "While a lot of this may have seemed like torture, this is the part I think and hope you'll actually like. Lean back."

Blaine raised an eyebrow but obediently leant back, dipping his head into the warm water. Kurt scooped the water over Blaine's hair, washing all of the gel out, then worked his fingers in and began to gently massage Blaine's scalp. Blaine bit back a moan at how _good_it felt, then gave in. To hell with being dapper and polite, Kurt's hands running through his hair was positively _amazing_.

Kurt stilled for a second before resuming the gentle movements. Blaine wasn't sure whether he had freaked him out or not, but since Kurt wasn't running and screaming, he figured it was alright. They were still very touchy about the subject of sex - after Kurt had confronted him two weeks into their relationship when he found out that Blaine was the one who had prompted 'The Talk,' it had become something they didn't discuss. Both boys knew they weren't ready to go there for a long time, and it was left at that.

But somehow, sex and 'every single physical act possible in a relationship' had been lumped together, leaving Blaine not knowing which way to turn. Their hugs and hand holding was okay because they had been doing that when they were still friends, but so far kissing had been a step that neither had taken. Blaine wanted Kurt to be the one to initiate it, after all he was the one who had gone through the most horrific first kiss known to man.

"Alright, sit up." Blaine groaned as those wonderful hands were removed from his hair but reluctantly sat up. Kurt dried his hair off with the towel then whipped it off and -

"Kurt?" Blaine waved a hand in front of his boyfriend who has gone still. "I know it's a mess, but -"

And then he was the silent one because Kurt's hands were tangled in his curly wet hair and pulling him in for a heated kiss. After the initial shock wore off, Blaine was kissing him back because why would he give up an opportunity to kiss his boyfriend? Especially since this was their _first __kiss_ after all and Kurt seemed to remember that a second later as he pulled away violently, hands covering his mouth in shock. "Oh god, Blaine, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean for that to happen, it was just your _hair _and I -"

"Are you saying you didn't want to kiss me?" Blaine tried his best to keep the hurt out of his voice, posing it as an innocent question.

Kurt seemed to be fighting with himself. "I - no. No, I did want to, and believe me, I've been doing my best _not _to, and I can't believe it happened like -"

Kurt's words were cut off, most appropriately, by Blaine's mouth. As soon as he realized what his boyfriend was saying - and why on _earth _would he be holding back? - he figured the best thing to do would be to re-do their kiss, making it perfectly clear that he wanted this. Or at least he hoped it was clear. Just to make sure...

"I've wanted to kiss you since the day I asked you out," Blaine murmured, pulling away so there was just barely a gap between their lips, "but after everything you'd gone through, I didn't think _you _were ready. Believe me, I want this." Neither wasted any more time with words, and it was a long time before they finally pulled apart again, both out of breath. "So, why have we not been doing that for our whole lives?"

Kurt laughed, the sound almost angelic. "Because we've only been dating a month, and it would have been really awkward if we were making out when were were small children."

Blaine rolled his eyes. "Details," he said dismissively, waving a hand. Kurt suddenly giggled, the sound drawing Blaine's attention suspiciously. "Wha - oh no..." Reaching up, his suspicions were confirmed as he realized his hair had dried into its usual giant frizzball. "See what I mean? You can't find this attractive."

"Oh, but I do. Maybe a little more _tamed_, but you need to forego the gel. So I'm banning it."

Kurt turned back to his hair products, beginning to rummage through for something. Blaine gaped at the back of his head for a moment before realizing how ineffective it was. "You can't _ban _my hair gel!"

Kurt turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Get rid of the gel and I'll kiss you again."

"Deal," Blaine said quickly, shaking his head the moment Kurt's back was turned again.

_Yes, __I __can __be __bought __easily. __But __when __it __comes __to __Kurt __Hummel__'__s __lips, __I'm pretty sure I'd give just about anything_

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Uh-um, Kurt. I've been thinking, and I-um-realized I like you. A lot. Maybe even more than jumping on furniture."**_

_***gasps from door* "You mean it?"**_

_**"Oh! Um, yeah."**_

_**"That means so much to me!" *klisses* **_


	203. Desirable

**Oh my Klaine-loving heart. I won't say what the spoilers were but I woke up, checked my Tumblr dash and literally started tearing up. I just... I can't. I will be such a wreck on Wednesday when I watch this. I just can't wait until you've all seen it too because... well. Well.**

**People have asked where to find spoilers. Tumblr is always your best bet because people link everything there - Twitter, YouTube, other websites with interviews and so on. If you don't have one, you can always check mine because trust me, it has spoilers. Link is on my profile. **

**From Robin G(Anonymous): _But __the __one __thing __that's __always __kind __of __bugged __me __about __how __the __two __of __them __got __together __in __the __show __is __that __Blaine __never __seemed __to __have __to __deal __with __all __the __crap __he __pulled __with __Kurt __(even __if __the __poor, __oblivious, __little __thing __didn't __realize __what __he __was __doing). __He __totally __should've __realized __how bad he made Kurt feel. So I was thinking that Brittany (Brit's sweet, innocent-ness and lack of understanding things is such a convenient plot point) is visiting Kurt at Dalton for whatever reason and they're hanging out alone, taking about some party or something and right around when Blaine (and maybe some other Warblers) come to the door and accidentally overhear, Brit says something like "Well, just invite that short guy you're dating. Blaine or whatever." And at first Blaine is a bit embarrassed but amused, the other Warblers ribbing him a bit, but then Kurt goes "We're not dating, hon." Brit: "I thought you were?" Kurt: "Most resoundingly no." And suddenly, Blaine kind of feels bad, that Kurt seems so resolute, didn't he say he likes Blaine? When Brit innocently asks why not, Kurt goes on to say something like "Well, I thought he liked me too; he seemed to hint at it, but THAT was blown out of the water." The he goes on about how badly Blaine handled their "Harry met Sally" dynamic (just going back to acting like nothing happens, then making out with and dating Rachel, seeming to not get why Kurt would be offended and hurt, then the whole basically telling him to his face that he's not sexy). And maybe the conversation finishes up with something like, Brit: "Well, that's stupid, why doesn't he like you?" and Kurt, painfully honest: "I don't know, Brit. I'm kind of working with the theory that I'm even less desirable than I had previously assumed." Cue Blaine feeling awful. (And then of course thinking things over, realizing he's an idiot, and kissing Kurt to make sure he realizes that he is DEFINITELY desirable.)_**

**Well… I'm just going to go ahead and not even write a story. It's already written for me.**

**;)**

* * *

Desirable

Kurt really was such a wonderful friend.

Blaine knew this one first hand. He knew that Kurt was the kind of guy who seemed kind of selfish on the outside but really put everybody else in his life before himself (maybe not as much when it came to solos but that was kind of irrelevant). He accepted other people's mistakes - and Blaine had made a lot of mistakes in the past, he knew - and forgave them. It was inspiring and amazing and, quite frankly, deserved to be recognized.

So Blaine was doing the only thing he could think to do in this scenario - he was headed towards Kurt's door with Wes, David and Thad in tow to invite Kurt to audition for a solo for Regionals.

Yeah, maybe Kurt's last solo audition hadn't gone down so well. But he was a part of the Warblers now and seemed to have adjusted into the group, learned how to be a part of the song and the music they were creating instead of needing to stand out. Kurt would surely pick a better song this time and Blaine was all but confident that a solo would be coming his friend's way very soon.

"Ten bucks on something Adele."

"Done. Blaine?"

Blaine stifled a sigh. The other three boys had been trying to guess what Kurt would choose to audition and somewhere along the line had turned it into a bet. A bet that Blaine was now being forced to participate in. "Beatles," he said quickly before pausing, stopping the other boys. "Who's in there?"

"Is that a _girl_?" David whispered before Wes elbowed him to shut up.

Because it _was_. It was seven at night on a weekday and Kurt had a girl in his bedroom - well against the rules, since all visitors were meant to leave the campus by six on a weekday night and girls were _definitely _not meant to be in bedrooms, no matter the sexuality of either person for equality sakes. So Kurt was breaking the rules and Blaine could already see Wes wanting to turn around and walk away and not offer Kurt the solo. But before he could say anything to try and dissuade his friend, Blaine heard the girl pipe up again. "It's going to be so much fun though!"

"Brit, you know I'm always up for a party but I don't know if I can take a night off. I've got a lot of homework piling up that I need to get done this weekend."

Blaine felt a twang of guilt at that. The first few months he had kept an eye on Kurt, making sure the work load wasn't too much for his friend. But after awhile, Kurt had seemed to be settling in fine so Blaine left him to it, and now to find out that he was struggling… well, it sucked. It kind of felt like Blaine had just gone and let him down again.

And then the most adorable whine Blaine had ever heard came out of the room. "_Pleeease?__"_

Wes melted - Blaine knew this girl could just walk out and demand his gavel and Wes would hand it over and probably try and pet her hair or something - and David rolled his eyes. "Come on, Kurt's not going to -"

"Five bucks he will," Thad said quickly.

"Oh, I can't resist when you look at me like that!" came from the room a moment later and Thad silently fist bumped the air before holding a hand out to David who rummaged for his wallet with a sour look. "Okay, I'll be there."

"Great! And it's a couples thing so make sure you bring that boyfriend of yours."

_Boyfriend?_

Blaine tried to keep his face indifferent but the fact that all three of the boys were staring at him with mirth evident showed that he was clearly doing a bad job. But seriously, when did Kurt get a boyfriend?

Wes suddenly snorted. "Ten bucks she's referring to Blaine!"

"No way!" Thad said. "Fifteen that Kurt's gotten himself a boyfriend outside the Warblers - maybe that Anthony who keeps looking at him."

Before Blaine could dwell on the fact that there was an _Anthony _looking at Kurt and then wonder whey he cared, Kurt was replying, his tone confused. "I don't have a boyfriend, Brit."

"What about that short guy? Blaine?"

Wes and David high fived before Wes clicked in Thad's direction, waiting for him to hand over the money. Blaine was barely aware of that though, stepping a little closer to the door and listening, _dying _for Kurt's response even though he wasn't sure he wanted to know, wasn't sure _what _he didn't want to know.

"We're not dating, hun."

Kurt's voice was so final, so sure, that Blaine suddenly wanted to cry. And _that _was just ridiculous because of _course _they weren't dating and Blaine knew that.

So why did it hurt?

"I thought you were?" Brittany sounded confused - something Kurt had assured him was natural for her.

Kurt didn't even falter. "Most resoundingly no."

_But… I thought he liked me? He's acting like he doesn't even care._

The other three guys were watching now, silent as if they realized the seriousness of the situation. Blaine gritted his teeth and ignored them, focusing on the conversation still happening in the room.

"But why wouldn't he date you? You're wonderful and you're both boys who like other boys so shouldn't it be easy?"

Brittany kind of had a really good argument there - the way she put it actually _did _make it sound really easy… but no. Blaine had already told Kurt he wasn't interested in a relationship. He cared too much about Kurt to ever try to fracture their friendship with a relationship.

_Wait._

But there was no time to try and think more about that because Kurt was replying, his voice both tense and resigned. "Well I thought he might be at least a little interested, he hinted at _something _after all -" Blaine felt a nudge to the ribs and batted the hand away irritably because now was _not _the time. "But apparently that's been completely blown out of the water because he hasn't so much as said a word to me about it since Valentine's Day. And I mean, we sang that song together and he kept looking at me during all the lines that would indicate something more than friendship…" Kurt sighed hard. "No. Nothing."

"But what happened? You're still friends aren't you?"

Kurt laughed. "Oh yes, we are. We had a fight the other week after Rachel's party -"

"I can't remember anything from that," Brittany admitted. "I just woke up and Artie was wearing my shirt but I wasn't wearing his."

Blaine could already tell the guys were glaring daggers into his back and winced, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do. He had assured them that the party he and Kurt were sneaking off campus for was definitely not going to be interesting or wild - that said, Blaine certainly hadn't expected what was going to happen that night. Neither had Kurt, the boy had admitted later that he never knew Rachel had it in her.

Kurt's laughter sounded more real now. "I think Blaine was one of the only ones except me and Finn who remembered anything. I still have Puck terrified that he and Lauren got to third base and he doesn't remember it." Blaine suppressed a snort - he knew full well that Lauren and Puck definitely didn't get any further than… well, anything. "But yes, Blaine and Rachel kissed and he thought he might be interested in _her_."

"You never told us about that!"

"That's because it wasn't important!" Blaine hissed back, finally turning to glare at David. "So just _shut __up_."

"But doesn't Blaine like boys?"

Kurt was silent for a long moment. "He does. He just got confused."

"I understand that," Brittany said immediately. "Kurt, why do you look so upset?"

There was a sigh. "Because I wasn't fair to Blaine. He was confused and I didn't help him, I tried to tell him what he should think instead and that's not what friends should do. Friends should accept each other no matter what and I still owe Blaine an apology for that, even if I did turn out to be right. That's not what matters."

Blaine had to reach for the door frame at that, closing his eyes. _He __just __keeps __getting __more __and __more __amazing __and __I __don__'__t __deserve __him, __not __as __a __friend, __not __as__…_

_What?_

"Is that why he doesn't like you?"

Blaine nearly cried.

"I don't believe so," Kurt said, his tone thoughtful. "He mentioned the whole _When __Harry __Meets __Sally _thing - I don't think you've seen it Brit. Come to think of it, I don't know if he has either because he agreed to it but never really took it any further than that. I left it, figuring the ball was in his court but then he flat out told me I wasn't even close to sexy so -"

"You did _what?__"_

Blaine cringed, slowly turning to see three sets of raised eyebrows. "Oh, come on, you all saw him during _Animal_! I didn't mean not sexy at _all_, I just meant he was trying too hard during that performance and if he relaxed he would have been plenty -" Blaine shut his mouth, horrified, but the damage was done.

"You like him," Wes stated as if it were obvious. Which, now that Blaine thought about it…

_Oh._

"But you are sexy," Brittany was saying, sounding confused. "I liked making out with you even though you didn't seem that into it." The three guys behind Blaine choked and Blaine rolled his eyes. He had already known about that, of course. Kurt told him pretty much everything.

… this really wasn't helping the mounting case against him.

"That probably shouldn't be a compliment but I'll take it," Kurt said sounding amused. "So that leaves us where we are now - friends, like always."

"But I don't understand. That's so stupid, why doesn't he like you?"

Blaine was wondering whether it would be too cliche to burst in the door right now and say something like _he __does _when Kurt answered. "I don't know. I'm kind of working with the theory that I'm even less desirable than I thought."

Three elbows to the ribs and Blaine spun, glaring at them. "I know, I know! I'm going to do something about it."

"Well you might want to do that soon."

The four boys froze and Kurt's voice followed, sounding confused. "Brit? Who are you talking to?"

"The boys outside your door talking to Blaine and telling him to come in and tell you he likes you. I have really good hearing, they've been there the whole time listening."

The silence was painful. Blaine didn't know what Kurt was thinking, whether he was going to refuse to talk to Blaine again or feel like his privacy had been completely invaded or say Blaine was too _late _and had lost his chance -

"Blaine?"

Blaine pushed open the door and entered.

Kurt and Brittany were sitting on Kurt's bed, Brittany with her back to Kurt as he braided her hair. For a long moment there was silence as Kurt tied off the braid before the two turned to face him. "Wes, Thad, David."

Wincing, Blaine turned around to find that the three boys had followed him in. "Think you could get lost for five minutes, guys?"

"Nope," Wes said immediately before leaning around Blaine to smile at the blonde girl. "You must be Brittany." Brittany gave a little wave before hopping up off the bed and wandering over to the boys. Blaine sighed and crossed the room to sit in the now vacant spot, blocking out the shameless flirting going on in the corner.

Kurt, to his surprise, wasn't looking away. Instead he met Blaine's gaze steadily, calmly. "So, you overheard."

"Unintentionally," Blaine was quick to explain. "We were coming up here to talk to you."

"I figured as much. Those three aren't exactly the best spying partners."

Blaine had to laugh in agreement. "But I'm glad I heard," he said quietly because even if the others _seemed _preoccupied, Blaine wanted to be sure this conversation would be just between them. "I'm not sure if you are and if you want me to pretend I never heard anything, I can do that. But it will change things and if it doesn't happen now, you will have me showing up soon to ask you out."

Again, Kurt didn't seem surprised. "I hadn't quite given up," he explained in response to Blaine's raised eyebrow. "It's easy for me to get on a tangent and start wining like that. But I always hoped that somewhere at the back of your mind you would still be thinking over what I had said. You've been very confused lately and I can tell you've been searching so I didn't want to push you because I was hoping that in the end, what you would find would be me. When I heard you'd been listening outside, my first reaction was to push you away but then I realized that perhaps you had listened because you had heard something that made sense and… well, I just had to find out. The second you walked in -" Kurt shrugged a little, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. "I knew. You knew."

"Do I have to wait?"

The smile developed. "God no. I've been waiting long enough."

The other four immediately silenced as the two boys leaned in and kissed. A moment later there was a disappointed groan from both Wes and David. "Why did nobody bet on them kissing _together_?" David moaned. "I was sure it was gonna be Blaine!"

Blaine found himself laughing which was just too counterproductive to kissing that he had to pull away with an apologetic look. "Will you guys ever stop betting on things?"

"And get out of my room," Kurt added before groaning as Thad held out a hand to David. "You bet on me kicking you out?"

"Seriously?" Blaine added. "That's a given. Kurt kicks you out of _everywhere_."

The boys showed no indication of moving. "You can take Brittany with you," Kurt conceded and Blaine blinked as the boys all but raced each other to get out the door, Brittany skipping along behind. "Now, where were we?"

Before Kurt could tempt him with those lips again, Blaine knew he had things to say. "I owe you a huge apology," he said quietly. "I've really been an idiot and I treated you so badly and I just… I don't get how you _still _want me."

"Because you, Blaine Anderson, are so much more than your mistakes," Kurt said, not a trace of doubt in his tone. "And you're human. They happen. What matters is the way you fix them - we mended our fight after the party, we… sort of talked after we sang _Animal_," Kurt winced and Blaine suppressed a laugh, "and now you're talking to me about this. And considering you're probably about five seconds from asking me out, I'd say we're even."

Well, Blaine couldn't be _predictable _now, could he?

"That can wait," he said, pausing until Kurt's eyebrows were raised in confusion then taking Kurt's face in his hands and kissing him again. "This is much more important," he murmured against Kurt's lips.

Without looking, he knew there was a smile on his to-be-boyfriend's mouth, and Blaine had finally been the one to put it there instead of the one to wipe it off all the time.

It felt so _good_.

* * *

**Can I just say how strange it is that I'm _still _writing them only just getting together when... well.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***logs onto facebook***_

_**"What's this...? Kurt Hummel has created the group'Blaine should never use hair gel again'? 27592 people like this?"**_

_***innocent cough from behind Blaine* "Yeah, and I already started promoting the group by disposing of all your hair gel."**_


	204. Spy

**I wrote another Tumblr exclusive story today. For those who love Neff and loved the latest spoiler video, you'll double love this. I hope. Anyway, link is on my profile, read and enjoy. **

**Two days, two hours and twenty nine minutes until Glee airs in Australia. But who's counting?**

**Oh, and also I went and edited my profile today and I've gone ahead and acted like I'm famous and made a FAQ section. If there's something you've ever been curious about, feel free to put a question in my review and I'll see if I get a few of the same sort of thing to add to the FAQ :)**

**From **_**Nijaassasian:New Directions know that Kurt and Blaine are dating but they have never seen them kiss nor has Finn (even at home when they have the perfect time to) and so new directions investigate/spy.**_

**TGTDOSBDK. Set some time in hiatusville.**

**I've missed Quinn.**

* * *

Spy

"It's just not _natural.__"_

Quinn rolled her eyes but she was in the clear minority. "Are we seriously getting involved here? This is between the two of them."

Finn folded his arms, stubborn as always. "Kurt's my brother now and I want to make sure he's alright, that there's no issues going on that he hasn't told me about."

"And Blaine's half Asian so that makes him one of us," Mike chipped in, Tina nodding her agreement. "We need to keep an eye on him."

Quinn sighed and leant back in her chair, not bothering to try and get involved. When this group set their hearts on something, she knew they were going to stick to it, even if this did veer on the edge of blatantly ridiculous and intrusive. And yes, she was just as concerned about Kurt's happiness as the rest of them, but this was one of those times where the entire group was _blind._

Because Kurt was happier than he had ever been. He had been invited to their post-Regionals party, even though they hadn't won and it had almost seemed like Rachel's way of rubbing salt in the wound, and naturally Blaine had been invited along as well as Kurt's boyfriend. At that stage they had been dating for all of three days but the change in Kurt was so noticeable when he _bounded _through the door, one hand in Blaine's and the hugest smile possible on his face even though he had just _lost _at Regionals and wouldn't be going to New York and Quinn knew the old Kurt would have been a wreck. Instead he congratulated all of them and then spent the rest of the party catching up on the gossip. And when Blaine wasn't across the other side of the room talking football and video games with the guys, he was standing by Kurt's side, nodding politely, their hands linked together like it was natural.

So when Blaine had to leave early - some family event he was meant to be going to - and Kurt walked him to the door, naturally Puck had peered through the glass to watch them. "Okay," he announced, giving a running commentary that nobody had asked for but nobody seemed to be in any hurry to stop, "they're facing each other… Kurt's laughing… Blaine's getting his keys out… oh, here we go! They're leaning in to… hug. And…"

Puck turned back to face them. "Blaine got in the car."

Nobody had looked particularly distressed at that announcement, even though a few of the guys looked a little confused. "Well clearly they're not up to that stage yet," Mercedes pointed out reasonably. "They're taking it slow. I like that."

But apparently that attitude was no longer prevalent even though it was only a week later. Yes, maybe most of the couples in this room had moved faster than Kurt and Blaine were, Quinn herself included, but what did it matter if they weren't ready to kiss yet?

It seemed like it mattered a lot. "So here's how it's going to work," Rachel announced, barging her way in as she always did. Quinn rolled her eyes, taking Finn's hand possessively as he sat back down. Yes, it was bitchy, but Finn was _hers _and Rachel would do well to remember that. "Us girls are going to get Kurt over for a sleepover on Friday night and grill him for details, try to figure out who exactly is holding back their progress and why. If that doesn't work, Finn will start doing his best to get Blaine over more often and get him apart from Kurt to talk to him about it."

The others all seemed in agreement and Quinn couldn't resist rolling her eyes yet again. "Has anybody considered just leaving them alone and letting them make their own decisions?" she asked. "This is Kurt's first boyfriend and he probably would never forgive you guys if you ruined that for him by scaring Blaine off."

"But something has to be wrong," Finn said, staring at her like she was crazy. "Blaine's been over twice this week and all they do is talk or do _homework, _even when Burt lets them work alone in Kurt's room."

"And how do you know what they're doing if they're alone?"

Finn actually dared to roll his eyes. "I check in on them, of course."

Puck snorted. "Dude, you're not exactly the king of subtle, they probably hear you coming from halfway across the house and have time to pretend they're behaving."

"Except for the fact that Kurt doesn't _shut __up_," Finn pointed out. "I can always hear him talking or laughing and it's obvious that they're not messing around."

Quinn resisted the urge to ask why that was a _bad _thing - after her experiences, it was always good to at least wait a little while before getting into the physical. Finn didn't count, of course, because they had already been there the first time around, but if things didn't work out there then Quinn wouldn't be so hasty the next time she jumped into a relationship. Kurt and Blaine seemed to have the right idea.

"Okay, so we'll check in this time next week and see what we've all learnt!" Rachel clapped her hands together and Quinn sighed. "Meeting dismissed!"

As the group stood to leave, Mr. Schuester walked in. "Sorry I'm late guys, I - where are you all going? Glee hasn't even started yet!"

Quinn rolled her eyes again.

* * *

"Okay, so we all know the plan?"

Sighs met her question but Rachel needed to be _sure_. "Yes, Rachel," Tina finally said. "Kurt arrives, we make small talk, see what he's been doing lately with the Warblers, then I start talking about the date Mike and I went on last night which prompts Mercedes into asking how Kurt and Blaine are going and then you'll gently nudge the conversation in the direction of kissing and how nice it is to share your love in that way and see how he reacts."

Rachel nodded, satisfied. A second later, the doorbell rang and she jumped to her feet. "That's him!"

Ignoring Mercedes's snarky retort about there really being nobody else it could be, Rachel darted down the stairs and all but dragged Kurt inside. "We've missed you," she said in way of explanation. "Come on, loads of gossip to catch up on!"

And, true enough, they did gossip for at least the first half hour. Once Rachel had vented her frustrations about Finn and Quinn - because really, it _was _quite rude - and Mercedes had regaled them with a story from her Spanish class involving the foreign exchange student who had immense difficulty pronouncing some of the most vital English words, Tina opened her mouth to speak but was cut off by Kurt. "Okay, me next!"

_This might be easier than we thought!_

"Yes?" Rachel said quickly. "Gossip about you and Blaine? What's happening on that front?"

Kurt's smile was so _brilliant _that Rachel knew it had to have happened. "He took me out for dinner last night and it was a _real _date, the first one ever! He bought flowers and everything and then we went for a long walk afterwards and just talked and talked and I came so close to just telling him I love him but I figured too soon."

"Why too soon?" Mercedes asked.

Kurt shrugged. "Well, we haven't even kissed yet. I kind of don't want to throw that at him too fast in case he doesn't feel the same or feels a little overwhelmed by it."

The shocked glances between the three girls didn't go unnoticed. "What?" Kurt demanded instantly. "What is it?"

"You - Kurt, how have you not _kissed _yet?" Rachel asked.

There was a long silence and then Kurt sighed. "Okay, I'm going to have to tell you all - I actually don't know how I kept it from you for this long. I'm not going to give a name so please _please _don't ask for one but… I've been kissed and it wasn't consensual." Another silence as all of their minds whirred, trying not to come to the conclusion that Kurt was so clearly implying. "Someone kissed me," Kurt finally said, his voice quiet and tense, "and they forced it on me."

Tina started to cry. Rachel didn't blame her, she was close to tears herself. "Kurt," Mercedes whispered before biting her lip, clearly unsure of what to say.

"I'm okay," Kurt said reassuringly. "It was… it was some time ago now. Blaine's helped a lot. But he's waiting to make absolutely sure that I'm ready and I respect that."

Rachel's respect for Blaine had shot up completely and any issues she had secretly harbored against him - her mind had been blaming him for not wanting to kiss Kurt, not being man enough to kiss him, still having feelings for _her _after their impromptu and mind-blowing kisses - were completely gone. So she watched as Kurt comforted Tina, assuring her that he was fine and there was nothing she could have done.

And when that was over, she simply changed the subject. Kurt had been through enough, they didn't need to try and upset him more.

_Maybe Quinn was right. Maybe this was a bad idea._

* * *

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for Blaine to be at their house, but when he walked in on his own, Finn was instantly on alert. "Where's Kurt."

"Coffee craving," Blaine explained, gently placing his bag on the rack and shrugging Kurt's off his other shoulder to do the same with it. "He told me to just head on in and he'd be back in fifteen, I hope that's alright?"

_Oh hey, this might be the right time._

"Of course, come in." Finn at least waited until Blaine had sat down on the couch before launching straight into it. "I want to talk to you anyway."

A chuckle wasn't exactly the reaction he had expected. "Kurt told me you might be giving me some kind of protective brother talk. Apparently I'm meant to pass on the message that he's older so it doesn't work, plus he's perfectly capable of taking care of himself. Oh, and of course I'm not planning on hurting him any time soon, so I think we're cool."

Finn had to laugh himself at that. "Typical. No, it's not about that, although consider the standard threats given. I wanted to talk about where you and Kurt are headed in your relationship."

"I have to admit," Blaine said slowly, "I feel like I'm talking to Kurt's dad all over again. But sure. Uh, if you're asking if we've had sex, the answer is a resounding no."

Finn was just glad it _wasn__'__t _TMI. "Great. Really great. So you haven't gone further than kissing?"

Blaine smiled. "We haven't even gone there yet, so you have no reason to worry."

"Why not?" Finn found himself demanding. "What, you don't want to kiss him?"

Blaine raised an eyebrow, suddenly looking defensive. "Does it matter what my reasons are?"

"Yes, it matters! If you, I don't know, don't find Kurt _attractive _enough to want to kiss him, I think it's a good thing if he _knows _that!"

Blaine was on his feet and Finn suddenly realized he'd gone too far. "I respect the fact that you're Kurt's brother, Finn, but this is none of your business. I will, however, have you know that I think Kurt is incredibly attractive, in fact he's gorgeous and I'm so thankful every day that he's mine. I don't want to hear you questioning our relationship, but more than that I don't want you to _ever _question what I feel for Kurt. It's real, I promise you that."

"And I know it," Kurt said as he rounded the corner, taking both boys by surprise - Finn hadn't even heard the front door. "I don't know what that was about but Finn, you do _not _get to interrogate Blaine without me around. Or ever, actually."

"What…?"

"What are you doing back so soon?" Blaine asked, his gaze softening completely as he turned to Kurt

"Lima Bean's closed for renovations," Kurt explained, looping an arm through Blaine's and glaring at Finn who resisted the urge to cower. "Come on, I'm going to take you out for coffee. Possibly dinner too, I don't really think I want to eat here tonight and it's my turn to take you out. Especially after that."

Finn could hear Blaine arguing as they left but it sounded half-hearted, more relieved than anything. With a sigh, he slumped back into the couch, hitting himself on the head. "Stupid," he told himself. "You should have just stayed out of it."

_Maybe Quinn was right. Maybe this was a bad idea._

* * *

Unbeknownst to the others, Quinn had a plan of her own.

She had screwed up her chances of ever having that perfect first love, that first relationship that you look back on with such fond memories. Instead, Quinn would remember her first relationship as a broken train wreck that left her pregnant and alone.

Kurt had been broken so many times throughout his years at McKinley - broken and abused and hurt and treated so _so _badly. And for a long time, Quinn had been one of the girls who had thought it was normal, that it was _fine _to treat Kurt like that. She knew now how wrong that was, and whether Kurt knew it or not, she wanted to make things right.

Kurt and Blaine clearly felt so strongly for one another - Quinn could see it in the simple way they looked at each other, the way they trusted one another already and connected on a level that Quinn suspected was related strongly to past experiences, not that she would ever pry into Blaine's life to find out. And to have other people try to interfere in their relationship, try to change the simple but beautiful dynamic they had was not right in Quinn's mind. No matter how manipulative she could be herself, this wasn't right and they needed to know what was going on before it affected them badly.

It was amazing what being a girl in an all-boys school could do. Apart from being asked out four times since arriving, Quinn had immediately been informed of where she could find Kurt and Blaine and escorted there by a boy who assured her that he was gay himself and therefore wouldn't 'accidentally' lead her to his room like some of the others might. Thanking him politely, Quinn gently pushed at the door which was slightly ajar before stopping as the sound of voices drifted out.

"… didn't realize."

"I should have made it clearer," Kurt said gently. "I know and I'm sorry, I know you were waiting on me and I should have just come out and told you instead of assuming you would know when I was ready."

Blaine sighed but Quinn could tell it wasn't one of anger or irritation. "We're so new to this, aren't we?"

"Very," Kurt agreed, and through the crack in the door Quinn could see him lean back into the couch, the back of his head just visible.

Quinn's curiosity overwhelmed her. Slowly she nudged the door open a little more, hoping that the two would be too wrapped up in their conversation to notice her. Sure enough, when her view was unobscured Quinn could see Kurt and Blaine sitting on opposite couches, their hands clasped between them, eyes only for each other. "So you do want to?" Blaine asked.

Kurt smiled, ducking his head. "Yeah. And you do?"

"Kind of always have."

Quinn could see Blaine blushing and it was rather adorable and yes, all the cute ones _were_gay. Damn. "Well then," Kurt said, his voice suddenly breathy and high. "Do it."

_Do what?_

After a second of hesitation, Blaine leant in and kissed Kurt.

_Oh. _

Quinn knew she should turn away to give them some privacy because it was so very obvious now from their previous conversation that _this __was __their __first __kiss._But she needed to keep looking, needed to watch them because this was what love looked like and this was what she needed to hold on to for the future.

The two broke apart gently, reluctantly, still staring at each other in silence. Then Blaine murmured something under his breath and Kurt laughed. Quinn had to smile, wondering what Blaine had said - hopefully an "I love you," or "you're gorgeous" - until Kurt suddenly spoke up. "Quinn, you can come in."

_Ah. That._

Pushing the door open all the way, Quinn shot them each an apologetic look as they finally broke away from each other's eyes to look at her. "I'm really sorry, I didn't meant to intrude on that."

"It's alright," Kurt said and Quinn could tell he was being honest. "As long as you're not here to pry at our lives or ask us why we haven't… well, except we _have _so if that's why you're here then you've kind of got your answer."

"Actually, I came to warn you of what the others were planning but - it sounds like I'm too late. And _looks _like I'm too late," she added, watching as they both smiled almost sheepishly. "I'm happy for you both." Blaine grinned at that and Quinn saw him squeeze Kurt's hands. "Well," she said quickly, "I might just leave you guys to it since there's no reason to pass on my message."

"Wait," Kurt said and Quinn stopped, glancing at him curiously. "Could you pass on one from us?"

* * *

The group that met the following day was rather subdued, most of the occupants looking rather sheepish. The guys that weren't Finn, however, looked more anxious than anything. "Well?" Puck demanded the second they were all seated. "Spill!"

"We - well," Rachel began hesitantly, "Kurt… he explained. And we're not going to be pressuring them or trying to pry into their business anymore, and that goes for everybody. Kurt doesn't need any added pressure right now."

"Blaine cares about Kurt a lot," Finn chipped in. "And Kurt's scary when he gets angry, especially once Blaine's gone home and it's just him and his anger. So… I don't think we'll be able to work out what's going on through Blaine."

Mike sighed. "Well, I hope they work it out soon. Kissing is the best part of a relationship and I want them to experience that."

Murmurs of assent met his comment and Quinn cleared her throat lightly. "I am in agreement with that," she said, standing and making her way to the front of the room. "Which is why I went to see Kurt and Blaine at Dalton yesterday. But instead of me trying to talk to them, they enlightened _me_."

Pulling out a piece of paper from her pocket, Quinn bit back her smirk as she hit a button on her phone before rattling off the list of messages Kurt had given her. "Puck, you win the pool. Finn, when they proceed to making out, it will be on _your _bed. And we're all horrible spies."

At that moment, every phone in the room went off. Murmurs of surprise quickly turned into shock, elation and rounds of "I knew it!" as each member opened the photo that had been sent to them.

Quinn allowed herself to smile. "That's what true love looks like," she said softly. "And they found it without us. So don't interfere with them, because they're going to work this out themselves and it's going to be the best thing we've ever seen." With that, Quinn left the room, allowing the others to begin talking, speculating and - in Santana and Puck's cases - comparing technique.

Kurt would probably kill her for taking a photo, but it was worth it for the looks on their faces when she was the one who got it right.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**After being very slightly insulted by Brittany when she refered to him as 'the short guy', Blaine decided to cast a poll.**_

_**People who think Blaine is average height: 14**_

_**People who think Blaine is short(or hobbit size, bite-size, fun-size, appropriately munchkin-sized, etc): 35 **_

_**People who know nothing of Blaine's existence due to how short he is and oh-my-gosh-I-can't-even-see-you-where-is-that-voice-coming-from: 1(*coughFrankenteencough*)**_


	205. Samcedes

**Twenty five hours and ten minutes. By the time I post tomorrow's chapter, I will have seen The First Time. If you don't get a chapter tomorrow, you know I have died. A lot of you probably won't notice though because you'll also be dead. Klainers gonna Klaine and Klainers gonna spontaneously combust, right?**

**Threatening me won't make me update any faster, okay? Glad we've sorted that out.**

**From **_**akatrixie: Maybe they leave the coffee shop, and begin speculating about the existence of Samcedes. Some spying goes on. Ooh! If they were spying, then they could see a Samcedes kiss, one of em wonders why on earth haven't they done that yet, and then they kiss.**_

**I miss Samcedes. I hope SPOILERS FOLLOW with Chord coming back we'll get a showdown where Sam tries to convince Mercedes that Shane isn't helping her and she should come back to New Directions. I'm just looking forward to seeing Sam again!**

* * *

Samcedes

"Okay, so here are the nominees for my setlist tomorrow."

Kurt tried to focus, he really did. But between still inwardly flailing over the fact that his boyfriend had just told him he _loved_ him and watching Mercedes and Sam head towards the counter, Kurt was just a little too distracted to think about music, and that was really saying something.

"... and then I considered something by the Spice Girls, possibly _If __You __Wanna __Be __My __Lover_, or -"

"Wait, wait. What?"

Blaine chuckled. "Caught you out there. I knew you weren't listening to me."

Not for the first time, Kurt inwardly congratulated himself on finding a boyfriend who didn't freak out if he stopped paying attention or zoned out. And yes, he felt a little guilty but still. Priorities. "Sorry," he said absently, still trying to catch a glimpse of Sam and Mercedes. "Something's going on there."

Blaine frowned, turning towards the counter. "With those two? What do you mean? They seemed fine to me."

"That's not the first time I've seen Sam and Mercedes acting suspiciously couple-y," Kurt said slowly, watching as the two headed towards a table on the other side of the cafe. "I mean, Prom was a biggie."

"Didn't they just go together because neither one had a date?"

Kurt nodded. "Yes, at first. But you weren't watching them during the slow dances - after _Jar __of __Hearts_, they were practically inseparable, even after Jesse got kicked out and Rachel was pretty much dateless. Blaine, I think there's something going on there and I want to get to the bottom of it."

Blaine raised a hand again. "Okay, maybe there is. But isn't it up to them who they tell or don't tell?"

"Blaine, I waited 24 hours to tell Mercedes about us and she ripped shreds off of me for leaving it that long and not giving her 'deets' straight away." Kurt sighed, unable to stop himself from shooting another glance over at the girl - not that he could see her anymore. "Mercedes and I told each other everything last year and for a lot of this year as well. But we drifted apart when I went to Dalton and it just wasn't the same when I came back, no matter how hard I tried. She was the first person I would tell about anything but I never received anything in return."

Blaine was staring at him, his expression endlessly sympathetic. "I didn't realize," he said quietly.

And no matter how much it happened, Kurt still wasn't quite used to Blaine's sympathy. "Anyway," he said quickly, "I still know her better than any of the other girls and I know when she's hiding something. Whether they're official or not, she's definitely crushing on him and I want to know what's going on."

"I'm probably going to regret this, but count me in." Blaine gave Kurt that little crooked smile that made his knees go weak because, _oh __right_, that was the way Blaine was smiling at him when he had told Kurt he _loved __him_. Kurt couldn't hide his own smile - he had barely kept it together when Blaine was talking to Sam and Mercedes - and Blaine caught it instantly. "You're in a good mood all of a sudden."

And Kurt couldn't resist. "You caught me off guard a little but I meant it. I love you."

"I love you too," Blaine said immediately and there was that _smile_ again and Kurt was glad they weren't leaving any time soon because he just knew his legs wouldn't be cooperating right now. "And I do believe that Sam and Mercedes are on their way out."

Sure enough, as Kurt glanced over he saw the two leaving, Sam holding the door open for Mercedes. The two hadn't bothered to come back and say goodbye and Kurt rolled his eyes, suddenly impatient and a lot less inclined to sit around just being in love. "Right, we're following them. Finish your coffee."

Blaine saluted him with a smirk and drained his cup in one quick gulp. "Let's go then."

Kurt had imagined all sorts of elaborate plans in his head about sleuthing after someone in the past - unmarked cars, disguises and plenty of props had all been a big part of his fantasy. So he was almost disappointed when it turned out to be as simple as walking down the street behind Sam and Mercedes who seemed far too wrapped up in each other to notice their friends walking half a block behind them. Mercedes was clearly the one doing the talking - one hand was waving wildly in the air as she gesticulated on about something. The only reason it wasn't both was because the other was firmly clasped in Sam's.

"That settles it," Kurt whispered to Blaine even though they were too far away to be heard. Maybe he just liked getting that bit closer to his boyfriend, okay? "You don't hold hands with your friends like that."

Blaine actually snorted at that. "Kurt, we held hands all the time before we were dating."

"Yes, but I was madly in love with you so it's still the same principle." Blaine stopped in his tracks, causing Kurt to be tugged to a stop next to him. "What?" he asked, already craning his head to try and see where Mercedes and Sam were headed.

"You were in - in love with me?" Blaine asked, his voice slightly strangled, and Kurt winced. He had forgotten that Blaine didn't quite know the extent of his crush before it was reciprocated. "I mean, I knew you liked me but... how long?"

Kurt sighed. "Probably since Christmas," he said quickly, really not wanting to have this conversation. After all, he had been pining over Blaine for too long to be healthy and he had felt weak enough with Blaine finding out on Valentines Day. For his boyfriend to learn that it had been going on since before Christmas was actually rather embarrassing.

But Blaine didn't seem to think so, his expression a painful mixture of earnest and guilty. "I'm sorry," he said, confusing Kurt for a second until he realized what Blaine was trying to say.

"You don't need to apologize for not liking me back, Blaine. You didn't and that was that. Simple."

"But now that I do," Blaine said softly, taking Kurt's other hand and pulling him closer, "I've realized how stupid I was for not feeling that way. Believe me."

Kurt tried his best not to blush. "I do believe we were following Sam and Mercedes?"

Blaine pouted so endearingly that it almost hurt but allowed himself to be led along the road. They had turned their attention from each other just in time to see the couple - and Kurt was determined that they were - head off into a side street and Kurt was following them without a second thought. It was only when he turned the corner when Kurt realized that they had stopped just down the road and he would have jumped back to make sure he wouldn't be seen... except he didn't have to.

Because Mercedes and Sam were wrapped in each other's arms, kissing.

"What -?"

"Shh!" Kurt hissed furiously, backing around the corner. "Did you see that?"

Blaine nodded. "Just for a second. So I guess that settles that, doesn't it?" There was a few seconds of silence. "Kurt?" Blaine asked again, worry tingeing his voice.

But Kurt was still coming to terms with what he had just seen. Sam and Mercedes had been kissing and probably were _still_ kissing and it looked like they were really into it and loving it and Kurt couldn't understand why he and Blaine _hadn't __done __that __yet_. And there was really no answer that Kurt's mind could give. He and Blaine had never discussed their relationship getting physical, mainly because in Kurt's mind physical had always meant sex or sexual things. Kissing, in Kurt's experience, had only ever been reluctant and gross or forced and terrifying, not something that Kurt had thought he would ever want to repeat.

But Blaine had changed every fear that Kurt had previously had about relationships. So why couldn't Kurt trust him to fix this one?

He could.

"I'm fine," Kurt said carefully. "Maybe a little jealous though."

His poor Blaine was as clueless as ever. "Jealous? Oh, I should have realized that you'd miss spending time with Mercedes..."

"Not that kind of jealous, Blaine." Kurt tugged on Blaine's hand sharply, spinning him around so they were face-to-face. "Maybe I want to be doing what they're doing."

And then Blaine got it. But instead of being a gentleman as Kurt had predicted and making the first move, Blaine just smiled wickedly like he had been waiting for this moment for a long time. Maybe he had. "Feel free to rectify that at any time."

Kurt's eyes narrowed. If that was the game Blaine wanted to play, then so be it. With one more tug, Blaine was pressed right up against him and Kurt wound his arms around Blaine's neck and kissed him.

_Dear god, why have we not been doing this forever?_

Blaine's lips were just as perfect as the rest of him - in fact, it was almost obscene that this boy had next to no flaws at all, but Kurt just could not bring himself to complain because kissing Blaine was easily the best thing he had ever done. And Kurt had once found a Louis Vuitton for 80% off so that was absolutely saying something.

When they broke apart, Blaine stared at him dazedly for a few seconds before grinning, sudden and brilliant. "Okay, I definitely love you."

Kurt tried to ignore his heart attempting to flutter its way out of his chest. "And what if I hadn't been a good kisser?" he asked cockily. "It wouldn't be love then?"

"Oh, it would," Blaine said, matching his smirk with interest. "But we'd have to do a lot of practicing to get it perfect."

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Well I know I'm a good kisser, but you? You need a lot of work."

"You'd better teach me all you know then."

And it was all set to be one of those perfect cliche romance moments until the inevitable interruption came, just as their lips met again too. "Well, what do we have here?" Kurt groaned, turning to face Mercedes who looked far too smug for her own good. "Do you really think a public street is the best place for this kind of thing?"

Kurt was all set to retort with a witty one-liner until Blaine showed him exactly how perfectly condescending he could be if he chose to stop being dapper. "I'm sorry, were we doing something wrong? After all, we just took inspiration from you two."

Mercedes's expression switched so suddenly that it was almost comical and Sam let out a nervous laugh. "I - um, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Well when you figure it out, feel free to let me know," Kurt said pointedly, taking Blaine's hand and turning away. "Until then, I guess me and my boyfriend had better go find somewhere private to do some more kissing."

And as they turned away, clearly Blaine couldn't resist one more parting shot. "You should try it sometime then. It's pretty fantastic."

"Fantastic, huh?" Kurt could help but murmur in Blaine's ear.

Blaine glanced over at him and winked. "Let's go find out."

* * *

**Excuse me while I cry in a corner because my OTP is so beautiful. I have too many emotions about them. And I'm trying to remember whether I wrote this before TPPP and I think I did which makes Blaine's comment to Mercedes all the more perfect.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***barges in* "My spies have informed me that your pathetic little club has tried interfering with sweet, sweet Porcelain's relationship with Frodo. I'll have you know that if you even contemplate doing that, I will steal all of the I-Can't-Believe-It's-Not-Butter that Schue uses on his hair, coat you in it, dunk you in a vat of protein shake mix, and leave you to the rabid horrors of the Acrobatic Octopus club." *walks out***_


	206. PFLAG

**Oh, Klainers. I don't know what to say because there just are no words. **

**From **_**Mimzi (Anonymous): "Thanks for telling me, Wes. Now, excuse me while I make out with your soloist."**_

**First I just have to say that of all the chapters that could have been the one for 3x05 day, I'm glad it's this one. It's one of the few where there is a much longer progression after the first kiss, more depth, more emotions and I feel that it fits. Not storywise since it is an AU but I like it. **

**There's about a million and one ways I could have taken this. Don't even ask where this one came from. AU, no Kurtofsky kiss, no transfer. ****I've never been to a PFLAG group so… yeah, makin' it up! It doesn't have a very big part in this anyway so yeah.**

**Also, remember how Mr. Schuester was going to talk to Kurt about a solo for Sectionals before he transferred? Yeah… let's let him have it :)**

* * *

PFLAG

Pulling his hat further down over his hair, Kurt glanced around one more time before stepping out of his car and crossing the street. If the directions he had been sent were correct, the location he was after should be two blocks down and Kurt walked quickly, not wanting to be seen by anybody he knew. It didn't matter that he was two hours away in Westerville, this was still a big risk and Kurt didn't want to do anything to screw this up. After all, it was kind of the opportunity he had never thought would happen.

Finding the right address, Kurt looked around one more time and, satisfied that nobody was watching, quickly pulled open the door. Once inside he pulled off his hat and sunglasses, tossing them into his bag and spending a few minutes checking his hair in the hallway mirror before proceeding down the hall and knocking twice on the door, which swung open immediately to reveal a young woman with bright purple hair. "Welcome to PFLAG! I'm Stacy and you must be Kurt!"

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kurt allowed himself to smile. "I am. Your directions were excellent, thank you."

"You're welcome, we're just glad to have you. Come on in, we're just waiting on Blaine." Stacy opened the door wider, allowing Kurt to enter the small room. "Everybody, this is Kurt!"

A chorus of greetings echoed out and Kurt smiled, waving slightly. His smile dimmed a little as he took in the occupants of the room, realizing that they were all at least over twenty and most were probably the parent factor. As much as Kurt knew the odds of finding another openly gay guy in Ohio were slim, he had let himself hope a little that maybe there would be someone his age. But he couldn't complain - after all, there was probably a lot of wisdom in this room that Kurt could benefit from.

When Kurt had Googled for a PFLAG group in the Lima area, he had been idealistic at best. He knew it was mostly aimed at the parents and friends, but he also knew that quite a few gay people showed up to the groups themselves for the fellowship of it and, with tension at McKinley as strong as ever, Kurt just wanted somewhere to fit in, somewhere where people would understand him. So when a listing had shown up for Westerville, Ohio, Kurt had jumped at the chance straight away. One phone call to Stacy and he had his directions for the meeting that afternoon, making the trip immediately and hoping for the best. So far it all seemed to be going well - everybody was friendly enough and it seemed legitimate - but Kurt was reserving his judgement until the end of the meeting.

"Alright, we might get started!" Stacy gestured for the group to sit down and Kurt took a seat near the end of a row, leaving a few empty spots next to him. "So, another welcome to Kurt who's joining us from Lima today! It's lovely to have you here and -" Stacy paused, turning as the door opened. "And that would be Blaine!"

"Sorry I'm late," came the voice a second before a teenage boy appeared, shoving a set of keys into his bag. "School ran late as usual."

Stacy waved him away, smiling. "Don't sweat it. Blaine, we have a new member today - this is Kurt." Blaine finally looked up, turning towards Kurt who felt his breath catch. _Okay, __no, __he __must __fall __into __the__ '__friends__' __category. __There__'__s __no __way __someone __this __gorgeous __can __play __for __my __team._

But there was no time to find out. As Stacy began to talk, Blaine slipped into the empty seat at the end of Kurt's row, offering him a smile before turning his attention to what Stacy was talking about. Kurt tried to pay attention but found himself zoning out pretty quickly - it wasn't that he didn't want to hear what she was saying, but the thought that there was another teenage boy sitting in his row who might also be gay was just a little bit too distracting to keep Kurt from his own thoughts.

Before long, the group moved into a much more casual setting where everybody began to talk and catch up with each other. Kurt watched as Blaine stood and began to make his way around the room, greeting everybody by name and clearly getting along well with them all. But Kurt couldn't tell whether he was just imagining things or whether Blaine's eyes did keep flitting back in his direction as he circulated the room. Kurt stayed in his seat, talking briefly with the people who came over to greet him but focusing most of his attention on Blaine who was now… walking his way. Kurt quickly stood as Blaine approached, smiling at him. "So, you're Kurt?"

Kurt nodded, trying to find his words. "Yeah… and you're Blaine."

Blaine laughed. "Wow, we're good at this, aren't we?" He held out his hand to Kurt who shook it, trying not to think too much into the fact that he was, in a sense, holding hands with this boy. "So, Kurt, what brings you here?"

And if that wasn't Blaine's 'subtle' way of asking whether Kurt was gay, Kurt was seriously misreading some signs. "Sometimes it gets tough being the only person out of the closet at your school," he said, realizing his voice had dropped and he was sounding just a little too emotional for his liking.

"I know how you feel," Blaine said quietly. "I mean, not now. I'm at Dalton Academy now and there's actually quite a few boys who are out there. But at my old school I was one of the only ones out and it did suck. Can I ask what school you go to?"

"McKinley," Kurt said absently, his mind fixed on something Blaine had said. "Dalton… as in, Dalton Academy Warblers?"

Blaine smirked. "And the McKinley High New Directions?"

There was a moment of silence and then the two began to laugh. "What are the odds?" Kurt finally asked when he got his breath back. "I'm guessing you're a Warbler?"

"I am," Blaine said in a manner that made Kurt feel like there was more to the sentence than he was saying. "And you're from New Directions."

"Which makes us competition at Sectionals." Kurt groaned, rolling his eyes. "This is like Jesse St. James all over again."

Blaine frowned. "The guy from Vocal Adrenaline? What do you mean?"

"Oh, he quit for a little while last year and came to join us because he professed to be in love with Rachel, even though we warned her that he was probably a spy. If anybody at McKinley found out about this, they'd be telling me to stop talking to you." Blaine simply smiled and Kurt suddenly realized what he had said. "Oh, not that I'm saying… I mean, obviously it's different because we're not _together _and… wow, I just dug myself a hole right there."

"It's alright," Blaine said, still smiling broadly at him. "I get what you're saying. That doesn't mean you're going to stop coming here though, does it?"

Kurt shook his head immediately. "No, it's nice to feel like I'm normal."

Again he had spoken without thinking, and again Blaine understood completely. "Obviously they're not all gay but they're all accepting and, yes, it's a great place. You'll fit in well here. And I have to say, it's nice to have someone else my age here… you are my age?"

"I'm a junior."

Blaine shrugged. "Only a year older, that's cool."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, sufficiently shocked. "You're a sophomore? I would have pegged you as a senior."

"It's the gel." Blaine winked and Kurt hid a smirk. "So, tell me some more about you, Kurt. I get the feeling you're the kind of guy I want to get to know a lot better."

_Is __it __too __early __to __be __forming __a __crush?_Kurt asked himself as he and Blaine lapsed into comfortable conversation - in fact, the easiest conversation Kurt had had ever. He could talk to Blaine like they had been talking their whole lives, and Blaine was _gay_. He understood where Kurt was coming from, he could commiserate, empathize and _understand._

_Maybe it is. But at least I have a friend._

* * *

After a few weeks, PFLAG became a normal part of Kurt's routine. He was settling in well to the group, knew everybody by name and, for the first time in his life, felt like there was somewhere he could be completely accepted.

And then there was Blaine. The two had swapped numbers at the first meeting after, to Kurt's dismay, he had broken down a little and talked about what it was like at McKinley - the slushies, Karofsky continually shoving him into lockers, the general hatred shown to him. Blaine had started sending him texts every morning, sometimes a long ramble on taking care of himself and remembering he was special, sometimes just a simple word: _courage_. Either way, Kurt could start the day knowing somebody had his back, even if they did live two hours away and attended a zero-tolerance policy private school.

And even though they were texting constantly, when it came to PFLAG it was normal for Kurt and Blaine to spend their time catching up after the meeting every week. Apart from avoiding Glee club talk entirely, they could both share the complete details of their week - Kurt could talk about the jocks and their latest attempts to make him feel completely humiliated, Blaine could discuss the weekend he had shared with his family and the thinly veiled comments his father would make about finding the right girl someday. It was easy, comfortable and Kurt looked forward to it more than anything else in the week.

Which was why it was strange when Blaine seemed to shut off completely that afternoon. His sentence were clipped and strained and after asking a few times what was wrong with no response, Kurt gave up. "Fine," he said, standing. "If you're not going to tell me what's wrong, maybe you'd better find someone else to talk to."

He had only gotten two steps away when the response came, quiet and unsure. "Wait." Kurt turned to see Blaine standing behind him. "I - I was wondering whether you would like to go and get a coffee after this?"

And Kurt understood, even though he could scarcely believe it was true. "I'd love to," he said quickly because Blaine was beginning to regret he had asked, Kurt could tell. "I really wasn't expecting that. I'm sorry," he added, already feeling guilty for snapping at Blaine.

"Don't be. The fact that you said yes is enough."

The fact that nothing else needed to be said was kind of a dream come true right there. Kurt was used to the McKinley style of things - where every little gesture had to mean _something _and everybody was involved in everybody else's business and there were so many _labels _that had to be applied immediately and meant everything about your social status. Kurt didn't know what this was yet, didn't know if Blaine was interested in taking things further, entering the realm of _dating _and _boyfriends _and all of those things. Right now, all he knew was that his friend wanted to see more of him and Kurt was going to accept that. And whatever would come would come.

So instead of going home that afternoon, Kurt found himself sitting at a small coffee shop on the outskirts of Westerville. It was different, Kurt usually being a patron of the Lima Bean, but at least they knew nobody from either of their schools would see them here. Three coffees and four hours later and Kurt's dad was ringing, trying to pretend he wasn't worried when he 'casually' asked if Kurt was alright and not in some hospital somewhere, and they realized they should probably call it a night. But just as Kurt was about to leave, Blaine placed a hand on his arm gently, almost hesitantly.

"I'd like to do this again some time."

"I would too."

They shared one last glance, one they both comprehended but weren't quite ready to understand, before Kurt smiled. "See you next week."

* * *

This time when Blaine closed off, Kurt knew what was going on. They were on their fifth coffee date - and Kurt's elation for being invited on a _second _was definitely amazing enough - and Blaine had been mostly silent the whole time, stirring his coffee far more than he normally did. "Hey," Kurt said gently, reaching across to catch his hand and stop the relentless motion. "You know you can talk to me about anything, right? You're my friend, you can trust me."

For some reason, that just seemed to make Blaine even more nervous. But his resolve hardened and he looked up, nearly drowning Kurt in his eyes. "You're my friend too. But… what if I wanted more?"

_Shouldn__'__t __I __be __surprised __here? _Kurt wondered to himself. _Surprised __and __elated __and __confused __and __self __doubting __and __all __of __those __things __everybody __else __talks __about __when __they__'__re __wanting __to __start __a __relationship?_

Kurt decided then and there that either there was something seriously wrong with him, or he and Blaine had something that nobody at McKinley had ever experienced, something real.

He was praying for the latter.

"You'd have to ask," he finally said, shrugging a little and twining his fingers with Blaine's like it was natural. Probably because it was.

Blaine ducked his head, smiling, and Kurt could tell he wasn't nervous anymore. "I know how you feel about labels, but I'd really just like to be able to call you mine," he said simply and Kurt's heart melted.

"I've been yours for awhile now," he said quietly. "I was just waiting for you to realize."

And when Blaine leant across the table and kissed him lightly, it was as natural as breathing. There were no fireworks, no love explosions, no applauding crowds or fanfares. There was just the simple feeling of being _right._

So there was no more talking about it. Blaine simply began talking about something his friend Wes had gotten up to over the weekend and Kurt propped his head up on his hand and listened to his boyfriend talk.

* * *

"So why don't you go do something useful like spy on the competition, go check out those Garblers or something?"

Kurt's irritation immediately gave way to excitement, but he knew he had to play it cool. Without a word, he stormed out of the room and proceeded to do exactly that, not needing an excuse to visit his boyfriend but taking it anyway. He sent Blaine a text beforehand, of course. They had promised no spying or trying to get secrets out of each other and the last thing he wanted was to walk in on one of their performances. Besides, Blaine was saving the grand reveal of the Warblers for Sectionals and Kurt could hardly wait.

Blaine was waiting for him outside Dalton, jumping in his car quickly before anybody else could see and pressing a kiss to his lips. "You okay?"

"I'm used to not being appreciated for my superiority," Kurt said immediately. "It's nothing new."

"That's not what I asked."

Of course Blaine was the one person Kurt could never be flippant with. "I'm okay," he said honestly. "I don't exactly want to go back any time soon, but that's common."

Blaine ran a hand across his cheek gently. "I know. But you will because you're strong."

"I love you," Kurt said before his mind could catch up with his mouth and remember that _oh, __he __hadn__'__t __said __that __before. _But there was no regretting it because it had been true for quite some time now, an unspoken constant between the two of them. And Kurt didn't even need Blaine to say it back because he _knew_ Blaine felt the same. There were no doubts.

But when Blaine, still tracing patterns on Kurt's cheekbone with his thumb, smiled and said, "I love you too," it kind of made Kurt's week. Especially when it was followed with another kiss and yeah, Kurt was going to get sick of this in about, oh, _never_.

"I've got an idea," Blaine said, breaking away and opening his door. "But I'll have to drive."

It was only when Kurt had settled into the passenger seat and was watching Blaine smoothly pull out of the parking lot that he realized that it must be love if he was letting someone else drive his baby without a second of thought. Especially when he had no idea where they were going.

Ten minutes later and he had his answer, Blaine pulling up outside a rather extravagant looking house on the outskirts of Westerville. "Welcome," he said quietly.

"Are you sure?"

"They're not home," Blaine said immediately. "Both out on work conferences all week so it's just me. I've been wanting to bring you here for awhile."

Kurt waited until they were both out of the car before wrapping his arms around Blaine, pulling him close. "Thank you for trusting me with this."

Because Kurt knew what life was like for Blaine behind those walls - being told that who he was was unacceptable and wrong, looked down upon for not wanting to study law or business like his parents, generally treated like he was invisible unless he had done something worthy of reprimand. Blaine spent most of his time at Dalton whenever possible or at his friend's houses, coming home to eat and sleep. So for him to bring Kurt to his house was a huge deal, especially since his parents would freak out if they knew their son had brought a _boyfriend _home.

They walked in silence, Blaine holding his hand a little tighter than usual and Kurt choosing not to comment on it. Words had been unnecessary between them for quite some time now - Blaine knew he was there for him and that was all that mattered.

Skipping the tour, Blaine led Kurt straight up to his bedroom, an act that would have been an invitation for any other teenager but an act of self preservation and repetition for Blaine. Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, glancing around the room that was a muffled imprint of his boyfriend and smiling when he noticed the selection of musical instruments lying around the room. "It reminds me of you."

"I want it to remind me of you," Blaine said, sitting down next to him. "I want to come here and remember _hey, __I __had __my __boyfriend __in __here, __it__'__s __not __all __negative. _ And I wanted to show you that you're not the only one who can get insecure."

And Kurt knew what Blaine needed, far more than his boyfriend did himself. Gently pushing Blaine back against the pillows, Kurt wrapped strong arms around him and kissed him with no intention of letting up any time soon. Blaine was strong - they were both strong and capable and moments like these weren't all that common between them anyway - but sometimes he needed help himself, and that was what he was showing Kurt that afternoon.

So Kurt was going to help as much as he could while he was with Blaine. And when he wasn't, then moments like these would be memories for his boyfriend to hold on to.

* * *

"Dude, what's up with you lately?"

Kurt glanced up, hastily locking his phone so Puck couldn't see the name on the screen - not that he would know who Blaine _was _but Rachel had probably done her research and if word got to her, she would know full well what was going on. Better to be safe than sorry. "What do you mean?"

Puck dropped into the seat next to him, offering Finn a half-wave as he entered the choir room. "You're so _cheerful _all the time. I know the jocks are still getting on your case but you just keep smiling. Are you getting some on the side?"

Kurt promptly blushed a bright red. "_Puck!_" he hissed.

"What? I'm just asking, you know I don't care that you'd be getting it with a guy."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "I am not 'getting some,' thank you very much."

But that didn't deter Puck. "Okay, but there's someone, isn't there? I can tell, dude. You're acting like I was acting when Rachel and I were actually working out, like something's changed for the better. And I mean, I was a jerk to you the other week and you didn't even seem to care that much."

_Okay, __when __did __Puck __get __so __perceptive? _

Kurt sighed. "Puck, it's not something I can discuss." He flicked his eyes over in Rachel's direction who was loudly discussing her setlist, hoping Puck would get the hint. "Let's just say I'm happy and leave it at that."

And Mr. Schuester chose that moment to enter, so Puck had no choice. "Kurt!" was the first thing out of his mouth and Kurt glanced up, suppressing a groan. How many people needed to pick on him today? "I wanted to talk to you about a fantastic idea I had for a solo for you for Sectionals!"

Kurt's heart leapt. "Really?"

"What?" came the indignant cry from Rachel. "Mr. Schuester, I have to protest. Kurt has a wonderful voice, but it is far too similar to mine to showcase us both in the same competition."

Mr. Schuester sighed. "Rachel, we'll discuss that later. But I believe Kurt does far too much singing behind the scenes and his voice has just the unique quality we need to get us to Regionals. So, Kurt, I was actually thinking you might like to try _Here __Comes __The __Sun _by the Beatles. Would you be interested?"

"Would I be -?" Kurt stopped himself, shaking his head. "Mr. Schuester, how can you even _ask _that question? I can have it ready by Tuesday."

Mr. Schuester raised an eyebrow. "Kurt, it's Monday."

"And I've sung this song approximately seventy three times in the past two years." Kurt smirked, glancing around the room at the strange looks he was getting and trying to ignore Rachel's glare - clearly she had sung it more times than him and would be more than willing to say so if given the chance. "I think I can do this."

Surely it didn't count as leaking Glee news if he sent one little text to Blaine saying, nice and casual like, that he had gotten a solo for Sectionals?

_HE GAVE ME A SOLO I'VE BEEN WAITING OVER A YEAR FOR THIS BLAINE I'M GOING TO DIE OF EXCITEMENT - Kurt xx_

Or freak out a little.

_No dying! But apart from that… I'm not surprised, Kurt. You deserve it and it was only a matter of time and I am so so proud of you. Expect to see me in person very soon to tell you - and show you - the exact same thing. - Blaine xx_

Kurt really did have the best boyfriend ever.

* * *

Sectionals dawned, and Kurt was woken that morning by his usual method.

_So, we're going to kick your butt today. Ready for it? On a friendlier note, I'm looking forward to seeing you again, even if we can't really talk. - Blaine xx_

Of course Rachel chose that moment to call, ranting again about how she should be the one singing the solo and maybe _Valerie_was perfectly suited for Santana's voice but she had many other songs she could pull out that were perfect for her and this wasn't fair in the slightest. Kurt was just thankful she wasn't trying to take his solo from him. And by the time she was done, Kurt was rushing around trying to get ready so he could get to the bus on time, so he only managed to send his reply when they were all seated and ready to go.

_You mean are you ready to be crushed into the ground when we destroy you? Maybe we can sneak out during intermission and 'see each other' a little ;) - Kurt._

And it was only when they were throwing their things into the green room and sorting out their outfits that he received his reply.

_Why not now? There's a lovely food place with almost bearable coffee that I'm just innocently sitting by right now… - Blaine_

Grinning, Kurt looked up at the rest of the guys who were still getting changed. "I'm going to pick up some food. Any requests?"

Surprisingly, nobody wanted anything and Kurt made his way down to the small canteen area, smiling when he saw his boyfriend sitting there, facing away from him. He quietly walked up behind Blaine before tapping him on the shoulder, making him jump. "Excuse me, are you Blaine from the Warblers?"

Blaine spun around, smirking. "Yes, I am. Who wants to know?"

"Kurt, from New Directions. Just came to psych you out before the competition."

Blaine glanced around and, satisfied that nobody was looking, lifted Kurt's hand and kissed it lightly. "I'd do that properly but, you know, people." Kurt blushed, falling into the seat next to Blaine. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too. Nervous?"

Blaine shook his head. "I mean, I probably should be but I love performing too much and these songs are personal favorites, especially _Hey __S-_" he cut himself off, looking around guiltily. "Crap."

Kurt laughed. "Don't worry, I'll just pretend you're doing Taylor Swift's _Hey __Stephen_. We've done pretty good at keeping it a secret until now anyway, and we'll find out in -" He cut himself off as the lights began to flash, indicating that it was time to go in. "In a few minutes," he completed, standing and offering Blaine his hand.

"Good luck," Blaine said, holding onto his hand for a few seconds longer before reluctantly letting go. "You'll be amazing, I know it."

Kurt smiled, glancing around the foyer before leaning in to kiss him quickly. "Same to you." He entered first, knowing Blaine would wait until he had entered before doing so himself, joining the rest of New Directions who were already mostly seated.

Puck leaned over, raising an eyebrow. "I thought you were getting food." Kurt winced, realizing he hadn't brought anything back and Puck's eyes widened. "Oh, dude, _he__'__s _here isn't he?"

"You are not going to say another _word_, okay?" Kurt hissed, glancing at Finn who was on the other side of Puck, thankfully not listening. But of course Blaine picked that exact moment to walk past, quickly joining the rest of the Warblers in their row.

And even though they hadn't made eye contact, Puck knew. "_Him_? Kurt, dude!"

"Shut _up_!" Kurt whispered. "Okay, fine. Yes, him. But if Rachel found out, she'd murder both of us so _you __can__'__t __say __anything._"

Puck turned to look at him, his gaze thoughtful. "I can tell this has been going on for awhile, and I know you. You're not going to have shared any secrets or listened to his if he did. So after we've finished with the competition, why don't you just come clean? It'll be obvious that you two aren't spying." The announcer took the stage at that point and they were shushed rather quickly by Rachel as the Hipsters were announced. Kurt was just thankful they weren't much to watch as he now had a lot to think about.

Strangely enough, Puck had a very valid point. He and Blaine weren't doing anything wrong and that would be proven after the competition. And Kurt was _tired _of feeling like he had to hide his boyfriend from the world. So, while the Hipsters droned on and tried not to break a bone, Kurt dug his phone out and sneakily sent a text to Blaine.

(Well, it would have been sneaky if Puck hadn't been elbowing him knowingly the whole time.)

_I want to tell them. - Kurt xx_

The reply was almost immediate - clearly Blaine wasn't paying much attention either.

_Me too. But how? - Blaine xx_

Kurt smirked as the Warblers rose from their row and made their way up towards the back of the auditorium. Leaning on the armrest a little, Kurt felt Blaine brush up against him as he passed and nudged him lightly.

_We'll figure something out. Good luck, babe. You're going to be amazing. - Kurt xx_

And he was. Kurt stared in amazement as his boyfriend rocked the stage, grinning the whole time like it was his job to just sing and be cheerful and make Kurt love him, like, a million times more. They had made sure not to sing in front of each other, just in case it gave away anything in regards to their performances, and Kurt found out that Blaine had lied to him. He wasn't just an 'okay singer' - he was _phenomenal._

_We're going to lose and I don't even care. _

Kurt was on his feet when the Warblers were finished, ignoring the strange looks he was receiving from the rest of his group. To his surprise, Puck was the first to join him and Kurt couldn't help but smile at the support he was getting from the boy, as strange as it was. The rest of the row rose with him and Kurt presumed they were cheering on the Warblers until an elbow to the side reminded him that they were up next and _oh, __right_, Kurt had a solo.

In the minute it took Kurt to get backstage, his nerves had begun to go crazy and he thought he might actually throw up at some point, especially since his solo was last and he had to be out on stage, pretending he wasn't a nervous wreck while the others sang. Working through his breathing exercises, Kurt was interrupted by his phone buzzing.

_If you're freaking out back there, don't you dare. You will be absolutely fantastic, I know it. So get out there and show me what my wonderful boyfriend is capable of! - Blaine xx_

As Kurt smiled at the screen, the opening notes of _Time __Of __My __Life _began to play and Kurt hurriedly tucked his phone away, taking his position on stage and waiting. He could hear Quinn and Sam getting closer and then the curtain began to rise, the rest of them chiming in right on cue with their backing vocals. As soon as Kurt's eyes adjusted to the light, he was seeking out the blazer clad row, finding his boyfriend right in the middle _beaming _up at him. Kurt offered him a wink before forcibly removing his attention - there was no way he would be able to focus right now with Blaine looking at him like that.

Usually Kurt found the performances to go way too fast but this time it felt like only a second had passed before Santana was belting out the final notes of _Valerie, _Mike and Brittany dancing the final steps, the crowd on their feet, and the rest of New Directions taking their places for the final song.

Kurt's song.

_I __can__'__t __do __this, _Kurt's head chanted as he walked to the middle of the stage. _I __can__'__t __do __this, __I __can__'__t __do __this, __I __can__'__t__-_

_Courage. _

Kurt opened his mouth and began to sing. And then, and only then, did Kurt allow himself to look at Blaine again.

"_Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,_

_And I say it's all right,"_

It was going to be flawless, Kurt knew. And maybe he would always be the first person to talk up his own performances - because he _knew _he was talented and would embrace it to the death - but the fact that Kurt could not stop looking at Blaine who was looking at _him _like he was the sun… there were no truer words, and there was no way that _couldn__'__t _resound out of him through this performance.

"_Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter,_

_Little darling, it feels like years since it's been here,_

_Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,_

_And I say it's all right,"_

They couldn't keep it a secret any longer. No matter what, they both knew the truth had to come out because what they had was too _real_to hide any longer. Kurt was _proud _of Blaine, proud of being in love with somebody so amazing as his boyfriend and he couldn't keep that hidden.

And Kurt knew Blaine felt the same. What they had was always a two-way thing.

"_Sun, sun, sun, here it comes,_

_Sun, sun, sun, here it comes,"_

The backing vocals chiming in almost made Kurt jump - for a moment he had forgotten about the rest of the group behind him, even about the rest of the audience, the rest of the Warblers who were probably noticing him staring at Blaine…

Oh, forget it. None of it _mattered_.

"_Here comes the sun, here comes the sun,_

_And I say it's all right,_

_It's all right."_

The applause was beautiful but nothing meant more than Blaine being the first one on his feet out of the entire audience.

This was what mattered. Not the competition, not the reactions from anybody else, not the judgement Kurt was sure to get for his voice later from audience members who considered it their place to tell him his voice was too feminine, too controversial.

Love was what mattered.

* * *

They tied, and Kurt had never been more relieved. While he had wanted to win, he hadn't wanted the Warblers to lose either, and now they could both go on to Regionals, both be one step closer to getting to New York.

But now there was the situation at hand to deal with because they both so desperately wanted to come clean, to throw it all out on the table and let their groups deal with it as they would. Except Blaine was all the way over _there _with the Warblers and Kurt couldn't just walk up without things getting really confusing but all he wanted to do was get over there and kiss his boyfriend and tell him how _amazing _he was.

So far, that wasn't looking like it was going to happen.

And then Will Schuester piped up with possibly the best idea Kurt had ever heard the man make. "Hey, guys, since we tied with the Warbler boys, I think it would be nice of us to go over and congratulate them, don't you think?"

"That's an excellent idea, Mr. Schue!" Kurt said quickly, gesturing for the others to follow. There were a few raised eyebrows of surprise and a couple of suggestive comments from Santana but the group obediently followed behind as Mr. Schuester led them over. "Could I speak on behalf of the group?" he asked before they reached the Warblers, Mr. Schuester nodding his approval. Kurt smiled and turned his attention to the Warbler group, resisting the urge to wink at his boyfriend. "Hello, Warblers. I'm Kurt from New Directions and we just wanted to come over and congratulate you on a fantastic performance. It's going to be an honor to perform against you at Regionals."

An Asian boy stepped forward - Wes, if Kurt wasn't mistaken. "Thank you, Kurt. I'm Wes, Head Warbler and we'd also like to congratulate you on your performance." There were nods from the Warbler group and Kurt smiled, allowing himself to glance over at Blaine who was smiling just a _bit _too much.

Kurt raised an eyebrow quickly before turning back to Wes. "Our choir teacher, Mr. Schuester," he said, gesturing for the man to step forward and shake Wes's hand.

In return, Wes elbowed Blaine until he stepped forward. "We have a council of elected students to lead us which is myself, David and Thad." He indicated the two boys on either side of them. "And this is Blaine, our lead soloist." Wes stepped a little closer to Kurt and dropped his voice. "I saw you watching him. He's also single if you're interested."

Kurt rolled his eyes as he glanced at Blaine again, trying to deliver a silent message with his eyes. Apparently it came through loud and clear because Blaine's eyes widened slightly before he nodded almost imperceptibly. "Thank you for telling me, Wes," Kurt said, stepping forward again. "Now excuse me while I make out with your soloist."

And before anybody could react, Kurt was pulling Blaine close and kissing him, their lips performing the oh-so-familiar dance that they were perfecting more and more every day. The sound of gasps from both groups could be heard and they reluctantly broke the kiss short. "Actually, he's not single," Kurt told Wes who had literally dropped his jaw, before turning back to New Directions, glancing at Puck in particular who was nodding his approval. "Puck, you were actually right for once. This is my boyfriend, Blaine." Behind him, Blaine was making similar introductions to the Warbler boys and Kurt shook his head when he heard the sound of the boy accepting high fives. And then he saw the fist Puck was holding out to him and rolled his eyes. "Seriously?" he mock-groaned, secretly pleased as he fist bumped the boy before waiting on the reactions of the rest of the club.

Surprisingly, Finn was the first to speak. "Well, since we're kinda family now, I thought you would have told me… but he seems nice. If he hurts you though…" Finn trailed off, cracking his knuckles threateningly and Kurt rolled his eyes again. "Seriously though, I'm happy for you guys."

"Does nobody else see the issue here?" Rachel finally exploded. "This is like Jesse St. James all over again!"

"Actually," Blaine said from behind Kurt, causing him to jump as a hand slipped into his, "Kurt and I have made a huge effort not to talk about our respective Glee clubs and I had no idea what songs you would be performing before you appeared on stage today." Blaine gestured for the Warbler boys to join them, even though it seemed they needed no encouragement to believe their story. "You have to understand something. I would never do anything to ruin this chance because it is a chance I thought I would never have. To find another openly gay teenage boy who would actually want to be in a relationship with me was something I wouldn't let myself dream about. I figured I'd wait until I was in college and hopefully go to a state that was accepting enough where I could have this sort of thing."

Kurt squeezed his hand, taking over the story. "You guys know what it's been like for me," he said, directing his attention to New Directions. "I've watched all of you date around the club because, for you, dating is just something you can _do_. For me it's something totally different and you must surely realize that I would never do _anything _to sabotage my chance at a relationship." The majority of his speech was directed at Rachel - nobody else seemed to need any further prompting to believe the two boys. "Trust us, please."

There was a moment of awkward silence. "Well, we believe you," Wes said, stepping forward with the other Warblers nodding. "Blaine has always been trustworthy and we have no reason to believe his judgement is failing him now."

And that was definitely a dig at Rachel who still had her arms crossed stubbornly. Dropping Blaine's hand, Kurt stepped towards her and put his hands on her shoulders. "Rachel, please," he said quietly. "I know things didn't work out well for you with Jesse but please give Blaine a chance. Trust us."

"I can't trust him," Rachel said and Kurt sighed, prepared to start lecturing her when she continued talking. "But I trust you. And you have seemed a lot happier lately, I thought it was just because of the solo but it's been going on for longer than that. If he makes you this happy, I can't hate him."

Kurt could have kissed her, but it was far more tempting to just turn around and kiss his boyfriend again. Refraining from both, Kurt instead gave the group a grateful smile. "We've wanted to tell you for awhile now," he admitted. "It's so good to just be open about it."

And Puck just continued to add to his perceptiveness by suddenly turning to the Warblers and asking loudly, "So, how do you dudes learn that a capella thing?"

As the attention was drawn away from them - and, to Kurt's amazement, their Glee clubs began to actually _interact_ - Blaine let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that's that."

"Yeah," Kurt agreed. "You were _outstanding _up there."

"Nothing on _you_, Kurt, that was the most wonderful thing I've _ever _heard."

And as they began their quiet banter with the echoes of their respective Glee clubs behind them, Kurt had never felt more at home.

* * *

**If my fellow Klainers are alive and not simply basking in the afterglow of a beautiful episode, I'd love to hear from you :) I can actually completely understand not getting reviews tonight though so I won't be disappointed.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"I think something's going on between them."**_

_***dramatic Sue patented entrance* "You're right, Tickle-Me-Doe face. Their sicklly sweetness beats even Wemma, so much so that I would have cavities if I ****didn't already have my dentist replace my teeth with stainless steel Sue-teeth.. They'll be useful for when I plan to take over the world by chewing my way into the president's office. I already have a decent start." **_


	207. Domestic

**There were a few people thinking I hadn't seen 3x05. I certainly have. I am just choosing to stick to my spoiler-free authors notes because I know some people still need to wait quite a while to see it. Let me just say that I've rewatched the 'Layers' scene at least twenty times. **

**One thing I need to address in that though (and this may get a bit spoilerish for some) is that Australia actually censored that scene. They cut out the masturbation line and the subsequent response to that line, jumping straight to "I'm being serious..." Now this bothers me a lot. It's just a word, it's something that everybody knows about anyway that they say all teenage boys are doing. And it's an episode about _sex_. I admire Glee for putting it in there and have severe issues with Australia for taking it out. I watched the full scene that someone sent me to show me what Australia cut and I see no reason to cut it at all. **

**Okay, my manager is picking me up soon (it's too hot for me to walk apparently and I can't bring myself to argue) so I'd better stop ranting, watch "Layers" a few more times and then work until midnight.**

**From **_**PB Headless: Blaine has stayed over the night and in the morning they are all flirty and play acting as a couple getting ready for the day (Kurt doing Blaine's tie, reading newspapers, orange juice and stuff) then they kiss... and realise they maybe took the acting too far but go back to kissing anyway... bonus points for awkward Finn hanging around.**_

* * *

Domestic

It was just another morning in the Hudson-Hummel household as far as Kurt was concerned. Burt and Carole had both left for their respective jobs after Kurt had ensured his father had packed a health conscious lunch. Finn was still slumped at the breakfast table, half asleep while he waited for food. And Kurt, half dressed in his Warbler uniform with his tie draped around his neck and blazer hanging up by the door, was in the kitchen cooking breakfast.

So when another set of footsteps echoed on the stairs, Kurt nearly upset the pan of bacon as he jumped, spinning around to see if it was Finn. Considering the boy was still comatose on the table, there was only one other option. "Finn," he hissed, trying not to panic as the footsteps grew louder. "There's someone in the house!"

"Hit them with a baseball bat," Finn muttered tiredly.

"Please don't," said Blaine calmly as he entered the kitchen, rubbing his eyes. "That would probably hurt an awful lot."

Kurt let out a sigh of relief only to be faced with the next earth-shattering shock - Blaine had just slept in his house_. _All night. And Kurt _hadn__'__t __known._"What… I thought you left last night?" But now that Kurt thought about it, he couldn't actually remember Blaine leaving after their royal wedding re-run marathon, he only knew that Blaine was _supposed _to have left. In fact, Kurt couldn't remember much after the balcony kiss and Blaine's shoulder being warm and comfortable and… _oh._ "I fell asleep, didn't I?"

"Yep." Blaine pulled up a seat next to Finn and collapsed into it, running a hand through his hair haphazardly. "So did I. By the time your dad realized I should have already left, it was too late for me to drive home and I was liable to fall asleep at the wheel so he just told me to take the guest room."

Kurt nodded, most of it making sense except… "How did I get to bed?"

"I carried you," Blaine told him, like it was the most natural thing ever. Except it kind of wasn't because his crush had _carried __him __to __bed_ and Kurt was trying really hard not to freak out over that fact. "And then I forgot to set my own alarm, so thankfully the smell of bacon woke me up… bacon?"

And Kurt had to laugh because with his hair disheveled, tie undone and still yawning every five seconds, Blaine looked and sounded more like a teenager than he ever had before and it was adorable in so many ways. "If you're lucky," Kurt said teasingly.

"I'll be on my best behavior, I swear," Blaine said, sitting up straight and staring imploringly at Kurt. "Please, sir."

Kurt's efforts to keep a straight face were monumental. "Okay, if you're making me out to be some kind of parental figure, that's creepy as anything."

Blaine thought for a second. "Life partner?"

And that was _dangerously _close to… ah, screw it. Even though Blaine looked like he was seconds away from retracting it and apologizing and being _sickeningly _noble and polite, Kurt was up for the game. "Well darling," he said quickly, laying it on just a bit thick to keep with the joke, "what kind of life partner would I be if I didn't cook for you?"

Finn's head jerked up off the table at that, frowning. "Are you two… no, it's too early for this. Bacon, Kurt?"

"You people only want me for my cooking skills," Kurt exclaimed, throwing up his hands and returning to the bacon which had thankfully not burned, leaving the ball in Blaine's court. If he wanted to take the game further, then Kurt was more than willing to play along.

He heard the sound of someone getting up and then a pair of hands were resting on his shoulders. "Actually, sweetheart," came the voice in his ear that never failed to send a shiver down Kurt's spine, "I could use your help with something else. I can never get this tie perfect and you're _so __good _at tying them."

Kurt turned off the heat and removed the bacon, placing it on the stand before turning around. "Come here," he said, clucking his tongue and taking either side of Blaine's tie. "What would you do without me, apart from dress horridly and still believe that Katy Perry is better than Lady GaGa?"

"Hey!" Blaine said indignantly, but the sparkle in his eyes showed Kurt that he was just as willing to play along with their little game. "Not all of us can make a _uniform _look fashionable."

Kurt glanced over at his blazer where he had pinned one of his more elaborate brooches. "Well, I try," he said almost modestly. "Now, hold still."

Kurt finished the tie, smoothing it down against Blaine's chest and taking possibly a little bit longer with the action than necessary. But it was just a game, of course, and Kurt could do whatever he chose. "Thank you, dearest," Blaine said, stepping back and examining it before blowing Kurt a kiss which he caught on reflex. "Can I help with breakfast?"

"No, it's all done, honey. You just sit back and… I feel like I should offer you the newspaper."

Blaine smirked. "Actually, could you? I quite like reading it over breakfast."

Kurt shook his head. "You never cease to amaze me, Blaine Anderson," he said as he disappeared into the living room, returning with his father's newspaper and handing it to Blaine who had already sat down and was poking Finn curiously. "Here. He won't wake up until there's food in front of him."

"Thanks, beautiful," Blaine said absently and Kurt's heart skipped a beat because that had sounded so _natural_. And the way Blaine cleared his throat a second later made it almost seem like it had been… but no. It was all just a game. "So, would that make you Kurt Anderson?"

It was official. This game was going to kill him.

"I don't think so," Kurt said instead, trying to pretend he hadn't imagined this conversation a million times before. "It's not like I'm the girl in the relationship, so why can't you be Blaine Hummel?"

Blaine's eyes glazed over for a second before he shook his head. "Hyphenate? Anderson-Hummel?"

"Why are you first?" Kurt demanded, trying to ignore the warmth that had blossomed in his heart at that because _Blaine __had __just __hyphenated __their __names __like __they __were __getting __married._

"Alphabetical, my dear." Blaine patted his cheek condescendingly and opened his newspaper. "Now, are you going to bring me my breakfast or not?"

And it was like Kurt's mouth was on autopilot now. "Well if you keep that attitude up, there'll be no sex for you tonight."

Kurt froze.

Blaine froze.

Finn practically leapt from the table, wide eyed as he stared between the two boys. "Please, please _please _tell me I heard that wrong? Or, no, right. Please tell me that was right and you guys won't be having sex tonight? Or any night? _Ever?_"

"Finn, I can _assure _you that Blaine and I are not having sex," Kurt said quickly, already halfway into the kitchen to try and hide the blush he knew was covering his face. "It's a joke. A very bad joke. I should never have said it, oh my god why did I say that?" His voice had trailed off into close to a whisper by the end and Kurt was gripping the counter top, eyes clenched shut because that was the _stupidest _thing he had ever done. Ever. But all Kurt could do was keep going, keep pretending that the game was just a game and he wasn't mortified beyond belief. "And your homophobia is showing," he said calmly as he brought out the pan of bacon.

"My what?" Finn asked absently as he began to pile bacon onto his plate. Kurt rolled his eyes, knowing nothing would penetrate until Finn had eaten, and swatted the boys hands away to make sure Blaine got some bacon.

"Clearly we're not raising him right," Blaine said, winking at Kurt as he accepted the bacon pan. "He might need to be grounded."

Kurt subtly let out a sigh of relief. "I think so. Maybe we'll need to take his video games off him for a week."

"You can't do that," Finn said immediately, his voice taking on the tone of a petulant child. "You have no right. They're mine."

The two boys glanced at each other for a second before bursting into laughter. Finn pouted at them before the need to eat his bacon overrode and he was off in another world. "This looks amazing, love," Blaine finally said when he got his laughter under control. Kurt was still giggling when Blaine leant over and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

_Oh._

Kurt stopped laughing instantly, blinking a few times before turning to Blaine who was nonchalantly digging into his bacon, the paper spread in front of him getting his full attention. In fact, Kurt would almost have been sure that he had dreamt it if it weren't for the slight flush creeping up the back of Blaine's neck and the way Finn was half-turned around in his seat awkwardly, his back facing the two of them. Kurt sighed, pushing his confusion back in favor of continuing things the way they had been. "Finn, I will steal your bacon if you don't turn back -"

Finn shot back around long enough to grab his plate and scarf down half of the bacon in one go. "Mnttnnrndntl-"

"Finn!" Kurt shuddered, dropping his own fork. "That's disgusting and I have no idea what you just said."

"He said 'I'm not turning around until -' and I presume he was going to say something about us being flirtatious," Blaine said offhandedly before taking a mouthful of his own bacon.

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "How?" he demanded, trying not to think about the fact that Blaine had just admitted that they _were _flirting and had been so casual about it, like it was completely normal to flirt with your best friend who happens to share your sexual preference. _Please __tell __me __he __doesn__'__t __do __this __sort __of __thing __with __other __guys..._

Blaine finished his mouthful, swallowing rather pointedly before replying. "When you live with the Dalton boys for as long as I have, you get used to mouthful-of-food-speak. Cameron is much worse than Finn, I assure you. It's still disgusting though and I'm going to suggest bumping it up to two weeks of grounding."

Kurt smirked. "You're so harsh, snookums."

"Snookums?" Blaine bit his lip, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter.

"Okay, maybe not." Kurt shook his head, grinning. "Sexy?"

And there was something Kurt _never _thought he'd be able to say, especially not with _Finn _staring at them like they were both insane. There was only a flicker of surprise in Blaine's eyes before he was bantering back smoothly, smirking. "Well I'll take that. I know it's true." Kurt hit him lightly and returned to his own breakfast, his mind whirring. He was having so much fun acting this way with Blaine, but at the same time he couldn't help but feel regret that this wasn't actually _real_. Because it was just so easy to sit there and have breakfast with Blaine and have _pet __names _and yeah, Kurt kind of wanted to wake up to this for the rest of his life.

Breakfast was finished rather quickly and Finn resumed his half-asleep state on the table as Kurt and Blaine cleared away the dishes. The playful banter continued in the kitchen, Kurt going so far as to whip Blaine with the dishtowel which resulted in a good few minutes of play-wrestling until Kurt finally called truce. Together they traipsed back out to the dining room, Kurt rolling his eyes at the comatose Finn on the table before turning to Blaine who had suddenly placed a hand on his shoulder. "Yes, gorgeous?" he asked, watching the sparkle fill Blaine's eyes again.

"Breakfast was wonderful, thank you, sweetheart."

"Maybe you should show your appreciation, my dearest."

Kurt's mouth was honestly just running on its own today, he _swore_.

Blaine simply raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I should, _Kurt_." And before Kurt could mull over the way his own name falling from Blaine's lips was _so _much better than any of the pet names, said lips were pressed up gently against his.

_Please tell me this isn't a game anymore. _

Kurt was fairly sure it wasn't, especially when Blaine pulled back gently, running a thumb over Kurt's cheek and staring at him like he was Blaine's _world_. Kurt could only smile hesitantly before leaning back in, brushing his lips against Blaine's again, feeling almost intoxicated by the feeling of Blaine, the _taste _of Blaine, just _Blaine._

And then Kurt remembered Finn. Breaking the kiss gently, Kurt glanced over to his step-brother and had to snort in amusement - Finn was still sleeping on the table. "He's going to freak when he learns about this."

Blaine shook his head before leaning in and taking Kurt's tie, knotting it together deftly and smoothing it down against his chest. "I left my blazer upstairs," he said quietly as Kurt grabbed his own, slipping it over his shoulders. "Come with me."

As Blaine led him upstairs, Kurt simply couldn't resist. "Gay sex in the guest room? Blaine Anderson-Hummel, I never!"

The sound of Finn banging his knee into the table in his rush to get up had Kurt and Blaine stifling their laughter in the upstairs hallway.

* * *

**This is one of my favourites. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Puck, for once you were right-" **_

_**"SCORE! You all owe me twenty bucks." *mini victory dance***_

_**"...what? Also, Puck, never do that again. Your dancing skills leave MUCH to be desired. I think my brain is starting to burn. Quick, I need a distraction! Blaine, makeout with me!"**_


	208. Pushy

**I am actually not sure what to write about tonight. Except that a guy who's about two weeks into his job at our work suddenly up and quit right when our manager is going on holiday and we're in a little bit of disarray at the moment. But this weekend is my last weekend on night shift for three weeks so I'm looking forward to Monday.**

**Also, I need to put something out there for a few people who are asking what I'll do after _Kiss _finishes. There are actually many who seem unaware that I have got other stories than this one, including three or four WIP's. So if you are looking for something from me after _Kiss_, those would be your best place to start. **

**From **_**Klainebows (Anonymous) and similarly prompted by Broken Gold: What if it's christmas and everything and Wes & David (and Jeff if you want because he is one of the biggest Klaine shipper) try to send Blaine and Kurt under the mistletoe and BAM the kliss.**_

**I couldn't be stereotypical. I just couldn't. So this actually breaks the rules a little which you'll understand when you read it. But I think you'll all forgive me.**

* * *

Pushy

"What is _this_?"

Wes froze, counting silently to three before grinning and looking down. "Blaine! So good to see you, my friend!"

Blaine sighed. "Wesley."

"Okay," Wes conceded, jumping off the box sheepishly. "It's just decorative, Blaine! Tis the season and all that."

"Tis the season to hang mistletoe above your friend's door?"

"Oh, is that how it goes?" David asked, poking his head out of his room. Wes knew Blaine was once again internally whining about being stuck across the hall from them by the look on his face. "Wes, we've been singing it wrong all these years!"

Blaine sighed again. "Wes, why are you hanging mistletoe above my door?"

And that was an order if Wes had ever heard one. "We're just having a bit of fun! Lighten up, enjoy the season!"

"And who knows, maybe you'll get yourself a kiss from our pretty little countertenor," David chipped in, raising his eyebrow suggestively. Wes kept his face impassive but made a note to high-five his friend later.

Blaine really needed to stop sighing and Wes told him as much. "Well, I wouldn't have to sigh so much if you two weren't _idiots _so much. Kurt and I do not need to be _set up_."

"Oh, not _again_."

Of _course _Kurt was walking along the hall right at that moment. Of course.

"Wesley," Kurt began in a low, almost dangerous voice. "We discussed this one when the mistletoe went up outside _my _door. If Blaine and I ever choose to, as you put it, 'get our Klaine on,' then we will do as such _in __our __own __time._Trying to force us into a relationship is counterproductive, rude and just _idiotic. _Are we clear?"

The fact that Blaine was looking so adoringly at Kurt _really _wasn't helping their situation and Wes was just dying to say so but Kurt was just a little bit too scary right now to attempt that. "Okay," he said instead, grabbing his box and backing towards his and David's room. "We'll just, ah, leave you two to it."

Kurt rolled his eyes before turning to Blaine, his expression softening. "Lima Bean fixed the coffee machine."

Blaine grinned, all tension gone. "Let's go!"

Wes blinked at the empty space in the hallway, fairly sure they had both just _evaporated_ in the direction of the Lima Bean. At least it made it easier to resume their serious planning meeting. "So, that was a fail," he announced, closing the door and flopping on his bed. "We put you on this team thinking you would _help_, Agent Six."

"I _tried!_" Jeff exclaimed. "I mean, the mistletoe worked for me and Nick, it's the only reason Kurt hasn't successfully taken it down from the doorway yet. We just haven't played all our cards yet."

"So what do you suggest?" David asked, spinning a coin on the desk absently.

Jeff smirked. "Force them under it. You know the rules, get under the mistletoe and you have to kiss."

"But they're on to us," Wes explained reasonably. "How are we meant to get away with that?"

"Simple," Jeff said.

Wes waited a few seconds before coughing awkwardly. "Uh. Usually you, you know, keep talking."

Jeff blinked at him. "Oh. Well I don't have a plan. I figured one of you would."

David proceeded to hit his head against the desk. Wes began to count. Nick wandered through the door, barely batting an eyelid at the scene as he sat down on Jeff's lap and announced, "I have a plan."

"You're not a part of this team," Wes said quickly, turning an accusing glare on Jeff. "Did you tell him what we're doing?"

"Of course I told him," Jeff said like it should be obvious. "He's my boyfriend and he's _smart. _If anybody was going to have a plan, it would be him."

David raised his head, a bright red mark on his forehead. "What's the plan?"

"Christmas party."

Twenty seconds passed in silence before Wes's eyes widened. "Oh, that's _perfect!_"

* * *

The Warbler Christmas party was an annual tradition, started four years ago by the more spontaneous Warbler Council of 2008. Granted, the one in progress wasn't quite as wild as the others had been, but looks could be deceiving and the alcohol mixed into the punch was certainly spicing things up. Especially since the only Warblers who didn't know it was there were Kurt and Blaine.

"Ready?" Wes asked. There was silence and Wes turned to see why, only to cover his eyes. "You're in _public! _I get that you're putting on a demonstration for our lovely couple but they're not quite up to making out and _we__'__re _not quite up to seeing it."

Nick pulled away, shooting Wes a glare. "Zero tolerance, darling," Jeff said cheerfully. "You can't do anything about it."

"Then you need to be tolerant of my innocence," Wes responded, ignoring the twin snorts from the couch beside him. "Where's David?"

Jeff pointed towards the doorway where David had just finished hanging the mistletoe and Wes smirked. _Game __on. _"Kurt!" David called. "Come here a minute?"

Kurt stood from the couch where he was sitting with Blaine - of course - and wandered towards the door. Wes noted he was a little unsteady on his feet and his smirk grew wider because this was going to be _cake_. "Blaine?" he called out, waiting for his friend to finish staring at Kurt and come over. "Need your help with something. Come with me."

Wes stood and Blaine followed, frowning. "What do you need? It's the middle of a party - oh, are we singing? Because I didn't prepare anything."

"I know. I just need your help bringing in some more drinks, they're up in my room." Wes paused at the door, gesturing for Blaine to go through first and hoping David had timed it right.

For once in his life, he had. Just as Blaine was walking through the doorway, Kurt was heading back in and Blaine slipped to the side a little to let Kurt pass by, smiling as he did. "Freeze!" David yelled out, stopping both boys in their tracks. "Now, look up."

Kurt was the first to realize and the glare he sent to Wes was _livid_. Wes considered that highly unfair considering _David _was the one to have called Kurt out, but Kurt had probably realized that David would never come up with a plan like this on his own. To be fair, neither had Wes. "Gentlemen, I thought we talked about this," Kurt said, his voice carefully measured.

"Ah, but you see, this is different," Wes explained, realizing his cheerfulness was probably annoying Kurt more and not really caring. "You're under the mistletoe now. You have no say about it, it has to happen."

Blaine actually _growled _at him and David backed up a few steps. "Kurt, come here," he said without turning his glare from David. "We have no choice."

Wes shot David a hopeful glance as the two finally looked at each other, Kurt taking a step closer. Yes, they were annoyed _now _but surely after they'd kissed and _realized _that they both cared so much about each other, that kissing one another was amazing and wonderful and _right_, _surely__…_

Kurt leant in and pressed his lips against Blaine's quickly before pulling away. "Satisfied?" he asked. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm suddenly not in much of a party mood."

The three boys watched him go before Blaine slowly turned to face Wes. "See?" he said quietly. "Do you see what forcing this has done? Honestly, if you care about mine and Kurt's happiness so much, just _leave __us __alone. _If there's something to work out, we'll do so in time. Now I have to go after him and see if he's okay."

Blaine turned to leave but of course David had to open his mouth. "You do love him though, don't you?"

"Of course I do," Blaine said as he brushed past the boy. "He's my best friend."

And Blaine was gone.

Without a word, Wes and David returned to the couch where Nick and Jeff were sitting, clearly having heard everything. A long and subdued silence later, Jeff finally sighed and looked up. "Well, this really sucks."

"Should we go and apologize?"

Wes shook his head. "Not yet. Give them some time first."

"I hope this doesn't ruin their chances completely," David said, voicing what they were all thinking.

"It won't," Nick said, suddenly determined. "They care so much about each other. If this doesn't end up getting them together - and we can't rule out that it _could _have - then something will. Just have faith in them."

Wes sighed. "Well then, I guess we should try to enjoy the party."

But he knew none of them would.

* * *

It was times like this that Blaine having a single room was kind of the best thing ever.

"Do you think they're ever going to catch on?"

Blaine laughed. "After that display? I think we have another six months at _least_."

Kurt rolled his eyes, falling back onto the pillows. "This is the best idea we've ever had. Still think Nick will be the first to realize?"

"Nick has the most common sense, but really they're all idiots." Blaine collapsed next to him, throwing an arm around Kurt's waist. "I just can't believe that nobody's come out and just _asked _yet."

"Because the answer would be yes." Smiling, Kurt leant in and pressed a kiss to his boyfriend's lips. "They just need to learn not to assume, like assuming we didn't know there was vodka in the punch."

"Or meddle," Blaine added. "Once the meddling stops, I think they can find out. But while they continue to pry into our personal lives and think they're doing what's best for us, they can stay in the dark."

Kurt rolled his eyes again, the action a lot softer. "Seriously, how could anybody think that I'm _not _madly in love with you anyway?"

"The real question is, how do they not realize that we _aren__'__t _darting around each other, that the coffee dates are actually dates and this has been going on for _three __months _now." They shared a look of amusement. "Really, for boys from such a fine level of education, Dalton boys really are stupid."

"They are." Kurt kissed him again, snuggling closer into Blaine's arms. "I'm sure they'll work it out one day. But for now, they can stay oblivious and continue to feel awful for pushing us away from each other forever."

Blaine laughed. "I love you."

"I love you too."

There was a moment of silence. "Do you think they realized that it wasn't our first kiss?"

"Of course not," Blaine said immediately. "But revealing that story is going to be so much fun."

"I don't think Wes will ever look at his precious Council table the same again."

"Neither."

* * *

**So it _was _going to be angsty, it was going to end with the boys miserable and feeling like they didn't like each other, or even Blaine not being interested still... but I just couldn't resist. So it was more of a first kiss in front of people than a first kiss. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***kliss***_

_***stares at, dazed* "That was... Wow. Amazing. Mind-blowing. Awesome. Fantastic."**_

_***sniffs* "Bacon-flavored. You go and brush your teeth, or so help me, I'll tell Wes and David about the time with the stuffed giraffe and the Harry Potter book-"**_

_**"I'll go do that now." *flees***_


	209. Rock

**I forgot to include this yesterday for my Australian readers who asked for the uncensored scene from 3x05. If you go to my Tumblr (link on my profile), it should be near the top but it depends when you read this chapter too and it'll be called UNCENSORED 3X05 SCENE FOR AUSTRALIAN VIEWERS. It's not great quality but it's there :)**

**Oh, and all the people who wanted a sequel to yesterday's chapter explaining the council table first kiss? I don't even need to. You'll see why at the end of the chapter.  
**

**From **_**Klaineshipper (Anonymous): Blaine is a rock star, and during one of his gig, he sees Kurt in the pit staring at him. It's love at first sight and Blaine try to find Kurt after the gig but there are too many fans while Kurt is pushing back by the bodyguards.**_

**You all owe me so much love. I mean it, this took _forever_.**

**(No, I don't demand love. I wrote this for me first)**

* * *

Rock

Blaine Anderson was used to fans when he performed but this?

This was ridiculous.

Honestly, he had only agreed to this gig because of the charity side of things. Usually he tried to avoid the bar scene, knowing it had more potential to go badly than to be a performance that was good for his rep. And yes, once upon a time he had played exclusively in bars, but that was back when he was only known as Blaine and didn't have a million dollar recording contract waiting for him back in New York.

But Ohio still held a soft spot in his heart and when Blaine heard that Candidate Sylvester had finally been elected and was cutting the arts program completely, he knew he had to do something. Dalton might be prestigious enough not to be affected but the public schools would and Blaine's three years at Westerville High - while painful and horrifying to remember - had given him a deep appreciation for public school art programs and their struggles.

So if something meant playing a gig at a small bar in Lima, Ohio, then he would do it.

But Blaine had not expected _this_.

The place was packed to the roof. Obviously there were some regulars there, the ones slumped over the bar looking entirely uninterested in the chaos, but the others looked like fans who had traveled from all over Ohio to crowd into a dingy bar. All of the emergency exit doors were open with people crowding through them - and Blaine _cringed_to think about the health and safety violations - and there was no breathing room, let alone moshing. But that certainly wasn't stopping the crowd who was going absolutely _crazy_.

And Blaine still loved it. He loved the atmosphere surrounding him when he performed, the people who were allowing themselves to lose all inhibitions and be free to the music and to themselves. It wasn't about their love for his talent but their love for music and art that kept him going, kept him performing even when he was working 20 hour days trying to get everything done. Blaine had gotten absolutely no sleep last night between reading over contracts, trying to write the final song for his album and the fact that the Lima Hotel hosted the most uncomfortable couches to date and Blaine refused to let his publicist sleep anywhere but in the bed - and no, he would _not _be sharing the bed with her, no matter what a few select people in his team seemed to think.

But none of that _mattered_, not when the bright lights were on his face, the guitar in his hands, lyrics pouring out of his throat like they were made to be there - they kind of _were_- and the crowd falling in love with music all over again. Nothing else mattered.

A lot of these people knew him as the Warbler. Blaine wasn't sure exactly when the nickname had caught on - after all, his high school Glee club had performed with him a few times now - but he couldn't complain. It was nice to be known for something positive at the moment instead of all the negativity a few months ago.

Blaine had been at the height of his career, well-liked in the music scene, recording frequently and basically having one hell of a good time. His private life was yet to be uncovered - and it wasn't that Blaine was _ashamed _of who he was, not at all. It just hadn't come up and Blaine was happy to keep it that way. But naturally, as it seemed life was prone to, Blaine was hit with a curveball when one of his old high school classmates decided it would be fun to leak Blaine's sexuality to the press.

He didn't try to deny it of course, and deflecting was out of the picture. After a long meeting with his publicist team, they decided to just run with it and simply not make a big deal out of Blaine 'coming out'. While the press was still having a field day, Blaine's lack of reaction actually ended up winning him more fans. However, there were always groups who decided he needed to be hated because he was gay and there was a rough few months where many of his concerts were being boycotted by angry 'former fans'.

Lima had always been a risk - homophobia had been rampant when Blaine was a student and coming to a _bar_ of all places to perform as an openly gay artist was a risk. But right in this moment, he was so so thrilled that he had done it.

_Human _was always a crowd pleaser and tonight was no exception if the wild applause when he had finished singing was any indication. "Thank you so much!" he called out to the audience, truly appreciative of them. "This next song isn't mine, but I do have permission from the woman herself to perform it for you tonight. Some of you may have seen me sing this with the Warblers -" Blaine had to pause as the screaming reached new heights, grinning at them until they settled down again. "But tonight I'm afraid it's just me."

And without any further ado, Blaine began to strum at his guitar, picking out the opening notes to _Teenage__ Dream._

It really was his song. It was the song that had launched his career when he and the Warblers had performed it at a private competition after being knocked out of the show choir competition at Regionals level in his Senior year. They had no idea that agents were in the crowd and Blaine had almost been signed almost on the spot, only having to do the small-time artist thing for less than a year before his career began to build. He had grown so much since that moment, but coming back to the song was always a reminder of where he had come from, especially now while he was here in Lima.

"_Before you met me, I was alright but things were kinda heavy,_

_You brought me to life,_

_Now every February, you'll be my Valentine,_

_Valentine."_

Glancing around the crowd, Blaine couldn't help but smile. Every performance without fail, Blaine found himself checking the guys his age, looking for someone good looking that he could take a moment to watch, to pretend he was singing this song to. It wasn't like he was depressingly lonely or anything, but it had been a little while since Blaine's last boyfriend and it would be nice to find someone. Of course there would be nothing _happening _between him and a fan - that was _always_ bad news - but no harm in looking, right?

As usual, there was nobody in particular who stood out and Blaine cast one more critical eye over the bar before turning back to -

_Wait._

_No. Freaking. Way._

Was that _Kurt __Hummel?_

* * *

Kurt Hummel had _no __idea _what he was doing here.

Not just the small dingy bar in Lima that he had never set foot in or near while he was a student here, but Lima itself. Kurt had always sworn to himself that once he graduated and got out of here, he would never be back. Of course once he realized that his father was never going to leave Lima, never going to come to New York no matter how appealing Kurt tried to make it, those plans changed a little, but up until now Kurt had never come back for any longer than the festive seasons. After all, what reason did he have to be here?

Kurt's high school experience had been pure hell. He had been the only kid out of the closet and up until his Junior year, that had simply meant scorns and slushies. But when Junior year rolled around, one of the bullies had decided that Kurt was going to become his personal punching bag and Kurt made the biggest mistake of his life when he tried to find out why. Because David Karofsky had been in the closet - still _was _in the closet actually - and had decided that Kurt's first kiss should belong to him.

If Karofsky hadn't moved out to California a year ago, Kurt wouldn't have even thought about coming back for longer than a few weeks. No matter how long had passed, Kurt still couldn't bear to look at the boy, the one who had taken something from him and then threatened to kill him. Kurt had gone through a year and a half of fear, not knowing whether this jock would snap one day and either actually go through with his threat or decide to do something much worse. He had dropped out of his Glee club, flown under the radar while studying as hard as he could and graduated with a 4.0 and near crippling depression. As soon as he had gotten to New York, Kurt had had a complete breakdown resulting in a few months of therapy before he could even begin his course.

But Kurt had fought through it. Like his father had always said, he was a fighter. Overcoming the experiences of high school, Kurt had focused everything he had on his fashion career, working at unpaid internship after unpaid internship to try and find the right one, the right area for his distinctive fashion sense where he could be who he wanted to be. And then one phone call to his father had changed everything - the one phone call where his father had said one simple sentence.

"_If the industry isn't designed for people like you, make your own."_

So he had. It had been a huge risk - investments with money he didn't have, hours upon hours of tireless work, enlisting others who basically worked for free until he could back pay them - but it had paid off. And now Kurt Hummel was a name that _everybody _knew.

The biggest shock of Kurt's career had been arriving back in Lima six months after he had produced his first runway shoot and visiting Will Schuester at the high school to find students walking down the halls in his creations. Students, _plural._ Granted, nobody could rock his looks quite like him and many of those kids were the ones ending up in the dumpsters, but Kurt had never been prouder of himself.

Kurt was where he had always wanted to be and, it was true, he loved it.

So why was he back in Lima? Simple.

Pity.

The last time he had visited McKinley High, he had been warned by Will about Sue's rise in the polls yet again. She had tried to run while Kurt was in his Senior year but had not been successful so, five years later, was giving it another shot. And this time it looked like she might win, and this time she would be cutting the arts completely. No worry about reading at the average level, no conditions to get it back. They would just be gone.

Kurt had been one of the ones watching the verdict and, as soon as it had passed, he had made a few vital calls to his team. Two weeks later, after his final runway show of the year, Kurt was touching down in Lima for the forseeable future.

It was all kept under the radar of course - if students from other schools found out that Kurt Hummel was teaching at McKinley High free of charge, there would be an outcry of complaints from the other schools demanding equal treatment. But Kurt's loyalty would always stay with McKinley; no matter how difficult his schooling had been there, Kurt knew they did the best with what they had. And McKinley had always been one of the lowest budget schools in the area and with this new cut, they were barely getting by. It was the least Kurt could do.

But Sue was going down - some kind of private funding project was underway that would seal Ohio's arts future for the next ten years - and Kurt could tell he wouldn't be needed for much longer. New York was calling him back anyway - while his team was running things fine so far, Kurt was itching to get his new designs created for the fall season and missed the bright lights of his home.

It had been a long day and, despite his usual inclinations, Kurt stopped by the bar to grab a drink before heading back to his dad's place. Usually he would hang out with Finn but Finn had flown to New York - ironically - to watch Rachel's opening night for _West__ Side __Story. _And as far as Kurt could tell, at least by the little ring box he had found in Finn's house the other week, Finn had the perfect celebration in mind. So he figured one drink alone at the bar wouldn't be too depressing, right?

Something was going on, Kurt could tell as soon as he arrived. The regulars were all at the bar and he took a seat, ordering his usual and glancing around. The stage was being set up and people were already beginning to crowd into the seating, Kurt frowning at them in confusion. He hadn't heard about any performances coming up, especially not something that would draw this kind of crowd - because it was growing by the _second_. Shrugging, Kurt figured he could stick around for a little while and see if this person was any good. It had been quite some time since he had seen a good live performance anyway.

An ill timed bathroom break meant that Kurt actually missed the arrival of the performer, but he could hear the chaos from the bathroom itself. _My __goodness, __they__'__re __acting __like __Beyonce __arrived __or __something!_

Even though Kurt knew it wasn't Beyonce, who was currently on tour in Europe, he found his curiosity peaked. Maybe someone actually famous _was _here. And although Kurt was fairly well famous himself, his industry never really bumped elbows with the music world so it would be nice to see who it was, because who would come to _Lima _to perform?

Wandering out of the bathroom, Kurt took one look at the stage and nearly passed out.

_That… that's Blaine Anderson…_

_Holy crap._

Kurt needed to sit down. Stumbling back to his seat - and at least he blended in in _that_ regard - he collapsed back into his empty spot, spinning around to face the bar for a moment and taking a few deep breaths because _Blaine __Anderson _was performing behind him, live, in person and _why__ was __he __not __watching?_

Spinning back around, Kurt propped his chin up on his hands and just _stared._

There were only a few mainstream artists that Kurt had a true appreciation for. Lady GaGa would always hold a special place in Kurt's heart and others such as Beyonce and Adele were definitely amongst his favorites. Kurt was a firm believer in the classics, in taking time to build up your reputation instead of doing a Justin Bieber and being famous from the first song. But one thing Kurt hadn't been able to help was falling in love with Blaine's voice the first time he had heard it.

Because Blaine Anderson was, simply put, a musical _god._ New to the scene, yes, but his talent was immeasurable, only matched by his friendliness and modesty - at least what Kurt could tell from the interviews he had seen of the man. He was going to go far, Kurt could tell, and therefore he really couldn't resist buying his album the moment it came out, committing himself to becoming a fan. But really, Blaine did deserve it.

Oh, and he was _freaking__ gorgeous._That helped too.

"Thank you so much!" Blaine called out and Kurt couldn't help but smile because _he__'__s__ such __a __sweetheart. _"This next song isn't mine, but I do have permission from the woman herself to perform it for you tonight. Some of you may have seen me sing this with the Warblers -" Kurt winced as the girls in front of him went crazy and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. _I__ highly __doubt __the __Warblers __are__ here __tonight. _"But tonight I'm afraid it's just me," Blaine confirmed to the slight disappointment of some of the fans.

_Something you should never apologize for._

Kurt mentally rolled his eyes at himself for that one. He really _was _turning into a groupie… and really couldn't care. After all, nothing would ever come of it and at least he had a better chance than the girls who were currently gushing over him because Blaine? Yeah, Blaine played for _Kurt__'__s _team.

And the really funny thing about the whole situation?

Kurt could have _known _Blaine.

Junior year at McKinley High when he had still been a part of the Glee club - just before he had dropped out actually - and Noah Puckerman had told Kurt to 'do something useful' and go spy on the competition. That year for Sectionals competition, New Directions was up against the Warblers.

Kurt had thought long and hard about it but in the end had decided against it. It wasn't fair on the other team if he spied, especially if he was returning intel to a group who hadn't exactly been that loyal to _him_ all the time. So Kurt hadn't gone to Dalton and, a few weeks later, had dropped out of Glee. He hadn't attended Sectionals, in fact hadn't had anything to do with the music scene for the rest of his high school years. So he hadn't seen Blaine perform with the Warblers but he had known that he was the lead soloist and, according to a reluctant Rachel, was very talented.

It was a bummer, yes, but it was life. And now Kurt was making up for lost time by finally getting to see Blaine perform…

_Teenage Dream?_

"_Before you met me, I was alright but things were kinda heavy,_

_You brought me to life,_

_Now every February, you'll be my Valentine,_

_Valentine."_

Kurt couldn't help but smile because it was such a strange song for Blaine to sing but he was absolutely _rocking _it and how his coming out had been a _shock _to anybody, Kurt had no idea. Not many straight guys had this much fun singing Katy Perry.

Blaine was staring around the audience, his face almost contemplative as he sang. He really was so handsome, Kurt mused, watching how relaxed he was up on the stage, how free he seemed to be in his own skin to just _be_. _Probably __never __got __bullied__ in __high __school._

And then Blaine's eyes drifted straight over him before snapping back, locking their gaze.

Intensity coursed through him and Kurt gasped quietly, unable to tear his eyes away. He was vaguely aware that Blaine should have started singing the next line instead of simply strumming but yeah, there were more important things going on right now than a silly performance, things like the fact that Kurt Hummel might just be in love.

Blaine suddenly snapped back to attention and continued to sing, flicking his eyes away from Kurt back to the crowd. Kurt couldn't resist a sigh until he realized that Blaine was still glancing his way every few seconds, a smile growing on his face and Kurt realized.

Blaine was singing to _him._

"_Let's go all the way tonight,_

_No regrets, just love,_

_We can dance until we die,_

_You and I will be young forever!"_

The girls began to scream and started jumping up and down, partially blocking Kurt's view of Blaine. With a huff he stood, leaning back against the chair and holding his bag protectively to his body to make sure nobody stole it or any of his belongings. But all of this was done absently as his sole focus was still on Blaine - Blaine who was still smiling at him and flirting _outrageously _through song and Kurt just loved it.

"_You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream,_

_The way you turn me on I can't sleep,_

_Let's run away and don't ever look back,_

_Don't ever look back,"_

Blaine stood as well and now Kurt could really see him, _all_ of him if he chose to. Instead he simply focused on Blaine's eyes, the eyes he may have admittedly stared at a little on the close up of the album cover but looked so much better in person - warm, inviting, _caring. _Blaine was smiling but it was different than what the critics had dubbed his 'excitable puppy' look that he usually wore when performing. This was soft, almost secretive.

And Kurt knew it was for him.

"_I'mm'a get your heart racing in my skintight jeans,_

_Be your teenage dream tonight,_

_Let you put your hands on me in my skintight jeans,_

_Be your teenage dream tonight."_

Kurt could only imagine what this would be like if someone had sung it to him as an actual teenager - probably falling over himself to clap and be a complete fool and probably consider himself in love from that very second. Instead, Kurt swayed along lightly to the music with a small smile in place. And if that smile were reserved for Blaine, well so be it.

It was only a short version of the song anyway but it felt like Kurt could have blinked and missed it. Too soon - far too soon - Blaine was thanking them all for listening and began to talk about his purpose in coming and the moment was broken. Kurt sat back down to listen and was pleasantly surprised to find that Blaine was here for the exact same reason that Kurt was - to try and make a difference in the arts program. Apparently all of his merchandise profit from today and the time he spent in Lima would be going towards the arts program and, judging by the fan base, Kurt was fairly sure the funding problem would be solved fairly soon.

There were a few more songs but Kurt - despite his love for Blaine's voice - could barely focus. All he could think of was those _eyes,_that piercing look when Blaine had sung that song, and how much Kurt needed to talk to this Blaine Anderson. Which is why it was a surprise when Blaine finished up his final song and called an end to the night. "Well," Blaine said again into the microphone, "it's been a pleasure performing for you all tonight. Thank you very much."

Blaine disappeared out the side door and Kurt saw his chance. Pushing past others who had gotten the same idea, Kurt quickly darted out to the side to see Blaine heading for a black SUV with tinted windows - not exactly the most subtle car to hide a celebrity in in _Lima_. And before Kurt could make his way closer, the crowd of fangirls swarmed in, pushing past him roughly to try and get to Blaine and, judging by the way they were screaming, possibly try to devour him. Security was on them in a heartbeat and Kurt had one final glimpse of Blaine disappearing into the car before he was pushed away with the rest of the crowd.

Sighing, Kurt turned back into the bar for another drink. He had no doubt that Blaine would be straight out of Lima and back to New York as soon as possible - nobody would stay here for longer than necessary and Blaine had done his bit after all. Kurt had shared a moment with another guy for what felt like the first time ever and now it was gone.

_That__'__s __life, _he reminded himself as he ordered another drink and pulled out his sketchbook to begin preparing designs. _And__ soon __enough__ you__'__ll __be__ gone __too,__ back __to __where __you __belong._

* * *

Blaine rested his forehead against the window with a sigh, watching Lima pass by. It was only a ten minute drive to the hotel but Blaine was grateful for the time he got to spend alone, time to let his thoughts roam free. The performance deserved reflection, just as all of his others got, but right now Blaine's mind was definitely elsewhere.

_Kurt Hummel._

Blaine knew who he was, of course - anybody who wore clothing knew who Kurt Hummel was, even here in Lima. He was occasionally referred to as the 'newest Alexander McQueen' and considering how often Kurt had been seen pairing his creations with McQueen or McQueen inspired collections, Blaine figured it was probably the highest compliment the man could ask for. And Blaine admired him, admired his creativity and the clothing he produced even if half of it just simply didn't suit Blaine at all.

And to see Kurt here in _Lima_… well, it didn't make sense. There had been rumors that Kurt wasn't designing at the moment, even with the latest collections due to be released, that he had left his team in charge while he had disappeared for some reason. So now Blaine knew those rumors were true, but what reason did Kurt have to be in Lima?

Blaine needed to find out, but he didn't know how. Kurt wasn't staying at the same hotel as him and considering it was the only one in Lima, that left Blaine at an absolute loss on where to go from there. Perhaps Kurt had friends or family in the area but considering Blaine couldn't leave the hotel without being mobbed most days, he wasn't exactly able to go poking around and door knocking to try and find him. He had another six days in Lima, two performances left to do - and he probably needed to start advertising for the one on his last day considering the tickets needed to be sold to make any profit, Blaine realized, and jotted down a note for his assistant to find in the morning.

But his mind wouldn't get off the beautiful young man - and Kurt was definitely more gorgeous in person than he was on any of the shows Blaine happened to catch on television - and why he was here.

As the hotel drew into sight, Blaine sighed again. He probably wasn't going to find out and, as soon as he was done in Lima, his contract was taking him to Los Angeles for two months, thereby losing any chance of making contact with Kurt. By the time he was back in New York, Kurt would be preparing for Fashion Week with no time to spare for the man he had seen playing one small performance in a bar.

And Kurt probably had much bigger things to think about than Blaine anyway.

* * *

He hadn't been trying to pry, but Kurt would take any knowledge he could get. Once upon a time he would have been dubious about his intel coming from Finn and Puck, but Kurt had learnt that they were more often than not right. Puck being the manager of Breadstix meant he heard all the gossip that came through and since they actually got along well now, Kurt took full advantage of getting a sizeable discount at the restaurant whenever he came to town.

It was only the previous night that Blaine had been at the bar performing and the two was still buzzing about it, as Puck informed him when he ended up joining Kurt for dinner that night. "The girls are going _crazy_, even though they know full well he doesn't play for their team," Puck said, snapping a breadstick in half. "And his other performances are already near sold out -"

"Other performances?"

Puck nodded, raising an eyebrow. "You didn't know? He's here for this whole week and he's performing at the mall on Monday and then a proper concert type thing on Friday right before he leaves. Driving for some weird reason."

An idea began to form in the back of Kurt's head of the variety that he would usually quash, but this was just a little too appealing. "So, you know everything around here. Know where he's staying?"

"Why, want to go jump him?" Kurt smacked Puck's arm and he raised his hands in defense. "Sorry, dude, couldn't resist. Yeah, I know but it's not common knowledge so don't spread it around. I mean, I don't get how people could _miss_ where he's staying but hey, we're not the smartest town." Kurt waved a hand, waiting. "Right, right. He's at the Lima Hotel. At least that's what I can tell from the delivery I made the other day where there was a rather fancy looking car in the basement car park."

Kurt nodded slowly. "So, about this car…"

* * *

Admittedly, Kurt should probably feel bad for it but Blaine was _rich_. He could afford another set of tyres and Puck had owed him a favour since their high school days when Kurt had come across Puck in a rather compromising position that would have easily gotten him expelled and Kurt had kept his mouth shut. And if anybody was going to get the job done, it would be Puck.

So when Burt got the call the next morning about a car with slashed tyres that needed to be towed in, the shop was left in Kurt's more than capable hands while his father disappeared to pick up the car. Kurt, alternating between a smug grin and nervous smile, continued to run operations and direct the others on what to do until the arrival of the vehicle - and okay, Blaine had a penchant for vintage cars, _very _nice. "Where's the owner?" he asked.

"Coming by in about half an hour," Burt explained. "Going to help me with this one?"

Kurt shrugged and threw on a pair of overalls. Between them, the tyres were changed in record time, giving Kurt just enough time to dart into the spare room and get changed. As he was wiping the grease off his hands, he heard it - "Holy crap, is that that Blaine Anderson kid?"

"My daughter is crazy about him. Do you think he'd sign her an autograph?"

Kurt took a deep breath and left the room, trying not to roll his eyes at the other men who - and they would _never _admit it - were almost acting as bad as the fangirls down at the bar. Thankfully they kept their distance as Kurt crossed the workshop to where Blaine was standing with his father and _oh, __okay, __that__'__s __one__ of __my __scarves. _And that in itself was a _much_ bigger deal than Kurt thought it would be.

"… don't know how it happened," Blaine could be heard saying as Kurt drew closer. "I just came down from the hotel room and there it was."

Burt tutted. "The kids are getting so wild these days. I thought it was bad when Kurt was in school here but now -"

"Kurt?"

Kurt paused, smirking, and waited. Blaine glanced up at the sign - HUMMEL'S TYRES AND LUBE - and then seemed to draw the conclusion, as far as Kurt could tell from watching the back of his head. "Oh. I see. And your son, would he happen to be here today?"

"Well, he's right behind you actually."

Leaning against the counter, Kurt raised an eyebrow as Blaine turned to look at him. "Blaine Anderson," he said, tilting his head to the side a little as he took in the man.

"Kurt Hummel," Blaine said quietly and Kurt could almost feel the heat of his stare.

Burt, thankfully not oblivious but never one to be subtle, cleared his throat rather loudly. "I'll just - ah, I'll be over here. Doing something. Blaine, let me know when you're ready to talk payment."

"Thank you," Blaine said without looking away. Kurt felt like he should be embarrassed by the intensity of the look in Blaine's eyes but he knew the same was in his own. "So, funny coincidence this," he continued when Burt's footsteps had faded away. "My car suddenly gets its tyres slashed and ends up in what I presume is your father's garage. Could I then go on to presume you have something to do with this?"

"Blaine Anderson, I'm shocked," Kurt managed to say with a straight face. "I grew up with cars, do you really think I could lower myself to destroying one?" When Blaine's brow furrowed in confusion, Kurt allowed his smirk to appear. "But I do have friends in strange places who owe me," he completed.

Blaine nodded as if that made sense - and Kurt knew full well that it _didn__'__t_, didn't answer the question of why Blaine was here, but somehow that didn't need to be answered. They simply watched each other for a few more seconds, waiting for something that neither of them knew how to find. Not yet, anyway.

"So," Blaine said, scuffing his foot at a coagulated puddle of oil. "I'm here. Now what?"

And Kurt really had no idea. He hadn't thought this far ahead, all he had known was that… "I just needed to see you again," he admitted, words spilling out as if he had no filter. "I mean, obviously you're famous as hell and I'm a fan but… more than that. I wanted to meet _Blaine_."

Blaine stared at him for a good few seconds before smiling, sudden and stunning. "Thank god, if you were just going to end up being another fan wanting to jump me, I had spent all morning trying to work out how to gently let you down." Kurt had to laugh at that and Blaine continued to smile. "But I get what you're saying. I wanted to meet _Kurt_ too."

"But that's different," Kurt tried to protest, hearing the emphasis in Blaine's words. "I'm not -"

"Famous?" Blaine flicked his scarf over his shoulder meaningfully. "Just because Lima aren't jumping over themselves to get your autograph doesn't mean you're not well known and loved, Kurt. I know full well that you're the prime candidate to turn heads in Fashion Week and you're booked solid for interviews pretty much the second you get back to New York."

Kurt coughed, trying to hide a smile. "Stalker much?"

"I read your bio," Blaine explained. "Your collections amaze me."

He hadn't blushed since _high__ school_ so what on earth was going on? "Thank you," Kurt managed. "Naturally, your voice is outstanding, I would kill for your talent."

"Not me, I hope?"

Blaine's voice was teasing and Kurt smirked back. "Never you," he replied and _oh_, maybe they were flirting a little. Or a lot, and Kurt kind of didn't want to stop. "So, I hear you're performing tomorrow?"

"Just at the mall," Blaine confirmed. "So it's free - the real ticket seller will be Friday, this is just to get attention, let people know I'm in town."

Kurt snorted. "Honey, _everybody _knows you're in town. The girls in my class are going to flip tomorrow."

"Class?"

_Oh._ Kurt bit his lip, debating. "I'm helping out at one of the high schools," he finally admitted. "The arts cut hit them pretty hard so I thought I'd try and offer a bit of expertise. Obviously it's not much, not enough, but -"

"It's more than they would have been getting," Blaine completed. "That's incredible, Kurt. Which school?"

"William McKinley."

Blaine nodded. "I saw it. It looks run down, they could definitely use a hand."

Kurt bit back the natural reaction to say that it had been needing that for a long time because he wasn't quite ready to touch on _why_ exactly he was at that school. "So, this performance tomorrow sounds amazing. I'll do my best to be there… it's a little difficult to get around without my car but I'm sure I can get a loan of one here."

"Why don't I pick you up?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Blaine who was shrugging like it was the most normal request in the world. "Are you sure?"

"Well, I know where to find you now."

"I don't _live _at the garage." Kurt rolled his eyes and gestured for Blaine's phone. He quickly typed his address into Maps and pulled up the route Blaine needed - not that Lima was difficult to navigate but the last thing Blaine needed was to get lost on his way to his own performance. "Thank you."

"I'll be there at four," Blaine said, his voice suddenly softer as he pocketed his phone. "Now I'd better pay for this damage you created and head back before my production team sends out a search party for the fangirls who mobbed me."

As Blaine turned away, Kurt placed a hand on his arm to stop him. "Wait a second," he said before slipping into the back room and grabbing his jacket - of his own collection of course. Blaine was a bit shorter than him but they were the same build as Kurt found when he slid the jacket over Blaine's shoulders, smoothing down the lapel. "Retail, that would cost as much as your tyres, or at least it will when it's released next month. I think we're even."

"Kurt -" Blaine began, looking shocked.

"It suits you," Kurt said simply. "I'll see you at four tomorrow."

Walking away from Blaine was strangely difficult, probably more so than it should have been, but the smile on Kurt's face was worth it.

Something was coming.

* * *

It wasn't common for Blaine to get nervous before his performances anymore, so the bundle of emotions gathering in his stomach was almost definitely more due to the fact that he was standing outside the home of Burt Hummel, preparing to walk inside and pick his son up for the night.

Funny how much Blaine felt like a teenager showing up for his first date.

Drawing up all of his courage, Blaine walked up the front walk towards the front door. Hand positioned to knock, he paused and instead plucked a piece of paper off the front door.

_Blaine,_

_Had to run out for an emergency. Kurt's inside but he's too caught up in his clothes to hear you knock so let yourself in._

_Take care of my son._

_Burt._

Well, that made things easier. Smiling - because Kurt really was a lot like him when it came to passions - Blaine quietly opened the front door and let himself in. The hall light was on and he took a moment to look around before pausing, listening.

The sound of music was drifting down the staircase and before Blaine could think about it, he was following it. Figuring Kurt was the one playing it, Blaine had his foot on the bottom step before stopping. _If__ he__'__s __changing __up __there, __it__'__s __probably __quite __rude__ to__ just __walk __in._

Before Blaine could do anything, the words began to play and he literally had to grab onto the banister to hold himself up.

_That's not the original._

_That's Kurt._

He knew it couldn't be a recording - the words were too clear, cut above the instrumental which was probably a tape. And Blaine had had a hunch since the first time he had heard Kurt speak that there was a singing voice in there somewhere. But he hadn't dared to hope for _this_.

"_Blackbird singing in the dead of night,_

_Take these broken wings and learn to fly, _

_All your life,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

Kurt's voice was high, strong and so beautiful that Blaine almost wanted to cry._A_ _countertenor_, he marveled, glad he wasn't actually in front of Kurt as he knew the expression on his face was something akin to lovestruck but who _couldn__'__t _love that voice?

And, come to think of it, who couldn't love Kurt?

Blaine was beginning to struggle with that one.

"_Blackbird fly,_

_Blackbird fly,_

_Into the light of the dark black night."_

It was just _phenomenal_ to listen to and Blaine wished he could see it, see the way Kurt was when he sang. Any time he had seen Kurt in one of his interviews, there had been a guard up, just like the guard Blaine often had to wear in his own. But performing was where Blaine could be free to be himself and he suddenly realized that Kurt was the same - not just with his fashion but with singing.

_He__'__s __performed __before, _Blaine realized with a sudden certainty. _Singing __is __- __or __was __- __something __he __loves._

Pieces were starting to come together in Blaine's mind.

"_You were only waiting for this moment to arise,_

_You were only waiting for this moment to arise."_

Slowly, Blaine tiptoed back to the front door and opened it again, knocking lightly. "Kurt?"

There was a muffled thud from upstairs and then Kurt's voice came down, growing louder. "Hey, Blaine! Just give me a second -"

"Take your time," Blaine called back. "We can't really miss the show, after all."

Kurt laughed and Blaine heard a closet door closing. "True. Sorry, I was doing some designing and lost track of time - I saw the most fabulous colours coming home and had an idea for a gorgeous new vest for the latest line." The sound of footsteps echoed down the stairs and then Kurt appeared, shrugging on a jacket. "I should have been more organized but - _oh_."

Blaine frowned. "What?"

"You're wearing it."

His voice was hushed, almost awed and Blaine glanced down at his own jacket with a smile. "It's the most gorgeous thing I've ever worn. I barely managed to take it off last night but I figured sleeping in it might not be good for it."

"No," Kurt agreed quietly. "I'm glad you like it and - oh, this is probably selfish." He ducked his head a little and laughed.

"What?"

"I was just thinking about what good publicity this is going to be," Kurt admitted. "Hundreds of people are going to see you in this jacket and when it hits the racks, it's going to sell out straight away. Obviously I'm not asking you to publicize -"

Blaine interrupted him, gears turning in his mind. "I've got the jacket and the scarf but… I know I'm shorter than you but I imagine you're prepared for anything. You should dress me completely."

Kurt's eyes lit up. "Really?" Blaine nodded and he clapped his hands together, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "Okay, I have the _perfect_ outfit in mind! Come with me."

Kurt grabbed his hand and all but dragged him up the stairs and into a room filled with fabrics and clothing. A couple of mannequins were in the corner with beginnings of outfits hanging off them and Blaine spun in a slow circle, taking it all in. "I'm guessing you spend a lot of time here then?"

"I come back three times a year," Kurt explained, rifling through the closet with his back to Blaine. "Family gatherings and all that. I've been designing since high school and when I create something good, I'll take it back with me, and my dad's pretty good with sending over stuff I need for various collections. This is more storage than anything - thank god Finn moved out otherwise I'd have nowhere to sleep." Blaine was just watching, trying to take in the whirlwind that was an excited Kurt Hummel. Sitting on the edge of the bed and avoiding the piles of fabric, he propped his chin up on his hand and simply stared as Kurt pulled out clothing, holding them up together with a critical eye before shaking his head. "Pass over the jacket?"

Blaine slipped the jacket off his shoulders and handed it to Kurt who nodded, pulling out a green v-neck. "You'll need a different scarf but I can arrange that. Here." He handed over the clothes and added a pair of jeans to the pile. "Try these on and call me when you're done."

Kurt closed the door behind him and Blaine changed quickly before stepping over to the full-length mirror. A second later he did a double take and positively _stared_.

It wasn't that Blaine had ever considered himself good looking - yes, he could accept that others saw him that way but he wasn't particularly vain like he knew some of the other performers were. But dressed like this, in clothes that were practically made _for_ him, clothes that were picked out by a fashion designer to clearly show the best of himself… Blaine just had to smile.

"Blaine?"

"I'm done."

Kurt poked his head around the door before stepping in, eyebrow raised. "Criticisms?" Blaine shook his head and Kurt grinned. "I'm not surprised. You look wonderful. Oh, hold on." A scarf came out of the closet, Blaine barely catching sight of it before Kurt was stepping forward and wrapping it around his neck and what was air? Blaine had forgotten. "Perfect."

Blaine nodded, taking a step closer and Kurt's eyes widened slightly. "Thank you," he said softly. "It's amazing and I'll be sure to let everybody know who designed these clothes. Just one question - these fit me like they were designed for me… how?"

Kurt laughed and his cheeks reddened slightly. "I design for many body types," he explained. "Usually based around those in the public eye - I'm always looking for people to wear my outfits and I figure if I have something already made for them, it's easier. So this… well it _was_ designed for you."

Blaine suddenly felt too warm but resisted the urge to tug at the scarf lest Kurt get the impression that he didn't like the outfit. "I - I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Kurt said, taking his hand again. "You like it and that's what matters."

It was official - Blaine had to give the best damn performance of his _life_.

* * *

It was official - Blaine had just given the best damn performance of his _life_.

Kurt was still in a state of shock by the time his friend had finished his set, unable to even clap along with the others because Blaine had been on _fire_. It was the simple most amazing thing Kurt had ever watched and Kurt knew the rest of the crowd was in agreement.

And then, instead of thanking the crowd as normal at the end of his final song _-_and Kurt had never really been a Paul McCartney fan but _Silly__ Love __Songs _was definitely joining his most played list on iTunes _immediately_ - Blaine stayed centre stage. "I'd just like to let you all know of someone very special who helped me out today. You all might have noticed I'm dressed a little snazzier than usual - I can assure you it wasn't my doing." Kurt's breath caught in his throat because there was no _way _Blaine was doing what he thought he was doing. "I'm sure you've all heard of Kurt Hummel, the designer? He's actually in town at the moment and he custom made this outfit for me and I have to say it's the best thing I've ever worn."

"I _knew _it was him!" came a whisper from behind him and Kurt turned to see a few teenage girls staring at him in shock. He offered them a raised eyebrow and a smile before turning back to Blaine.

"He's not paying me to say this, promise!" Blaine held up his hands, the picture of innocence and the crowd laughed. "Seriously though, of course I do autographs at the end of every performance but I might be able to wrangle him into signing a few… if you guys help persuade me."

Kurt rolled his eyes, already knowing this wasn't going to happen, that nobody was as interested in meeting him as they were Blaine because Blaine was Blaine and Kurt was just…

The crowd went crazy and Kurt jerked his head up in surprise, meeting Blaine's eyes. Blaine smiled softly and beckoned him up to the stage and Kurt went, no questions asked, simply because Blaine had told him to. Blaine met him at the bottom of the stage, handing over a pen. "You deserve as much love as I do."

* * *

An hour later, Kurt's hand was cramped, he had answered the same questions over and over again and the smile couldn't be wiped from his face.

Blaine grinned at him after signing his last picture. "Happy?"

"Very," Kurt admitted. "You're keeping the outfit for that."

A raised eyebrow and Kurt could see the stubbornness in his eyes already. "I couldn't -"

"It wouldn't fit me."

Blaine laughed, the desired effect. "Fine. I'll wear it to every performance then -"

"God no!" Kurt shook his head, scandalized. "You want to wear my outfits, you wear _different _ones!"

"Well, maybe we'll have to make an agreement then."

Kurt's heart really shouldn't have leaped as much as it had then, but there it was.

"Maybe we should."

* * *

Kurt didn't take attendance in his classes. After all, they were open to anybody and different people showed up every week and yes, it was common for people to wander in mid-lecture and take a seat. They were arts students after all; most of them ran on their own time and Kurt couldn't change that. All he did was teach and hope that these students could take away something that would tide them over until their arts programs came back - and hopefully that would be soon because, yes, the artists and drawers were satisfied but Kurt knew that the other arts students such as the dancers and photographers who occasionally showed up were starting to get frustrated that there weren't programs for them. And as hard as Kurt tried, he couldn't please everybody.

So when Kurt looked up from the latest design program he was demonstrating to see Blaine slipping into the back of the classroom, he was proud of himself for barely faltering. It was when seven or so other people followed him in that Kurt had to pause because they were all headed straight for the front of the classroom. "It seems we have some visitors today," he managed before the class erupted.

"Is that?"

"It _is_!"

Kurt swore two of the girls had fainted by the time Blaine made it to the front of the room. "Hi everybody," he said, giving a wave and causing another to swoon. "I'm sorry for the interruption but I heard what Kurt was doing for you guys here and I thought it was an amazing idea, but I know he's struggling a bit too. So I thought I'd give him a hand and help you all out."

Blaine turned to the people beside him and began to introduce them one by one. As soon as Kurt took in the titles of the first two, his jaw dropped as he realized what Blaine had done. _Dancer, __photographer, __painter, __model, __actor, __writer__… _Blaine had brought along everybody he could pull, covering as many of the bases as he could. "So text your friends!" Blaine said, turning back to the others. "I talked to your principal and instead of having to go to the rest of your classes, we're all moving to the auditorium and this is going to be a full day workshop - presuming Kurt is okay with me invading?"

All eyes were on Kurt who rolled his own. "Seriously?" he asked, crossing his arms and turning to Blaine. "Although a little _warning_ would be nice next time, this is phenomenal." He grinned at his class who had begun to cheer. "Get to the auditorium and spread the word!"

The room was a flurry of movement as students made their way out, phones emerging from pockets. Kurt turned back to his desk and began to pull his papers together, shaking his head. "Only Blaine Anderson," he muttered.

"Only me."

Kurt jumped, turning to see Blaine leaning against his desk with a smirk. "I can't believe you did this," he said quietly. "You just - you're going to change their lives."

"Just adding to what you've already done," Blaine said, his voice just as soft. "I can't imagine how difficult it's been single-handedly running the arts program for this school… especially since I now know you were a student here."

Kurt closed his eyes. "You found out."

There was a sound as if Blaine had taken a step forward. "You were in the Glee club until just before Sectionals of your Junior year… you would have been our competition. But you dropped out, dropped off the radar completely. You weren't in any club photos in the yearbook, only your class photo and academia credits -"

"Stalker," Kurt whispered without any heat to the words.

"I'll take that," Blaine agreed. "It wasn't hard, all the yearbooks are online now. Could you answer me one question?"

"I'm doing this because I know what it was like to be a student at a school where nobody could afford to give you what you deserve," Kurt began, his voice almost a monotone. "My schooling sucked but I know our choir teacher tried his best - the fact that he's still here means a lot, even if he can only teach Spanish at the moment. We all struggled. But I made a name for myself and I came from here and there could be kids here who just need that push to get out there and make their own names, find themselves outside these walls, outside this town. Kids who need to know that loving the arts is okay, more than okay. That's why I'm here, that's what you've been wanting to know since you saw me in that bar."

Blaine crossed the distance between them in one quick movement and kissed him. Kurt let out a muffled squeak of surprise but was kissing back immediately, hands tangling in Blaine's hair to stop him from pulling away because _this_ was what had been between them since that moment they had laid eyes on one another, this was what they had both been waiting for, trying to put into words before realizing they couldn't.

There were still no words when they broke apart, but that was okay. Words were reserved for later when Kurt knew they would have to talk about the more serious things and then begin the process of invading one another's lives but _later_. For now, Kurt was pressing Blaine back into his desk, arms wrapping around each other and if they had only known each other for three days, who cared?

Who could care when it felt this amazing to be together?

* * *

Neither of them had gone to the workshop and if anybody had noticed their absence, they hadn't sent a search party, so Kurt figured it was okay. And while they weren't spending much of their time talking, they certainly hadn't rushed off to an abandoned classroom to have sex so he really couldn't feel that guilty.

They had ended up at the Lima Bean, casting shy glances over coffee cup rims, occasionally starting conversations only to stop with a smile and a reminder that there was no need to talk. Not yet.

Kurt felt like he was seventeen again and he was loving every second of it. _This _was what he had craved so much in high school but known he would never get, not while he was the only one out of the closet, especially not here in Lima…

_Oh._

He snorted and Blaine glanced up instantly. "What?"

"Just -" Kurt waved a hand, trying to find the words. "We're in _Ohio_."

Blaine got it and laughed too. "I never thought I'd find anybody here either. I mean, that's why we went to New York." Kurt had never told Blaine that and had to smile into his coffee because how could someone invade his mind so entirely in _three __days _and he didn't even _mind_?

"But we did."

Blaine's smile softened. "We did."

Another long silence and Kurt found himself staring at Blaine's hand resting on the table top, glancing around to check whether anybody would notice if he just slipped his own fingers into the spaces between Blaine's. Nobody was really there at that time of day and they were in a corner of their own, almost invisible to the general public - and _that_ in itself was saying something considering he was sitting with _Blaine __Anderson _and nobody had mobbed them or asked for an autograph. Kurt figured they were pretty much safe.

Just as he was about to speak, Blaine beat him to it, finally saying what Kurt knew had been on his mind most of the morning. "The Warblers are coming out to help me with my performance on Friday," Blaine said. Kurt hummed in response. "I have a few great numbers planned but there's one I need some help with… basically I want to turn it into a duet, but I don't have a partner as of yet."

Kurt frowned. "Your Warblers can all sing, can't they? I'm sure one of them would help."

"I need a countertenor."

And there it was. Kurt sucked in a shocked breath, staring wide-eyed at Blaine. "You want _me_ to sing with you?"

"I know it's been a long time," Blaine said quietly. "And I know you think you've lost your talent but I know you haven't. I - it would be amazing, a dream come true, if you would sing with me, Kurt." Kurt shook his head but Blaine wasn't finished. "When I came to pick you up the other day before my concert, I actually got there early. I - I heard you singing _Blackbird._"

Kurt closed his eyes for a second. "Oh."

Blaine's fingers laced in his suddenly, startling him. "Kurt," Blaine said, his voice almost on the edge of desperation. "You _moved_ me."

Kurt's eyes flew open to meet Blaine's - inviting, pleading and _honest_. "You really -?"

"Yes."

And now it was Kurt's turn to kiss him, public setting be damned. "What's the song?" he asked, finally pulling away because, yes, kissing Blaine was _amazing_ but he needed to agree to this now before he could let himself back out, let himself forgot Blaine's praise and how genuine it was and that he _could _sing.

It took Blaine a second to open his eyes but the happiness shining in them was impossible to mistake. "_Candles_, by Hey Monday."

Kurt grinned. "I'm impressed. You're usually so Top 40."

* * *

It was one thing to talk about it but quite another to be standing in the wings, microphone in hand, listening to the crowd going wild for Blaine on stage and trying so hard not to pass out or run away screaming.

It wasn't that Kurt didn't know the song or anything since they had practiced so much the past two days that Kurt figured he could sing it in his sleep (a helpful factor if he really did pass out anyway). Of course that wasn't all they had done over the past two days - neither of them had vocalized what _they _were but the amount of kissing they had been doing made Kurt well aware that they were definitely not 'just friends'. And a label really didn't matter, not now.

Especially not now because the crowd - and _what _a crowd too for Ohio, there literally had to be thousands of people out there and this meant that the arts programs were pretty much sorted for _life_ - had risen to a crescendo and Blaine was walking _right __towards __him_, holding out a hand. "Ready?"

"Has anybody ever literally died on stage?"

Blaine stopped, taking him in properly and Kurt was torn between turning away from embarrassment or kissing the sweat off Blaine's face. "Are you _nervous_?"

Kurt nodded, wringing his hands together. "I - this is the first time I've ever had a solo… ever." He sighed. "Go on, judge me."

Warm hands covered his, gently pulling them apart. "I think it's adorable," Blaine murmured. "I think _you__'__re _adorable. And -"

Whatever else Blaine was going to say was lost in Kurt's lips as they enveloped his, kissing Blaine like he was his oxygen. Although maybe it was better to say he was his _courage_.

"Let's do this."

Blaine took his hand and led him out onto the stage.

One minute he was hand in hand with Blaine, absolutely _refusing_ to look at the audience as the Warblers began to harmonize; the next he was staring into Blaine's eyes as the applause rose around them and it was _over_ and he had done it and it had been beautiful.

Kurt's clothing had always been his outlet. He knew he was one of the top designers at the moment and his fashion sense always left people guessing, wondering what would come out next. He was creative, inspirational and talented. But _this_… this had just shown Kurt that his talent wasn't limited to the one area he had let himself release it, that the past didn't have to scar him forever and that he could still choose to love the things he wanted.

Blaine was pushing him into the center of the stage then to take his bows and Kurt grinned into the audience, unable to remember feeling this _alive_ in his life.

* * *

It was all over.

Kurt sat on the edge of the stage, staring down into the empty seats where thousands of people had sat earlier. His head was still reeling from the aftershock of the noise, the people screaming for Blaine and for _him_. Something his teenage self had dreamt of and his adult self had pushed aside as a dream that would never come true.

Blaine had given him this, and Kurt was in love with him.

Footsteps, and Kurt didn't need to turn around to identify the owner. "It was amazing," Blaine said softly, resting his hands on Kurt's shoulders.

"It was."

Blaine sat down next to him and Kurt took his hand without thinking about it, staring across the mall for a few seconds longer before turning to Blaine. And they both knew they needed to talk about it - the topic that Kurt knew they had both dreaded since the moment they realized that this wasn't going to work. Blaine was due to fly to Los Angeles in three days, driving home tomorrow. Kurt was flying back to New York in a week to prepare for Fashion Week then probably making a trip to Milan and it couldn't work. Not like this.

But it didn't have to be like this.

"You know," Kurt said slowly, meaningfully, "Los Angeles is lovely this time of year. The fashion is amazing too and I could use some inspiration for Fashion Week, something a little less New York inspired to make me stand out amongst the crowd."

"I was thinking of cutting Los Angeles short," Blaine said just as meaningfully, his grip tightening in Kurt's. "Maybe just one month, and then a bit of time in New York to work on my latest album. And then a holiday, because I deserve one. I've never visited Milan and it sounds amazing."

Kurt ducked his head a little but only for a second - he couldn't bear to draw himself from Blaine's eyes for any longer than necessary. "We're going to make this work, aren't we?"

"Kurt, I don't think I could handle it if we didn't." Blaine's gaze was intense, _beautiful_. "I didn't want to say it, I didn't want to scare you off or make this too much if you didn't -" he broke off, shaking his head. "I think I love you."

It should have been a surprise, Kurt realized. He shouldn't have known - not presumed either, _known_- and it shouldn't be happening, not this soon. But it was too right to ignore. And they were going to make this work because Kurt had never wanted anything more than he wanted Blaine Anderson to be his, forever.

"I love you too."

And when their lips met again, it was like the very first time.

* * *

**Has anybody ever challenged me to write from _Teenage __Dream _to 'I love you' in one story before? No? Well … *points upwards***

**;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"So... How WAS your first kiss?"**_

_**"Well... We were sitting on the council table, planning what to do with The Gavel (yes, it's even capitalized), when we just looked at each other and it clicked. I ended up winding an arm around Blaine's neck and hitting him on the head with The Gavel by accident..."**_

_**"Then I fell off the table, knocking it over- which revealed a box labeled 'Wesley's- do not touch.' So of course we opened it, and found a box of Twilight merchandise. Including Team Jacob and Team Edward shirts."**_

_**"There was the most adorable little stuffed wolf, too..."**_


	210. Ruined

**First, I've been asked to write a fluffy follow-up to 3x05 and I'm already one step ahead of you - 550 Tumblr followers fic was exactly this with a little bit of crack at the end that I couldn't resist. Link is on my profile as per usual. Someday I might actually write a proper one (as in, without the crack) but don't hold me to that.**

**Second, the feedback on yesterday's chapter was astounding but there's one thing that confused me a little. So many people said they wanted some kind of sequel or for it to be its own chapter story and I can't for the life of me work out how I would do that. I mean, yeah, I could continue it with them going on with their respective careers and being together but... I don't know. That would actually be kind of boring for me to write after all the initial excitement of it all. So I don't see this as one I plan to sequel or chapter story.**

**From **_**AprilShowers87: Kurt and Blaine go on their first date and it goes completely wrong.**_

**Another one I hinted at on Tumblr. **

* * *

Ruined

So, here they were.

The moment Kurt had dreamed about for so long but had never really held out hope for coming true _was_ true. Blaine had just admitted his feelings, a breathless Kurt had confirmed that he still felt the same and they were _together. _Like, _boyfriends._

Now what?

Blaine laughed suddenly, breaking the silence. "Okay, are we going to sit here and stare at each other or are we, I don't know, going to go on a date or something?"

A date. _Right._

"Yeah, that sounds good. Uh…" Kurt trailed off, trying to find the best way to put it. "Who takes who?"

Blaine frowned, clearly not having thought of that. "Oh. Yeah, um, I don't know. I mean, do you want me to or do you want to or should, I don't know, should we alternate? I have _no _idea."

Kurt stifled a chuckle at how adorable Blaine was when he got flustered. "Neither do I. But I thought you would have had a plan. I mean, you have a plan for everything."

Blaine's blush wasn't going away and Kurt wasn't falling any less in love with it. "I kind of did, I just didn't want to assume, you know?"

And now Kurt really did have to laugh. Thankfully Blaine could see the humor in the situation and laughed as well. "Okay," Kurt finally said. "You take me out and then I'll take you out the next time, alright?" Blaine nodded gratefully and Kurt smiled. "Alright. When are we going on this date then?"

"Tomorrow? I'll pick you up at seven?"

Kurt smiled again, pulling his books together. "Tomorrow it is."

* * *

It should have been a sign, really. If _organizing _the date itself was complicated, how should Kurt have expected that the night itself would go any better? But he had still held out high hopes because, after all, this was his _first __date __ever. _Of course it was going to be perfect, right?

Blaine was late.

"He's never late," Kurt explained to his father who was watching him, clearly trying not to be amused. "The boy carries a _pocket __watch _for goodness sakes, what's going on? And he's not answering his phone and - oh god, Dad, he's decided he doesn't want to date me anymore and he's trying to figure out the best way to break up with me -"

"Kurt!"

Kurt stopped pacing and turned to Burt who was holding up his phone, Blaine's name flashing up on the screen. "I believe this is him?"

Kurt grabbed the phone and answered. "Blaine?"

"Kurt! I'm _so _sorry, I know I said I'd be there at seven but I can't fix it and none of the other guys can come and pick me up so I'm kind of stranded right now -"

"Woah, hey!" Kurt raised a hand even though Blaine couldn't see it. "Slow down. What do you mean, _stranded_?"

Blaine sighed. "My car broke down halfway to your place. I can't work out what's wrong but it just _won__'__t _start so - I mean, I could walk but I don't really want to leave the car here because it'll probably be destroyed by the time I get back -"

Kurt giggled, immediately shutting Blaine up. "Sorry," he said quickly, "but you do remember my dad owns a _garage_, right?"

There was a second of silence. "Oh," Blaine finally said, his voice small. "Yeah. I - ah, I didn't think of that."

"Where are you?" Blaine gave some directions which Kurt scribbled down, pushing over to his dad. "Okay, we'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Well, this is good," Burt said as he grabbed his keys and the two headed out to the truck. "Gives me a chance to meet this boyfriend of yours."

Kurt frowned, climbing in next to his dad. "You've already met Blaine though - oh, no! No way do you get to threaten him, Dad! He's already feeling awful enough for not being here on time, the last thing he needs is to hear that you don't think he's good enough for me or anything like that." Sighing he crossed his arms and slumped back against the seat. "Should've brought my own car," he muttered.

"Calm down, kid, I won't say anything," Burt said, smirking a little. "As long as you don't think that this means he gets to stay the night because his car is out of commission or anything. I accept you for who you are but the same rules apply for when Quinn's over and -"

"Oh my god, Dad!" Kurt exploded, throwing his hands in the air. "We've been dating for _one __day_. We haven't even _kissed _yet! So could you please cut the overprotective act for five minutes and just focus on getting us to Blaine?"

The silence would have been awkward if Burt didn't look far too pleased with himself the entire trip. But finally they came across Blaine's car with his frustrated looking boyfriend sitting in the drivers seat and Kurt was straight out of the truck. "Are you alright?" he demanded because yes, Blaine said he had just broken down but Kurt wouldn't put it past him to actually be injured and concealing the truth.

"Fine," Blaine said, sighing. "Just embarrassed beyond belief."

Kurt frowned. "Why would you be embarrassed?"

"Because my boyfriend's dad owns a garage and I can't even work out what's wrong with my car?"

And despite how disappointed in himself Blaine looked, Kurt had to laugh. "Any time I break down, I have to call Dad for help," he admitted when Blaine's expression turned wounded. "It doesn't matter, honestly. We'll just get the car back to the shop and then we can go on our date."

"But -"

"I have a car, Blaine," Kurt explained patiently. "If you still want to drive you are more than welcome to drive it." And then the thought hit him. "Unless, you know, you wanted to cancel," he added tentatively. "I mean, I'd understand if -"

"I'm not canceling," Blaine said immediately, too fast but clearly honest. "This sucks, yeah, but we have a date and you're my boyfriend and let's face it, I'm going to do other stupid and embarrassing stuff while we're dating. Unfortunately you'll have to get used to it."

And the tension evaporated. "Well with a proposition like that, what else could I say," Kurt teased, smiling sweetly at Blaine's eye roll. "Come on, let's wait in the truck."

By the time Burt joined them, all potential awkwardness had completely disappeared and Blaine was midway through the story of how Wes became Head Warbler. And while Kurt noticed a slight tense in Blaine's shoulders when his father hopped in the truck, his boyfriend didn't stop talking and Kurt's respect rose. The last thing Kurt wanted was a boyfriend who was too scared to be himself around Burt. Apparently Burt had noticed too because the raised eyebrow he shot Kurt over Blaine's head (and Kurt would smirk about that one later) was of grudging respect. Kurt raised his own eyebrow in return before turning his attention back to Blaine and bursting into laughter. "So there wasn't a gavel before Wes came?"

"No, he actually brought it from home," Blaine explained, his own laughter bubbling under the surface. "He had _very _grand illusions of how he wanted the Council run - that's not to say it wasn't strict before him but nobody felt like they were going to be knocked unconscious if they didn't listen to him."

"Just a question, what does he want to be when he grows up?"

Blaine smirked. "Funnily enough, a doctor."

Kurt closed his eyes, shaking his head. "Not a judge?"

"Nope."

They looked at each other and started laughing again. Kurt found himself slumping into Blaine's side a little and purposely stayed there, resting his head against Blaine's shoulder. He felt Blaine's head lean on his for a brief second as their hands twined together. "So," Burt suddenly said a little too loud. "Blaine, where are you taking my son tonight?"

Kurt sighed, lifting his head. "Dad, you can't ask him that. He's kept it a secret from me so far and as much as I want to know, you can't make him say it in front of me."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Hummel," Blaine said, a little quieter than usual but still determined. "Kurt's right, I can't say that."

There was a moment of tense silence and then Burt grunted. "Fair enough. I'm also going to give you the benefit of the doubt that there isn't a fake ID in that wallet of yours and if there is, you have the sense of mind to take a cab home. Obviously you'll never be able to take my son out anywhere again but my priority is to keep him safe."

Kurt began to bang his head against the dashboard until Blaine grabbed his shoulders, gently pulling him back. "I can assure you, sir, I have no desire to drink tonight and I would never even consider putting Kurt in any risk. I just want to spend a nice evening with my boyfriend, I'll have him home right on time and then I'll organize a way to get myself home."

Another grunt but Kurt could tell he was impressed. "Alright. I'll drop you at the house then go on to the shop. Blaine, I can't make any promises on how soon we'll get this fixed but I'll do a preliminary check tonight and let you know when you drop Kurt home."

"Thank you, sir," Blaine said politely and Kurt breathed a silent sigh of relief as their house came into sight. "I'll take good care of your son."

"See that you do," Burt said, pulling the truck to a stop. "Have fun."

"We will."

They escaped the truck quickly, watching as Burt drove away before turning to each other. "I'm sorry," Kurt said immediately. "I had hoped you wouldn't have to go through that, especially not on our first date."

"It's alright." Blaine took his hand, rubbing his thumb over Kurt's. "He cares about you and wants to make sure you're safe. That's a good thing and I'll deal with the potential animosity because it means he's looking after you. And I'll know if he doesn't start liking me that I'm not treating you right and I'll need to do something about that."

Kurt's heart skipped at _least _two beats at that. "Oh," he managed and Blaine smiled, clearly understanding the reaction. "Uh. Well, should we go?"

Blaine continued to smile at him, waiting. "Can I have your keys?" he asked finally. Kurt smacked himself on the head and Blaine grabbed his hand straight away. "Hey, none of that. It's alright."

There was another moment of silence and then Kurt chuckled. "I can't get my keys until you let go -"

"Oh!" Blaine released his hand, shaking his head and Kurt smirked at him. "We make a great pair tonight, don't we?"

"We do," Kurt said, his tone turning serious halfway through because yeah, they _did _make a good pair and Kurt knew it. Blaine's smile softened and he held out his hand for Kurt's keys, brushing their fingers together as Kurt dropped them into his hand. Kurt resisted a shiver, thankful for the distance between them as they sat in Kurt's car.

The car trip was short, surprising Kurt. He figured they would be headed back to Westerville but instead Blaine pulled into a small restaurant on the outskirts of Lima, turning to look at Kurt questioningly. "What do you think?"

"I think it looks great," Kurt said honestly and was rewarded with a relieved smile from his boyfriend. "Let's go find out."

Blaine had made reservations - and yeah, Kurt was feeling _ridiculously _posh right now - so they were seated straight away. In the few moments they had to wait, Blaine reached out for his hand and lifted it to his lips, brushing them against Kurt's knuckles in a gesture that really _should _have been cheesy. "You look wonderful tonight, I forgot to tell you."

It took Kurt a couple of seconds to come back to his senses. "You - you too," he murmured, cursing the stammer that appeared but really? Blaine couldn't just _do_ that.

Still smiling, Blaine lowered Kurt's hand to the table again and released it to take a sip of his water just as their server appeared, handing them each a menu. "Tonight in celebration of our ten year anniversary, we're going back to our roots!" the woman explained cheerfully but with an air that showed Kurt that she had repeated the words many times that day. "When this restaurant first started, it was a seafood-only bistro so we're going back to the original menu! Enjoy and let me know when you're ready to order!"

Blaine was already looking over his menu, humming appreciatively, but Kurt's fingers clenched over the cover of his own. "It all looks great," Blaine said before looking up, his satisfied expression switching to a frown. "Kurt? What's the matter?"

"I - I didn't realize it would be all seafood."

"Oh," Blaine said, his eyes widening. "You don't like seafood?"

Kurt sighed, ducking his head a little. "I'm allergic."

There were a few seconds of silence and then Blaine's voice could be heard, smoothly telling their server that they wouldn't be eating there tonight, that something had come up and no, they wouldn't be taking a raincheck. And then Blaine's hand was on his elbow and Kurt allowed himself to be led out of the restaurant, still blushing. "Hey," Blaine said as soon as they made it outside, stopping. "It's alright - I should have checked first before I made reservations, it's my own fault. Don't feel bad."

"We're not going to be able to get seats anywhere else," Kurt said dully. "I know how hard it was for you to get those - don't lie," he added when Blaine opened his mouth to do exactly that. "I looked into something similar for our second date and I couldn't even get reservations, so I have no idea how you did it. We should have just stayed, Blaine, I could have handled it."

"I'm not letting you eat something you're _allergic _to," Blaine said, staring at him like he had two heads. "The point of a date is that we both enjoy it and if you weren't happy, I wouldn't be happy."

Kurt ducked his head, blushing a little. "Still."

"No," Blaine said firmly. "We can't do dinner, that's fine. There's a coffee shop just down the road that apparently has killer muffins. It's not the best meal but it's either that or go back to your place with your family."

"Coffee sounds great," Kurt said immediately. They caught each others eye and laughed and Kurt could see the relief on Blaine's face. He let it go, however, and took the arm Blaine offered to him. That was something they could deal with later - Kurt knew how much of a perfectionist Blaine could be and his boyfriend would probably struggle with the fact that their date wasn't going to plan when the night was over. For now, Kurt just needed to reassure him that he was happy.

And he _was_, surprisingly enough. Kurt's imagine of the perfect first date was absolutely not coming true, no, but he couldn't regret it, couldn't say that the night was ruined. He was still alone with Blaine, his _boyfriend_. Nothing changed that.

As the coffee shop came closer, Blaine frowned. "There's a sign up on the door and it's dark… don't tell me -?"

"It's shut," Kurt said, his long distance vision always having been better than Blaine's. "They only stay open until seven on Fridays."

"Oh," Blaine said quietly. "Well that - ah, yeah."

Kurt shrugged. "I'm not that hungry," he said, only lying slightly. "I can handle not eating for a little longer. Did you have any backup plans?"

Blaine took a second to reply and Kurt tightened his grip a little, reassuring. "We could just go for a walk?"

"That sounds great," Kurt said, putting as much honesty into it as he could. Apparently it had worked because Blaine finally met his eye, smiling a little. "Let's go."

Kurt was pretty sure that was the best idea they had had all night because, short of falling over and injuring oneself, nothing much could ruin a walk. Maybe Blaine had sensed the same thing because they were holding each others hands just a little tighter than usual, not wanting to tempt fate in case one of them _did _fall. And judging by the night they had just experienced, Kurt wouldn't rule it out.

It was nice though, just being with Blaine. They could talk about anything under the sun, but they also didn't _have _to talk and the silence wouldn't be awkward. So they would occasionally lapse in and out of conversation, spending more time enjoying being with each other than anything else.

And then Blaine stopped, listening. "Is that - no."

"What?" Kurt asked, turning to face his boyfriend who was tilting his head slightly. "What can you hear?"

"It sounds like -"

The sky opened and, within seconds, the two boys were drenched. Kurt was immediately tugging Blaine off the road and under a shop awning, unable to do anything but stare at the water pouring down around them. "Rain," Blaine finished dully, sighing so painfully that Kurt's heart hurt to hear it. "This just sucks."

Kurt ran a hand through his hair, cringing. "I must look like a drowned rat," he muttered, wishing he had thought to bring a mirror and some emergency hair care supplies but really? Nobody anticipated their first date turning out like _this_.

"Nonsense, you're still gorgeous," Blaine said absently, wringing water out of his cardigan. "I checked the weather forecast and it didn't say anything about - what?"

Kurt knew he was staring but with good reason. "You - you just called me gorgeous."

Blaine blushed but he was smiling. "You are."

"I never realized you thought… things like that. About me."

"Of course I do!" Blaine looked genuinely shocked at that. "How could I not? You're stunning, no matter whether you're trapped in the uniform or just rolled out of bed or drenched with water… right now…"

And then something in Blaine's face shifted and Kurt blinked at the sudden determination. But before he could ask, Blaine was stepping closer and lifting one hand to touch Kurt's cheek gently. "What - what are you doing?"

"Salvaging," Blaine stated before leaning in and kissing him.

_Ruined night? What are you talking about?_

This was _perfect._

They broke apart slowly, their eyes locked. And then Blaine smiled, half-sheepish, half-ridiculously cute. "Can I be really cheesy and cliche right now?"

"How?"

In answer, Blaine took his hands and tugged him out from under the awning. Kurt shivered as the rain hit them again before it dawned on him. "You're not -"

Blaine's lips met his again and Kurt kissed him back softly, wrapping his arms around Blaine's neck and feeling Blaine's hands ghost across his waist before pulling him in properly. Kurt had never thought he could enjoy this sort of kiss - drenched, hair plastering his face, clothes ruined, so _vulnerable_… and yet, he had never thought about the simple fact that the kiss itself was the only thing on his mind and even if there was a worry about his appearance, the simple fact that Blaine couldn't _stop _kissing him was enough that Kurt couldn't care about how he looked. He couldn't care about anything.

* * *

They arrived home half an hour before Kurt's curfew. Burt was sitting on the couch, waiting for them, confusion evident on his face as they walked in. "What happened to you two?"

"Rain," Kurt said simply.

"I thought you'd still be at dinner -"

"Seafood."

Burt blinked. "Oh." His eyes dropped to their linked hands, Kurt refusing to let go under the scrutiny. "Well - uh, how about you find some dry clothes to change into. I'll make you some toast."

"Thanks, Dad," Kurt said quietly before leading Blaine up the stairs. "Will you forgive me if I choose not to be fashionable for one night?" he asked, digging out a couple of pairs of sweatpants apprehensively. After all, everybody was used to Kurt being the fashionista but for once all he wanted was to be comfortable and warm and curl up with his boyfriend without caring how his hair looked or whether his clothes were in style.

"Nothing to forgive," Blaine said, accepting the clothes Kurt handed him and slipping into the bathroom.

Kurt frowned after him before changing quickly, balling up his wet clothing and waiting for Blaine to re-emerge. "Here," he said, holding out a hand for the bundle of Blaine's clothes as his boyfriend left the bathroom. "I'll put them in the dryer." Blaine didn't look at him and Kurt's suspicions were confirmed. He didn't say anything though, instead ducking through to the laundry and setting the dryer up before returning. "Come on, let's go eat."

At least Blaine still took the hand offered to him but Kurt could practically feel the shame rolling off him and _hated_ it. As soon as they had a second to themselves he would deal with it, but not when they were walking into the kitchen with Kurt's dad setting a plate of toast on the table. "You're - ah, you're welcome to take that into the living room. I'll just clean up and make myself a coffee, might read the newspaper for a bit too."

"Decaf," Kurt said on autopilot before realizing what his dad was doing. "Thanks," he said, his voice a little softer as he took the plate, keeping a hold of Blaine's hand. He knew under normal circumstances there would be no way he and Blaine could be alone in the room together but his dad wasn't an idiot. And he would have to be an idiot to not notice the way Blaine was acting.

When they were finally settled in the living room, Kurt put the plate on the table and turned to face Blaine. "Look at me," he said softly. "Please."

"I'm sorry," came the quiet response.

Kurt closed his eyes and sighed. "You have nothing to _be _sorry for." He opened his eyes to see Blaine still looking down and lifted Blaine's chin with his fingers. "You didn't break your car. You didn't choose to put nothing but seafood on the menu. You didn't choose to make the coffee shop close at seven. You didn't make it _rain_. What you did do was take me out for a date and did everything in your power to make it a wonderful night. And then you kissed me for the first time - yeah," Kurt said, seeing the smile beginning to develop. "That's exactly how I feel. _Nothing _ruins that."

And to press his point home, Kurt leant in and brushed their lips together. Only quickly - he was conscious of the fact that his dad was in the next room over - but enough to be reassuring and to prove to Blaine that the only thing that changed as a result of their date was a _good _thing.

Blaine was smiling when he pulled away. "Thank you. I'm sorry about that, I just really wanted the night to be perfect."

Kurt shook his head. "Come here," he said simply, holding out his arms and smiling wider when Blaine nestled into them. "You're never going to be perfect or make it a perfect night but when I'm with you, Blaine Warbler, life feels pretty perfect."

There was a quiet cough from the door and Kurt looked up to see Burt standing there, hands cupped around a mug of coffee. "Did you two have a bad night or something?"

Kurt glanced back down at Blaine, the mass of curls that was buried in his shoulder. He bit his lip, remembering the way Blaine's lips fit so perfectly against his even when the rain was pouring down on them. The way Blaine's hand held his like it was the most precious thing he had ever held. That smile reserved for him when Kurt successfully managed to cheer him up.

He looked back up.

"No."

* * *

**Because when people are emotional or awkward or embarrassed, Burt Hummel believes toast is a good comfort food. All the awards to that man.**

**By the way, Burt let Blaine stay the night. On the couch, of course, but when they fell asleep in each others arms he really didn't have the heart to make Kurt go to his own bed.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Mr. Anderson, is it true you and Kurt Hummel are dating?"**_

_**"Yes, we are." *dopey smile***_

_**"Mhmm. Are you aware of the extremely high boyfriend standards you have set for girls everywhere? A quote from a reader: 'Blaine has set my standards sky high. I am currently searching for a fun-size man with either green or hazel eyes, who can play 9 or more instruments, sings, and has curly hair. Preferably straight, but if no one's available I'll settle for Johnny Depp."**_


	211. Chemistry

**Stupid site wiped my initial AN. I'm exhausted so can't be bothered retyping the whole thing. Basically I've had a few people want _Rock _as a oneshot for reccing purposes. I will consider it when I'm not so blah.**

**From **_**getmeoutofthistie: a chemistry klaine fic, where Blaine is being all dorky-adorable and babbling on about science while kurt sits there doodling and then spells out klaine. Or vice versa.**_

**Studying for Chem and figuring out all the awesome things you can spell with the Periodic Table for the win? I think so :) me and my friends did this _all _the time. And I'm taking any work they actually get done (so... not much) from the stuff I studied in my Senior year of Chemistry. I got a HA10 (high B+ for those who don't speak Australian System) and I ranked 7th so I have a little bit of knowledge. I don't claim it to be right though.**

**This is another one of those deja vu stories for me but I'm pretty sure it's just because I wrote it ages in advance. **

* * *

Chemistry

The room was a hubbub of noise, something Kurt was well used to from his time at McKinley where nobody paid attention during class. However, it was another thing altogether to see all the formal looking _Dalton_ boys sprawled around talking in the middle of class time, instead of sitting quietly and paying attention. In fact, it was one of the times that Kurt stopped developing his conspiracy theory that the Warblers were all robots and he was a Truman-esque character in a world developed completely for him.

That said, if the world _had _been completely made for him, they had certainly gotten his boyfriend right. Because said boyfriend was currently sitting next to him, looking gorgeous even as he was chewing lightly on the end of a pencil as he attempted to work on a Chemistry revision question. The same question that Kurt should have been working on...

Sighing, Kurt picked up his pencil and attempted to get back to work. _Honestly __though, _he thought to himself as he began to doodle idly in the margin of his page, _who __really __wants __to __know __about __combustion __reactions __in __alkenes __anyway?_

"Lots of hard work going on there, I see?"

Kurt looked up guiltily to see Blaine smirking lightly at him. "My apologies for not being a complete Chem nerd like you," he bantered back.

Blaine nudged him. "Touche," he said, leaning over to get a better look at Kurt's page. "But I don't think drawing pictures of cats is going to help you ace the exam. Very well drawn, by the way."

"Shut up." Sighing, Kurt leant over to look at the textbook. "I don't even know what a combustion reaction _is_."

Bad move. Blaine's eyes lit up and he immediately began to explain. Kurt attempted to concentrate, but found himself zoning out almost instantly, focusing solely on Blaine's lips as they moved. Blaine's lips, which had been a huge distraction to Kurt over the past few days, especially since Kurt had just realized how _much _he wanted those lips against his own. Not something he would ever happily admit to his boyfriend - at least not in _those _words - but distracting nonetheless.

"So then you look at your Periodic Table." Blaine grabbed the cardboard sheet, pulling it between them. "And you find the molecular mass of Carbon which is -"

"Which one's Carbon again?"

Blaine appeared to be resisting the urge to sigh. "This one. The C, remember?"

Kurt nodded. "Right, one of the few that make sense."

"I - which ones don't make sense, Kurt?"

Now Blaine seemed to be trying not to laugh, but damn it, Kurt had a _point _to make. "Where's the K in Potassium, exactly? Sodium should be S, not _Na_, and ... what does Y stand for again?"

"Yttrium?"

Kurt blinked. "Is that even a _word_? Okay, so that one makes sense, but a lot of these are labelled wrong, you have to admit." He stared at the chart for a few more seconds, then frowned. "Blaine, is every letter in the alphabet on here?"

"Um, I can't say I've ever looked, to be -"

"I'm going to find out." Ignoring Blaine's amused sigh, Kurt immediately began to pour over the chart, searching for all of the letters of the alphabet. A few minutes later, he reported back, interrupting Blaine's study again. "There's no J or Q. And W for Tungsten? Really, Blaine?"

"Hey, you say it like I wrote the thing!" Blaine shook his head, still staring down at his exercise book determinedly. "And if you're going to want to steal my answers later, at least let me get the work done, okay?"

Kurt huffed, but was distracted by the Periodic Table again instantly. _I __wonder __what __kind __of __words __you __can __spell __on __this __thing..._

Ten minutes later and Kurt saw Blaine put down his pencil out of the corner of his eye, peering over to his own page which was now covered in words. "I _know _you haven't been doing work."

Still staring at the chart, Kurt made a slight murmur of dissent as he pushed his book over to Blaine. After reading for a few seconds, Blaine snorted and pushed it back. "Seriously, Kurt?"

"It's fun!" Kurt glanced down at his page, reading through the words he currently had.

_FInN_

_PUCK_

_SAm_

_TiNa_

_LaUReN_

_ArTi_

_RaCHeAl_

_BrITiNaY_

_WArBLrS_

_NeW DyReCTiONS_

_NICK_

_LaDy GaGa_

Blaine shook his head, chuckling slightly. "You do realize you can't spell?"

Kurt pouted, mock-glaring at his boyfriend who was smirking. "Hey, you try and do better! I think I did very well with what I have! I just can't make my name..."

Blaine glanced over the list again, humming lightly to himself before frowning. "I see I'm not on there."

Kurt's eyes widened. "I can fix that, don't worry!" Hunching over the chart, Kurt quickly pieced together Blaine's name before showing it to him triumphantly. "There, easy!"

Blaine looked at the word - _BLaINe__-_, smiling. "Boron, Lanthanum, Iodine and Neon. That almost makes... no, you'd need to change the Boron to -"

Blaine dropped his pen, staring at the page. The bell rang and the rest of the students began to pack up, but Blaine took no notice. "Blaine?" Kurt asked, trying to see what he was looking at. "What's wrong?"

"I - change Boron to Potassium."

Frowning, Kurt took back the piece of paper and looked up Potassium. "K," he murmured, scribbling down the new word as the last of the students left the room. "Okay, so now instead of Blaine we have... Klaine?"

"Think about it."

It only took Kurt a second to realize. "Our couple name," he murmured quietly, staring up at Blaine and smiling. "That's ... well, I'd say it's romantic, but considering it's _Chemistry_, there's a limit. Let's just go with cute. So why did that shock you so much, O Chem Nerd of mine?"

Blaine was still looking stunned. "Potassium, Lanthanum, Iodine and Neon. The reactivity of those elements together, especially the Potassium..."

"What is it, Blaine?"

Blaine licked his lips. "They cause _fireworks_, Kurt."

Kurt blinked a couple of times, staring at the page. "Really?" he squeaked out.

"Yeah." Blaine's voice had gone soft and taken a tone that Kurt hadn't heard before. He glanced up to see Blaine staring at him, his eyes heated. "You know you're gorgeous?"

Kurt blushed, but refused to back down. "So are you," he murmured lightly, reaching over to take his boyfriend's hand. Blaine's eyes seemed to grow in intensity as they stared at each other for what felt like eternity. But as much as Kurt loved staring at Blaine, there was one thing he wanted just a _little _bit more. "Are you going to?"

Blaine frowned slightly. "Going to what?"

"Kiss me."

Kurt wondered for a second whether he sounded desperate or, heaven forbid, _needy_, but judging by the look in Blaine's eyes a moment later, he figured it was more than fine.

"I thought you'd never ask," Blaine whispered before leaning in to connect their lips.

After everything he had been through, Kurt had to admit that he had high expectations for his first real kiss. He had watched enough romantic movies to know that when you kissed someone you loved for the first time, it was meant to be a million emotions that nobody could ever express. And Kurt could say in all honesty that his first kiss had _more __than _surpassed his hopes. Because all of those romantic movies had been missing one thing in particular. _Blaine._

Blaine pulled away after a few moments, leaving Kurt trying to catch his breath and focus back on reality. "Well," his boyfriend whispered lightly, "I think we just made our fireworks, don't you?"

All Kurt could do was nod, before pulling Blaine back in for another kiss. It was only study hall next, and he knew of much better ways to occupy his time. But as Blaine kissed him back hungrily, Kurt couldn't help but laugh.

_Damn it all if Blaine Anderson didn't just make Chemistry romantic..._

* * *

**Did anybody else _see _the drawings Chris Colfer did on the plane during Glee Live 2011? They're gorgeous! I think Darren tweeted them ;)**

**You have _no __idea _how long I sat there, staring at my Periodic Table trying to find Glee-applicable Chemistry words.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Wes as a doctor(as Kurt and Blaine observe):**_

_***bangs down surgical tool* "Order in the break room!"**_

_**"You mock me, sir!"**_

_**"It's like the Warblers all over again. What are they even arguing about?"**_

_**"I think it's something about the lack of gavels. Or about how fashionable the lab coat things are. I'm glad I taught the Counil something before I left." *smirk***_


	212. Gypsy

**So due to a lovely conversation between a few of us on Tumblr, it's been decided that _Kiss _will have an epilogue. I won't say what it's going to be for those who didn't see it but just letting you all know that there will be one extra day of this story and one chapter to sort of tie it all together.**

**According to Kevin, tomorrow's episode is the best of the season. I am skeptical from the promos I've seen and the summary on our channels at the moment but I haven't heard spoilers and don't want any for anything so who knows? Kevin does.**

**From **_**Mispent Youth: During Funeral, Blaine watches and supports Kurt during his routine of 'Some People' and is also angry at Jesse's opinions (I would have loved even one line spoken between Jesse and Blaine in PQ) and again, you can finish it from there**_

**TGTDOSBDK.**

**Angela thinks I should have had Blaine be a lot more angry but this is Blainers. Apart from shoving Karofsky, he's kind of the nicest person alive.**

* * *

Gypsy

"Just slip in the door at the back behind Jesse and Mr. Schuester, okay?"

Kurt was bouncing on the balls of his feet as Santana belted out _Back __To __Black_. Blaine nodded, laughing a little at his boyfriend's eagerness. "Okay. Good luck, Kurt."

"I don't need luck, I'm fabulous."

Blaine laughed again. "That you are," he agreed. Santana's song came to an end and Kurt squeaked, turning to run through the backstage door. Blaine smiled after him for a minute before slipping through the door, just in time to see Santana stalk off stage.

And then Kurt appeared, doing his adorable walk to centre stage and placing a hand on his hip. His face was glowing with excitement, and Blaine couldn't stop himself from smiling as he sank into a seat in the back row. Kurt shot him a quick glance before turning his attention back to the two men sitting behind the desk. "Hello, I'm Kurt Hummel, and I'll be singing _Some __People _by Gypsy."

Blaine resisted the urge to clap. He knew it was stupid as the performance hadn't even started yet, but Kurt had kept his song choice a firmly guarded secret. And now that he knew what it was, he strongly approved. _That__'__s __perfect __for __his __voice._

Apparently he wasn't the only one. "Ah, great selection Kurt. Hit it!"

Blaine knew Jesse was the one to watch - he had heard the last of Jesse's remarks to Santana and knew from hearsay what this boy was like - but was confident that Kurt would remove all traces of doubt from anybody's minds.

And oh boy did he _nail _that performance. Blaine felt his jaw drop on more than one occasion, when Kurt hit a particularly gorgeous note or shook his hips in just the right way that reduced Blaine to an incoherent puddle of goo. He was thankful he'd have a few minutes to recover after the performance before talking to his boyfriend so hopefully he'd be able to say something other than, "um... ah... _hot_."

"_Well they can stay and rot!"_

Blaine shivered as Kurt turned and strode to the back of the stage, tossing his head as he walked. He knew his boyfriend was grinning, probably about as wide as Blaine was right now. He also knew what was coming next and had to stop himself from leaping out of his seat as Kurt turned and darted down the middle of the stage.

"_But not Rose!"_

Skidding to his knees, Kurt threw a hand in the air and fell backwards on the stage. Will Schuester began to clap and Blaine held both armrests as to not do the same. Technically he wasn't meant to be in here, so as much as he wanted to congratulate Kurt he knew he would have to do so in private later.

And then Jesse St. James opened his mouth and became Public Enemy #1.

"Kurt. You do know that song was meant to be sung by a woman, right?"

_Oh... no, he didn't!_

"Yes, I'm aware." Kurt stood, still smiling, but it had taken a bitter edge to it that Blaine knew so well. His boyfriend was _pissed_. "And the Glee club sort of dealt with that whole 'boys singing songs that are meant for girls.' It's kind of old news."

Jesse nodded. "Then you must know that that song was done to great fanfare by such Broadway legends as Merman, Luppone, Bernadette..." Kurt simply gave his best _bitch, __please _look and Blaine had to fight back a laugh. _Really? __Like __Kurt __wouldn__'__t __know __that __already? _"Those are some awfully big heels to fill, and I'm just not quite sure that you nailed it."

That was it. Blaine was on his feet, making his way down the seats. As Kurt turned to walk away, giving Jesse The Look (Blaine decided that Kurt really needed to patent that thing) he spoke. "No, don't you leave, Kurt."

The two behind the desk turned to stare at him, but Blaine watched Kurt turn around, looking confused. _Trust __me, _he mouthed to his boyfriend before facing the desk. Will recognized him of course and was almost looking relieved he was here. Jesse's expression was of confusion and Blaine figured it was one he commonly wore. "I'm sorry, who are you? I feel like I should know you from somewhere."

"Blaine Anderson. Lead soloist of Dalton Academy Warblers and Kurt's boyfriend." Blaine continued down the stairs until he reached the stage, standing next to Kurt. "And I'll tell you one thing: if Kurt came back to Dalton and sang that number, we'd be giving him a solo on the spot."

"As an a cappella band, I don't think Broadway show tunes would work too well for -"

"We'd make it work," Blaine cut in, staring down the boy, "because talent like that deserves to be rewarded. I'm talking to you soloist to soloist here - up until our duet at Regionals, I've never had to share the stage. But I gladly did so, because Kurt has the talent for it."

Out of the corner of his eye, Blaine could see Kurt staring at him, his face alight. Jesse, on the other hand, was staring at him like he had just announced his retirement from singing. "Yes, and that's why you lost at Regionals, and why Kurt realized he should come back here. Frankly, I think he should accept what he's going to get - a position supporting the lead soloist."

"Now hold on, Jesse." Will raised a hand, leaning over the table. "We haven't made a decision, there's still two more people to sing and Kurt's a strong contender. And I'm going to have to ask you to keep the condescension to a minimum, otherwise I'll make this decision myself."

As Jesse looked at him, Blaine raised an eyebrow and smirked. "My apologies for interrupting," he said politely to Will. "I just couldn't resist watching my boyfriend's performance."

Will nodded. "Make sure you get back to your own school before you get in trouble. Good to see you again, Blaine."

"You too." Blaine nodded to the man, completely ignoring Jesse who was gaping next to him. The next thing he knew, Kurt was pulling him off the stage and into the wings. "Kurt, are you -?"

A pair of lips enveloped his as Kurt pushed him back into the wall gently. After the initial shock wore off, Blaine was kissing back, his arms finding their way around Kurt's waist and tugging him in closer. After a few seconds of pure bliss, Blaine broke the connection to murmur in Kurt's ear, "So, I guess that was a good thing?"

"You stood up for me and put Jesse in his place," Kurt gasped out before kissing him again. "And it was _hot_."

Blaine raised an eyebrow, pulling away again as much as it killed him to do so. "As was your performance. But should we really be doing this backstage where anybody could come in and see us?"

Kurt sighed as Blaine's arms untangled from his waist. "I know, I know," he muttered, taking Blaine's hand again and leading him out the door. Not a moment too soon, as Mercedes was making her way down the hall towards the door.

"Kurt... Blaine?"

"Mercedes." Blaine nodded politely. "Good luck with your performance. Kurt and I are off to make out in my car now."

Blaine pulled a spluttering Kurt past Mercedes and down the hall. Looking back, he saw Mercedes still standing in the hall and dragged him out the main door. "Blaine, what was that?" Kurt demanded, pulling away and putting his hands on his hips.

Blaine smirked. "Just psyching out your competition. You're welcome."

Kurt stared at Blaine for a few more seconds, then all but leaped at him to convey his gratitude.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"They make fireworks, Kurt." *kliss***_

_***somewhere in McKinley* "I feel the incessant urge to sing Firework!" *starts singing***_

_***somewhere in Dalton* "I have the sudden urge to study chemistry!"**_

_***stares* "JEFF! PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVEN'T GONE INSANE! ...or maybe it's sane. ...I feel the need to check my bets on the Klaine kissing pool. My Klaine senses are tingling."**_


	213. Summer

**Australian Glee is now on hiatus until February. **

**You have no idea how angry this makes me. I know, internet links and all that but _still_.**

**From ****_Secrets__ of__ the __Fall _and similarly prompted by_lizzard713: __Summer__ scene __where __Klaine __is __on __the __beach __and __fluff __commences._**

**I've been told off for having beach scenes when there are no beaches near Lima so I just took the closest lake and chose that. And I don't know how fire permits work in America and whether you even need them to have a bonfire so let's just say they have one and all legal requirements are taken care of in that regard.**

* * *

Summer

"The lake."

Kurt's tone was flat - something he figured really should have been a warning sign for anybody who knew him well and Blaine was absolutely on that list, topped that list actually - but Blaine still grinned cheerfully at him, nodding. "Yeah, it's only like a fifteen minute drive from here. I go out there with the Warblers at least three times a summer and I thought it would be a great way to cool off."

Finn was chuckling from in the kitchen. "Good luck bro. We try to get Kurt to come out to the lake or even in Quinn's pool every summer and he refuses. Something about skin and -" Finn waved a hand dismissively. "You know. The usual stuff he complains about."

"And you wonder why I don't take great delight in the pleasure of your company." Kurt crossed his arms tighter over his chest, glaring in his stepbrother's direction. "With Blaine it might actually be enjoyable but -"

"Great!" Blaine said suddenly, all but beaming at him. "Do you have a picnic basket? Food there is always horrendously expensive and -"

"Woah woah woah!" Kurt raised his hands, cutting Blaine off fast. "I didn't agree!"

Blaine's eyes widened to the point that it looked like someone had kicked him. Only Kurt could catch the glimmer of wickedness, knowing exactly what was coming next. "But _Kurt!_" he wined before sticking his bottom lip out theatrically.

"Oh my god!" Kurt groaned, hiding his face in his hands. "You are such a puppy." He sighed. "Fine."

And maybe it wasn't such a bad thing after all, Kurt suddenly realized. They were two weeks into summer and so far hadn't been able to spend so much as a second alone together. Kurt had thought school was bad with people constantly around, walking in whenever they wanted a private moment or simply wanting to hang out all the time (and then separate schools and that was just another battle for time altogether) but summer?

Summer was worse. Everybody wanted to hang out non-stop, seeming to feel as if they wouldn't be seeing each other plenty in the coming school year and every second counted. Due to their respective parents rules that Kurt and Blaine couldn't be alone in the house together, they always ended up at Kurt's place with Finn lurking around just wanting to 'hang out' without realizing that he didn't need to be in the same room as them constantly and they weren't going to have wild sex the second his back was turned.

Honestly, between all the interruptions and meddling friends they hadn't even had their first kiss yet. All Kurt wanted was a little privacy so that first that they had both wanted for ages now (as spoken about in phone calls and Skype dates) could happen.

It wasn't easy for them at all. Their first kiss - and all the ones to follow - needed to be in private. They couldn't kiss goodnight outside a restaurant or movie theatre like Finn and Rachel could. And the last thing either of them wanted was for that moment to be broken by somebody walking in on them and interrupting.

So now that Kurt thought about it, this idea of going off to a lake for the day where no, they wouldn't be alone but they would definitely be able to make that happen, was enticing enough that Kurt could ignore imminent sunburn and the vigorous skin care routines that would have to follow to treat the damage.

Blaine seemed to have realized it too and the smile that passed between them was natural but also a little optimistic, hopeful, daring even -

"Hey, we're heading down to the lake for the day, do you want to come?"

Both heads snapped around to see Finn on his phone, nodding away at something. "Well just bring them! The more the merrier and get the girls to bring their boyfriends, we'll make it a New Directions thing!" More silence and then Finn grinned. "Okay, we'll see you there. Love you."

Finn dropped his phone on the table and grinned at them. "So what are we packing for lunch?"

His expression of surprise at the twin groans he met almost had Kurt smiling. Almost.

* * *

It was sort of fun, Kurt grudgingly admitted.

After the awkward car ride where Finn had insisted on joining them in Blaine's car and then tried to talk Blaine's ear off about football, they had arrived to the warm reception of the members of New Directions who had been able to join them. Kurt couldn't help but be slightly bitter, especially when he saw Rachel all but leap into Finn's arms, kissing him like she hadn't seen him in a week. Quinn also looked particularly like she would rather be anywhere else so Kurt took that moment to greet her loudly, towing Blaine along to help him.

But after all the greetings were said and done, everybody wanted to get in the water. And Kurt just wasn't quite as down with that one.

"Seriously?" Quinn asked as she finished applying her sunscreen. "The water looks fantastic."

"Not interested."

"Dude, we go through this every year." Puck like all the other straight guys was already shirtless, clearly ready to jump right in. "Just give in and get in the water."

Luckily Blaine stepped in - both figuratively and literally. "How about the rest of you go on ahead. We'll catch up."

Nobody seemed to be in any hurry to stay, Finn only casting one protective brother look their way before joining the others. Kurt sat down on the towel in relief. "I thought they'd never give up this time. I'm glad you had the sense not to push it, now I can -"

"Oh, you're getting in the water."

Kurt slowly lifted his sunglasses, hoping Blaine would change his mind in the time it took.

He didn't.

"I do believe that as my boyfriend you are meant to be the one to take my side and support me in my decisions. And my decision is not to go in the water."

Blaine was still smiling down at him, clearly unrelenting. "Why?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Why do you not want to go in the water?"

That was easy enough to answer and Kurt pulled out the standard response. "Because the chlorine wreaks havoc on my skin and my hair will be ruined."

Blaine nodded, kneeling down to his level. "Pizza has the same effect supposedly and you still cave and eat it with me quite frequently, and for the record I have never seen the slightest issue with your skin, ever. I've also seen you with bed hair so it really can't be that bad. Try again, and the real reason this time please."

Kurt should never have let someone this far into his heart.

He sighed. Finally, quietly enough that maybe Blaine wouldn't hear it but of course he would, Kurt told him. "I don't want to take my shirt off."

Blaine was silent for a long moment. "You're gorgeous though," he said, real confusion evident. "Why?"

"I'm good at hiding behind my clothes," Kurt explained reluctantly. "If people are looking at them, they're not looking at me. They're not seeing the lack of tone and muscle, the way I'm too pale and -"

"Stop right there."

Blaine's voice actually sounded hurt and Kurt glanced up, surprised. "I told you right back when we got together that I wasn't going to let people make hurtful comments that got to you without dealing with it and that includes yourself."

"Blaine -"

"No, Kurt. I know you may not agree with me yet, but you need to know two things. One is that I love you for far more than your outward appearance, far more than your clothes or your hairstyles or any of that. I love what's in here." Blaine placed a hand over Kurt's chest softly, a faint touch but one laden with feelings. "And two, I think every part of you is beautiful because it's you. I haven't seen what you look like without a shirt, no, but there is simply no way you could be hideous, Kurt. I - what are you doing?"

Kurt gently tugged Blaine's hand from his chest, crossed his arms over the bottom of his torso and pulled his shirt off in one quick movement. Instead of looking away in shame like he thought he would have, Kurt held eye contact with Blaine whose eyes widened behind his sunglasses. The moment had so much potential to be awkward or forced and Kurt just hoped Blaine had the right thing to say otherwise he would be putting that shirt back on and leaving.

"You are pretty much forbidden from wearing a shirt ever again."

One second of silence and then Kurt began to laugh. "You are so endearing," he finally got out and Blaine grinned. "Now I do believe you are the only one still wearing a shirt and if your next mission is to get me in the water, that probably won't help things along."

And really that should have prepared him for what was to come but instead it simply left Kurt wishing he had left his sunglasses on so he wouldn't be openly staring at his boyfriend's bare torso. "I, uh, um -"

"_I, __uh, __um_," Blaine mocked him, smirking. "Same reaction, I promise. Now come on, I know you're boiling and the water is fantastic, I promise."

"You don't know that," Kurt argued half-heartedly, grabbing the sunscreen and beginning to apply it.

Blaine chuckled, gesturing for the bottle. "I come here enough for it to be a third home," he explained before spinning Kurt gently around by the shoulders and beginning to rub sunscreen into his back.

Kurt closed his eyes, trying not to focus on how suddenly intimate this position was because this - and he might never ever admit this - was another reason why he had been reluctant about coming to the lake and doing summery things. Everybody else had had someone to share it with in the past while he had been alone, someone to swim with and lie in the sun with and rub sunscreen on each others backs.

Just like Blaine was for him right now.

Fighting with his emotions, Kurt pulled himself back to the moment. "Third home?"

"Yours being my second of course," Blaine explained, leaving Kurt's head spinning a little again. He rubbed his palm up Kurt's spine one more time - and he was officially goo now - before dropping the bottle and his sunglasses onto his shirt. "Ready to go in?"

There were enough people that they could walk hand-in-hand down to the lake without any concerns and Blaine was right - and that was happening a little too much for his own good these days - in saying that the water would be the perfect temperature. Kurt dunked under straight away, raking his hair back when he resurfaced to find that Blaine had done the same, hair dripping down his face. Together they waded and then swam out to where their friends were treading water out near the middle of the lake.

And yeah, the most satisfying thing was definitely seeing the looks of shock on their faces as the two boys swam out to them.

"Dude, what did you do?" Finn asked Blaine incredulously.

"He looks cheerful too," Mike said, peering at Kurt even though they were like two feet apart. "You didn't blackmail him or anything."

Kurt sighed. "I am right here, you know?"

"That's the point," Puck said. "You're never out here."

Just when it was about to get too tense, Blaine's arms slipped around his waist from behind and he smiled cheerfully at the others. "Just accept that I'm magic and enjoy it while it lasts."

That was all they needed and the others returned to their previous conversation. Kurt blinked as Rachel was hoisted on Finn's shoulders, Tina scrambling onto Mike's. "What's going on?" he whispered to Blaine.

"Chicken," Blaine explained. "You've never watched them do this?"

"I'm usually as far away from the water as possible. What are they -?"

Kurt's question was answered as the two girls began to wrestle, both squealing as they attempted to topple each other off their respective boyfriend's shoulders. He shook his head before ducking away as Tina fell with a scream, splashing everybody in the vicinity. "I fail to see how that's fun."

"Well, you're going to find out."

Kurt frowned. "What do you - oh no. No."

Blaine pouted. "You don't have to be the one fighting. I'll happily take on Rachel."

"Rachel?" Kurt glanced over at the girl who was still sitting on Finn shoulders looking smug. "Oh no, this one is my battle. But how do I get on your shoulders?"

Blaine ducked down under the water before Kurt had finished talking, grabbing Kurt's legs and wrapping them over his shoulders before emerging. Kurt shrieked as he rose into the air, wobbling for a second before resting his hands on Blaine's head and getting his balance. "Cheerios was finally good for something," he quipped and Blaine huffed out a laugh underneath him. "Your hair is so curly like this," he suddenly realized, tangling his fingers in the wet curls.

Blaine laughed again. "As amusing as you are up there, I think Rachel's ready for a battle."

"I prefer to call this another diva-off," Rachel said from across from them and Kurt finally released his hands from Blaine's hair, straightening up fully. "And I'm going to win this one too."

Suddenly Kurt knew exactly how he was going to win. As they began to push at each other, he gave Rachel a few seconds to think she was winning before grabbing her wrists and leaning in close. "I threw that competition."

And as Rachel squawked in surprise, Kurt pushed her backwards and watched as she fell backwards, Finn going down with her. "Yes!" he cheered before throwing his arms out to support himself as Blaine attempted some kind of victory dance. "Oi! Let me down first!"

"If you insist."

He didn't have time to register the suspicious tone to Blaine's voice before Kurt was tipping backwards, hitting the water with a splash. As he resurfaced, Kurt noticed the silence, only broken by Puck. "Oh dude, you're gonna get it!"

Wiping the water from his eyes, Kurt slowly turned to Blaine who was trying to smile like normal but was clearly afraid of what Kurt was going to do. "Blaine, dearest," Kurt began, his tone low and dangerous. He had to suppress a smile as he saw Blaine gulp and try to covertly get away from him, naturally failing to do so as Kurt drew closer. "I just have one thing to tell you."

"What's that?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow before grabbing Blaine by the shoulders and dunking him, holding him under the water as the others began to laugh before releasing him. Blaine popped back up a second later, coughing and thumping a fist to his chest. "Could've given me some warning!" he spluttered out before breaking into another coughing fit.

"Like you warned me?" Kurt asked sardonically but relented, rubbing Blaine's back until he stopped coughing. "Even?"

"Even," Blaine agreed.

There was another shriek and Tina once again fell into the water behind them, a laughing Quinn accepting a high five from Puck whose shoulders she was still balanced on. Kurt shot Blaine an amused glance and together they joined the rest of their friends, Kurt smirking to himself as Mike immediately commandeered Blaine for his team.

* * *

They resurfaced an hour later when the noise of Finn's stomach grumbling had gotten almost unbearable. Between the group they had packed three picnic baskets and Kurt and Blaine went on an ice cream run with Puck after lunch, a tradition that Kurt had been unaware of to Blaine's shock.

"You can't come to the lake and _not _get ice cream!" he informed Kurt as they headed back to the group, each holding a few cones. "It's practically immoral!"

"Blaine, I think our relationship is significantly more immoral than not eating ice cream."

Blaine shot him a surprised look then chuckled. "I'll give you that one."

The ice cream was distributed and consumed fairly quickly and then Kurt watched as every last drop of energy disappeared. Blaine was sprawled on a towel next to Kurt, lying on his stomach with one hand entwined with Kurt's who was still sitting up. Kurt glanced around at his friends, remembering previous summers they had spent here. At this point everybody would be content to spend a good few hours lazing on the beach, sleeping or reading or not-so-covertly making out. They would all hit the water again later - previously having left Kurt alone - but for now nobody was up to moving.

Maybe...

"Blaine?" he murmured.

Blaine turned on his side, propping himself up on one elbow as he suppressed a yawn. "Yeah?"

"Want to go back in?"

It was clear that Blaine actually wanted nothing less at that moment as evidenced by the way he fell against Kurt's side, nuzzling into his chest a little. "But I'm tired and being lazy," came the muffled response.

Kurt waited a few seconds until Blaine was good and comfortable. "We'd be alone."

Blaine's head shot up. "Oh. We would." And Kurt almost felt bad for how much effort it clearly took Blaine to get to his feet but it was worth it, so worth it. "We're just ducking back into the water," Blaine said conversationally to the others as Kurt accepted the hand offered to him, climbing to his feet.

"Oh, that actually sounds really good," Mike said, lifting his head. "I could use another dip. Tina, you want to come with?"

Tina raised her head off Mike's chest, glancing sleepily over at the two boys and Kurt immediately fixed her with his best pleading stare, hoping she would understand in her sleep-addled state and be able to be subtle about it and hoping that she would take his side…

"No way," she said, dropping back down and wrapping her arms tighter around Mike as Kurt shot her a silent glance of thanks. "And you're not going anywhere, pillow. Maybe in an hour or so."

Mike fell back on the sand, giving in, and the two boys immediately made their escape before anybody else could either wake up or separate from their significant other to decide they were coming with them. They darted down towards the water, casting glances at each other because finally they were going to get a chance to just _be __alone_, even if they were surrounded by hundreds of other people, they would make this happen.

It involved a bit of swimming but finally Kurt was confident that they had found as secluded a spot as one could in the middle of a lake - far away enough from everybody else that they shouldn't pay them too much attention and their sexuality would be severely judged if they did. Suddenly nervous he turned to face Blaine who was watching him with a knowing smile. "I have no idea what to do now," he admitted.

Blaine nodded. "Trust me?"

Before he could answer - and they both knew he didn't need to, they trusted each other unconditionally - Blaine was reaching out for his hips, dragging him gently through the water to press their chests together. Kurt draped his arms over Blaine's shoulders, staring into his eyes and sinking further into the realization that this was where he belonged. "Hi," Blaine murmured and his grip tightened a little, possessive but in the best possible way that left Kurt almost weak because someone actually _wanted _to be possessive of him.

"Hi," he said in return, hesitating for a second before resting his cheek against Blaine's, smiling as he felt the fluttering of Blaine's eyelashes against his temple. "I love you."

"I love you too. And, Kurt," Blaine said, pulling away to look at him properly, "we've waited a long time for this -"

"Too long."

Blaine smiled softly. "Too long," he agreed. "So I want to make sure this is as perfect as it can be. I'm afraid we've build it up in our heads for too long now and it's not going to measure up and -"

"Blaine," Kurt said softly but firmly. "It's the middle of summer, we're pretty much cuddling in the middle of a lake after spending a great day with our friends. I love you and we both know this would have happened earlier if we had had the chance. We have it now so please," he pressed their foreheads together almost desperately, "please let's not waste it talking about whether this is going to live up to expectations. _You _are my expectation."

Blaine was staring up at him through his eyelashes and it was positively the most beautiful thing Kurt had seen and he couldn't waste another second. Letting his eyes flutter closed, Kurt leaned in slowly, feeling Blaine's breath against his before pressing their lips together.

They were still treading water but their upper bodies melded together, pressing to each other almost desperately even when their lips were still soft, tentative and loving. They were holding one another up, always each others support no matter what.

Even after they had finished kissing, the contact wasn't broken. Cheek to cheek they floated together, occasionally pressing another kiss to one anothers lips, cheeks, foreheads, anywhere they could get to now that they _could_. They lost all track of time and finally, _finally_, Kurt understood what it was like to lose yourself in someone, to want nothing more than to be with them in that one moment forever.

Blaine sighed and dropped his head onto Kurt's shoulder. Kurt laughed quietly, stroking his fingers through his boyfriend's hair. "M'tired," he muttered. "I usually get an afternoon nap here."

Kurt laughed again. "So sorry to drag you away from that, won't happen again," he teased. Blaine's arms were around his shoulders now and Kurt dropped his arms into the water, finding Blaine's legs and guiding them to wrap around his waist. He was starting to feel the strain of treading water for so long but really, nothing was going to keep him from supporting Blaine when he needed it. "I've got you. Just relax, we have all afternoon."

And then there was the sound of light splashing behind them and Kurt turned a little, still holding Blaine up, to see Tina and Mike swimming over. "Just wanted to let you know that they've all woken up and they're heading back in," Mike informed them and Kurt groaned.

"Thanks, Mike," Blaine murmured, his voice muffled. "I'm tired, don't want to move."

Kurt paused for a second, contemplating. "Then don't. We have no reason not to be like every other couple here." The sound of the group approaching could be heard and Kurt wrapped his arms tighter around Blaine. "Stay with me."

And Blaine got what he was trying to say, why it was suddenly so important that they stay this way instead of breaking apart and keeping the touch to a minimum. "Always."

"Is he alright?"

Kurt spun around to see Quinn gesturing to Blaine and smiled. "He's tired. So he's koala-ing to me for the afternoon."

Quinn was smiling, shaking her head as she turned back to Puck and continued whatever conversation they had been having. Nobody else looked in the slightest perturbed or even surprised and Kurt relaxed, resting his cheek against Blaine's curls with a happy sigh.

"What are you two doing?"

Kurt refused to lift his head, no matter how much his heart had just clenched. Finn was staring at them, his brow furrowed as he swam over with Rachel in tow. "What does it look like we're doing?" he asked, the awful feeling in his heart getting worse when Blaine tensed up in his arms because yes, Finn's homophobia was getting a lot better but it wasn't something that could be changed overnight and they both knew that.

"I've never seen you two like this before," Finn said, his voice blunt. "What have you been doing out here?"

"Oh my god, you did not just ask them that!" Puck was staring at Finn with an eyebrow raised. "One, if they do have any details for you then you aren't going to want to hear them anyway. And two, it's pretty much between them."

"And three," Tina added in, "we could see them from the shore. They've just been kissing."

Kurt promptly turned bright red, ducking his head into Blaine's curls a little. "I didn't realize you could see us." There was a long silence and he looked up to see everybody glaring at Finn. "Do you have a problem with this?" he finally asked.

Finn actually did a double take. "Why would I have a problem?" he asked, and his voice was so honest that Kurt had to believe him. "It's just surprising. Kind of cute actually."

"Well, I try," Blaine said, lifting his head a little before dropping it onto Kurt's shoulder with a groan. "Sun's too bright, I'm not moving."

Suddenly a little overwhelmed, Kurt leaned down and pressed his lips to Blaine's hair. "You don't have to. I've got you."

* * *

The boys insisted on waiting for the sun to set before arranging the bonfire, no matter how much the girls and Kurt tried to insist that finding the logs while it was still light was probably intelligent. Though he couldn't really complain when it left him and Blaine stumbling through the dark hand-in-hand, laughing and exchanging kisses and enjoying the fact that their relationship hadn't changed, not at the core. They were still best friends first.

They arrived back with an armload of sticks and logs, Kurt falling back into the sand and watching lazily as the others assembled them and lit up the bonfire. Blaine joined him once the fire was going, slotting in behind him and pulling Kurt up so he was resting against his chest. Kurt traced over the hands wrapped around his waist, smiling over at Tina who was resting the same way against Mike. "I have to say, today turned out a lot better than expected," he murmured to himself.

"I'm glad," Blaine said, resting his head on Kurt's shoulder. "I was worried that making you come and forcing you into the water would ruin the day but I also knew that if you just relaxed, you'd have a great time."

"I think I want to come back," Kurt said, the thought still slotting into place in his mind. "Maybe in a few days."

"Yeah?"

Kurt turned his head a little, pressing a kiss to Blaine's nose and receiving a smile in return. "Yeah. But this time," he murmured, leaning in so their lips were brushing, "just you and me."

Blaine smiled against his lips. "Just you and me," he agreed. "Always you and me."

* * *

**The prompt specified fluff. I think I just drowned you in it.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"You do realize that song is sung by a woman, right?"**_

_***strolls in* "And you DO realize I could use your hair to weave myself a banner announcing your defeat, right? The great Sue Sylvester can't stand any more idiots with bad hair in this world; William, it seems you're becoming contagious. But if you ever tell one of my Cheerios what to do, you might wake up and find that your teddy bear is gone, and I will be in it's place. I assure you, I will be holding a certain Warbler gavel... Fear me!"**_


	214. Madness

**Super early post today because I have work plus I need to go somewhere before work. I can't wait to see my coworkers reactions to the hair...**

**Right. And for anybody who doesn't follow me on Tumblr, I chopped off over half of my hair yesterday. It was so liberating and I love having short hair, especially with summer coming up. My mother had the best reaction in the world and my sister walked in and took one look at me and went "Oh my god, you got a Quinn cut!" which... well, yeah. I did. **

**I also just got asked on Tumblr how many chapters are left. After this one and including the epilogue, twenty. Twenty days, guys...**

**From **_**BriannaLiz: Could you imagine that, when Kurt first showed up at Dalton looking for the Glee room, happened upon some Warblers playing spin-the-bottle? Now, I know that isn't very realistic because most of them are straight, but, what if Blaine had some sort of dirt on them and he just wanted to see when make fools of themselves? :) So, the Warblers kinda just force Kurt into it and BAM! Klaine kiss...mhm…**_

**So it's not going to be _just _spin-the-bottle. If anybody has ever played this game before, let me know, because as far as I know I just made it up.**

* * *

Madness

_This place is a nightmare._

Oh, it was _elaborate_ yes, and beautiful and Kurt could just imagine himself fitting in perfectly - as long as he didn't have to wear the uniform that was - but Kurt had been sneaking around the school for a good half hour and had to face facts.

He was lost.

It had still been class time when Kurt had arrived and the entire school had been empty. Wandering up the extravagant staircase, Kurt had been a little too taken in by the decor to focus on where he was actually headed. After awhile, he had started listening out for the sound of music or singing that might guide him to a choir room, but there was nothing. And, thirty minutes later, Kurt not only still had no idea where this choir room was, but he had no idea how to leave either. If someone happened to walk past, Kurt would somehow have to explain that he had snuck in to spy from another school and then ask how to get out.

More likely than not he would be strung up in the dungeons to rot because Kurt was pretty sure this _damn _school had one of those too.

Climbing yet another staircase - and that was stupid because he probably needed to go _down _to get out but Kurt couldn't find the staircase down for the life of him - Kurt froze as he heard voices. He had already walked past a few classes in session but the doors had all been closed. This one was open and it certainly didn't sound like a class in session; too much laughter, too much fun… could it be?

The sound of a piano ringing out confirmed it. Kurt had found the choir room.

_Now what?_

It was obvious that the Warblers weren't actually practicing and Kurt found himself at a loss. He had come to spy after all and if they weren't singing, he had no reason to be there. But at the same time, he kind of had no idea how to leave and Kurt just _knew _he would get even more hopelessly lost if he tried.

So for now, Kurt leaned against the wall and listened.

"We totally should!"

"Cameron, I thought you were _straight_!"

"Yeah, but I like Never Have I Ever and Jeff usually ends up being the one kissing all the guys anyway."

Kurt was pretty sure he had crashed on his way to Dalton and was lying unconscious on the side of the road because were these boys really talking about _kissing __each __other _and not caring? He had heard rumors of a zero tolerance bullying policy - just another reason to spur him to come along - but did it really go that far that they were _so _open about it?

_Or are they actually all gay like I only dreamt they might be?_

"I'll go get a bottle!"

_Crap._

A boy walked around the door before stopping and turning to him. "Guys, there's someone out here!"

Kurt cringed as murmurs of interest rose, just waiting for the entire group to come and stare at him like he was some kind of freak show - at least if they were all the same as the boy who was currently watching him. And then a voice rose above the others sounding exasperated. "Really? If there is someone out there, we're probably going to scare them off. I'll go." Another person joined the first, shaking his head. "Insanity. Cameron, go get the bottle if that's where you're headed." The first boy disappeared, casting no less than seven curious looks back at Kurt and the second sighed. "I'm so sorry about him. We try to hide him away and only bring him out for performances but it doesn't work too well." Kurt smiled slightly and the boy grinned reassuringly. "Oh, right, sorry! I'm Blaine."

"Kurt," he said, not sure what else to do. Blaine held out a hand and Kurt grasped it, shaking lightly. "I - um. I'm not really sure how to explain myself being here." He had, about half an hour ago when Kurt had thought it would be much easier to just sneak into a prestigious school like Dalton. But somehow 'new kid' just didn't feel like it was going to fly with this guy.

Blaine still hadn't stopped smiling. "Considering you're outside our choir room three weeks before Sectionals, I can't help but wonder whether you might be a spy from another school."

"Did he say _spy_?"

"I'm dealing with it, Thad!" Blaine called back into the room before turning back to Kurt. "So?"

Kurt nodded, ducking his head. "I'm sorry. I didn't really want to, the other guys told me to do something useful and spy and I sort of ended up - I'm sorry, I'll go."

"No, wait." Blaine's hand was suddenly on his arm and Kurt glanced down at it, surprised. "You're not just here to spy, are you?"

"Are you gay?"

The question was out before Kurt could stop it and Blaine was answering before he could do damage control. "I am. Not everybody here is though - it's not a gay school, just zero tolerance. I'm guessing you are too by that question?"

Kurt nodded, biting back a sudden flood of emotion. "I'm the only one out of the closet at my school. It - it gets difficult."

"I'll bet," Blaine said quietly. "I -"

He was cut off by the reappearance of the other boy - Cameron, if Kurt remembered correctly. "I've got the bottle!"

"I can see that, thank you," Blaine said in a tone that Kurt somehow knew was reserved for this boy, just like Kurt had a tone reserved for Finn at his most idiotic. "I'll be there in a moment, you can start without me." He turned back to Kurt apologetically. "I'd apologize again but I'd have to be apologizing for him forever. Now, I've got three choices for you. One is that, of course, you can leave if you want to. I can show you how to get out of here, I know it's a bit confusing. Two, we can find somewhere to talk because you look like you need to. Or three, we go in there and watch my friends make general idiots out of themselves because you also look like you need cheering up."

Kurt had expected to need to think about it but the answer was already slipping out because, strangely enough, the one thing he really wanted right now was just to let loose a little. "I'll come with you guys."

Blaine grinned. "Alright, come on then. I will warn you though - they're either on the wrong side of crazy or… okay, we're all crazy. Anyway, I'll look after you." And before Kurt could comment on not needing to be _looked __after _or change his mind because these Warblers were actually starting to sound kind of scary, Blaine took his hand and led him into the room.

The conversation stopped immediately and every boy in the circle on the floor - Kurt suddenly remembered something about spin-the-bottle and wondered how quickly he could slip Blaine's grip and escape - turned to face them. "Guys, this is Kurt," Blaine said cheerfully, making Kurt wonder if there was anything he did that _wasn__'__t _cheerful. "He's come to visit us for the day - no, he's not a spy, he's also not my boyfriend so don't go there. Just try not to be as crazy as normal and we'll go on with our game."

"But -"

"No."

"You can't just -"

"I can."

"What about -"

"Nothing like that."

"Blaine -"

"Katy Perry nonstop for the next three weeks."

Silence, and all the boys looked to three who were sitting together. One was holding a gavel and the other two were whispering to him. Finally he nodded. "We'd call your bluff but clearly this is important to you. Welcome, Kurt."

Thankfully Blaine guided him to sit down at that point because Kurt's head was spinning, more from the fact that the other boys were sitting there like this was _normal._

_And I thought New Directions was dysfunctional._

"Have you started yet?" Blaine asked, grinning when the others shook their heads. "Okay, here's how this game works. It's a combination of Never Have I Ever and Spin-The-Bottle. We play knockout Never Have I Ever - we all raise our hand and lower it when we're out - until there's only one person remaining. They have to spin the bottle and either kiss the person or the person gets to make them do something like in Truth or Dare. Make sense?"

Kurt had to shake his head. "You told me this wasn't a gay school."

The others burst into laughter, Blaine joining them. "I'm sorry, Blaine, but if you wanted to show him that we were straight, this was probably the worst example!" called out one of the boys on the other side of the circle. "There's actually only three gay guys in this room - Blaine, Nick and Jeff."

"Four, actually," Kurt found himself saying.

Nobody batted an eyelid. "Four then. The only other questionable ones are Wes and David who claim to just have a very epic bromance."

"We do!" came the simultaneous protests from the boy with the gavel and the dark-skinned boy next to him, causing more laughter.

Blaine rolled his eyes but Kurt could tell he was trying not to smile. "Whenever you're ready, guys." Everybody raised their hand, Kurt following suit a touch awkwardly. "I'll make this one very simple on you all. Never have I ever kissed a girl."

Every hand except for Blaine's and one other person's went down. Blaine shot Kurt a surprised look and he smirked, enjoying having the upper advantage for once. "Nick, when did you kiss a girl?" one of the boys from the Wes and David bromance asked.

"Truth or dare," the dark haired boy explained before nudging the blonde haired boy who still had his hand up. "Jeff managed to avoid that particular evil."

Blaine elbowed a boy on his other side. "Trent, your turn."

"Never have I ever had a solo."

Jeff groaned loudly. "Are you for _real_? Against Blaine?" He sighed as Blaine lowered his hand, smirking. "Fine, give me the damn bottle."

Silence as everybody watched the bottle spin before a collective groan rang out. "How the hell did he get _Nick_?" came the demand from one of the boys. "Is the bottle rigged or something?"

"I don't think -"

"He wasn't being serious, Cameron," Blaine interrupted wearily. "Can we just keep it PG, guys?"

Jeff winked - actually _winked_ - at Blaine. "You're just jealous," he said before turning to the boy next to him that Kurt had by now learned was named Nick. "Come here, you."

Kurt could do nothing but stare - not so much at the boys who were kissing (although they were a little distracting) but at the other boys who were doing _nothing_. No disgusted expressions, no rude comments, nothing to indicate that what was going on in front of them was anything less than normal.

Whatever they were on, Kurt wanted some to give to his school. The crazy after effects were enough of a price to pay.

"Okay," the boy with the gavel spoke up and Kurt blinked, realizing the two had stopped kissing already. "Hands up. Never have I ever dated a cheerleader."

Kurt couldn't bite back his laughter as he lowered his hand - one of only three boys who had. Blaine shook his head. "I'm sorry, there are male cheerleaders at your school?"

"No. Well," Kurt amended, "just me but I'm not really on the squad anymore. The girl I kind of dated but mostly made out with during my butch phase was a cheerleader."

Blaine's incredulous stare made it all worthwhile. "You are by far the most interesting person to have walked through those doors, Kurt," he finally said. "I'm going to have to get to know you better."

"And when the two boys in the corner have stopped flirting, we can continue our game!"

"There's no corner in a circle, Cameron," Kurt found himself saying, trying desperately to hide his blush because had he really just been _flirting _with this boy? He quickly glanced up at the next person in the circle, frowning. "Which one are you, Wes or David?"

The boy laughed. "I'm David. Good luck with that though, if I remember my first Warbler experience correctly you'll be having trouble remembering your own name right now." Kurt nodded, eliciting more laughter and a gentle elbow nudge from Blaine. "Never have I ever broken a bone."

"Never?" one of the boys asked incredulously and there was a collective murmur of surprise as the rest of the boys put their hands down, leaving David as the only one with his hand raised. "What kind of teenage guy are you? You do _backflips._"

"Successfully," David explained as he reached out for the bottle. "I just have coordination."

"What did you break?" Kurt whispered to Blaine as the bottle span.

Blaine chuckled. "Funnily enough, my arm when I was trying to do a backflip. David's insistence - oh, this is going to be interesting."

The bottle had stopped on a boy two seats down from Kurt who raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Well, David, as lovely as you are, I did just get a girlfriend so I think I'm going to have to make you do something."

"Suit yourself," David said cheerfully.

The boy thought for a few seconds before snapping his fingers, grinning. "Wes, disappear for a second." Frowning, Wes stood and left the room, the boy waiting until the door was shut before he continued. "Next official Warbler meeting when Wes gets you to read back the minutes, they all have to be a complete mess. Half taken notes and things not recorded properly. I want to see how far he'll flip out and how much bodily harm he'll threaten you with before you reveal the proper minutes."

Nick leaned across to give the boy a high-five as the Warblers all cracked up laughing. "Oh my god, he'll _murder _me," David said, looking appalled. "He's going to ban me from choreographing and we'll get someone like _Blaine _doing it and then we'll end up with a two step shuffle for all of our songs again."

"My choreography was excellent!" Blaine called out. "Any time we tried to do anything more complicated last year, Jeff tripped over his feet!"

"Hey!" came the yell from the hallway. "I hear laughter. Can I come in yet?"

"Confused out of your mind yet?" came the murmur in Kurt's ear and he nodded quickly. "I thought so," Blaine said, amusement tingeing his words. "We're a strange lot but I can assure you, we are good competition for Sectionals. So if your group is expecting anything back from you, you can give them that."

Wes entered the room again, taking his place as Kurt mulled over Blaine's words. _Would _the boys be expecting intel from him? After all, nobody knew that he was actually here and they probably wouldn't believe the afternoon he had experienced… come to think of it…

"I'll just tell them I spent the afternoon playing Never Have I Ever Spin The Bottle with you guys, one of you has a gavel and prep school boys do make out," Kurt whispered back. "They'll go crazy themselves, especially Santana."

Blaine looked somewhere between amused and confused, the same state Kurt had spent his entire time here in. "Sounds like a great Glee club."

"Funnily enough, they're a bit like yours."

"Hands up!" came the call and Kurt raised his hand again. "Never have I ever dated my best friend."

Kurt's hand stayed up that time and he smiled wryly, remembering what had happened with Mercedes the previous year. Blaine's hand was also up as well as a few other boys - Kurt noticed that both Jeff and Nick had lowered their hands and smiled. "Okay," said the next guy around, "never have I ever wanted to study medicine."

Two more hands went down including Blaine's and Kurt glanced at him. "Still do?"

"Not really," Blaine murmured back. "I'm definitely more into performing now."

And that was something to mull over later - not only the fact that Blaine was a performer like himself but that he was talking to this guy like he had known him for ages and was planning to continue getting to know him. But the game was continuing and Kurt tuned back in, realizing there were only two other hands raised in the room besides his. "Never have I ever," the next boy began before pausing, clearly thinking. "Been fishing."

One of the hands went down and Kurt's eyes widened. Jeff laughed suddenly and stared right at Kurt. "Well, I _could _be nice because you're a visitor and I don't know you but… nah. Never have I ever been a Warbler."

Kurt groaned, aware of Blaine chuckling beside him. "Fine," he said mutinously, grabbing the bottle and spinning it quickly. "At least I don't have to see any of you ever again if you make me do something stupid."

"Well I believe we'll have to see each other at Sectionals actually," Blaine chipped in, "so I don't - oh."

Both boys stared down at the bottle which was pointing square at Blaine.

"It's your decision," Kurt heard himself saying. His mind had gone blank, almost carefully so, and his mouth was working on autopilot because if he thought too much about this he might freak out and run away and never come back and that would kind of suck because Blaine was actually pretty awesome.

"It's yours, actually," Blaine said quietly. "But if you want me to -?"

"Please."

Blaine nodded, Kurt only catching it out of the corner of his eye as he was still staring at the bottle. "Okay. Can you look at me?" Kurt slowly lifted his eyes, turning to look at Blaine who stared at him thoughtfully for a second. "I think I'm going to ask you to kiss me."

His heart leaping, Kurt managed to swallow it and his fears in one go. "I think I can do that," he said quietly before leaning in to put that theory to the test.

Yeah. He could _definitely _kiss Blaine.

Even though Kurt had talked a fair bit about his experiences with Brittany that day, he knew full well that his kissing experience was limited. Brittany had been the one kissing him the whole time, after all, and Kurt had spent the time off in another world, trying to ignore the fact that a decidedly _female _girl was trying to suck his tongue out of his mouth. He didn't know how it felt to kiss someone who would simply kiss back, take the emotion that was meant to be behind the action and bring that to the foreground.

And somehow this boy who Kurt had known for all of half an hour was doing that and Kurt couldn't believe it. Blaine was kissing him like Kurt was the most important person to him, kissing him like all he wanted to do was kiss Kurt even though they didn't know each other and they were rivals and all of those things that should be important but weren't because they were kissing.

Maybe it was meant to just be a physical action, a result of a game that nobody took seriously and all that, but Kurt couldn't help but take more from it.

A loud wolf-whistle had the two breaking apart, sharing one glance that said a thousand uninterpretable words before Blaine turned his glare to Cameron. "You do realize you are a _complete_ idiot, right?"

"Yeah," Cameron said. "You do realize you were sucking face with your friend and we were getting bored, right?"

Blaine sighed. "You know what? I'm suddenly in the mood for an impromptu performance. _Teenage __Dream _in the Senior commons in five?"

Wes grabbed his gavel and rapped it on the floor. "All in favour?" Kurt watched, amused, as the group raised their hands. "Decided. Make your way down."

The boys stood and headed out of the room. Kurt moved to join them but Blaine's hand closed over his own gently, keeping him seated. "Hey," Blaine said as soon as the room was empty, "look, I don't know whether you've got a boyfriend or anything -"

"I don't."

"Or if that was even anything more to you than just a game -"

"It was."

"Or if you even want to get to know me -"

"I do."

Blaine stopped, rolling his eyes. "Okay then. Why don't you tell me what you want since you can't let me talk?"

"I just want to get to know you," Kurt said honestly. "That was the first kiss for me that's counted and maybe it was just due to it being that, maybe it's due to you being the first openly gay guy I've met and talked to, but maybe there's more and I don't want to let that slip away if I can. And even if there isn't, you still seem like a great guy who I'd like to get to know."

Blaine squeezed his hand. "Agreed. Let's start with friends and work our way up. What's your number?" Kurt rattled it off and Blaine punched it into his phone. "Now, I need to get down there and sing some Katy Perry. Do you want to come and watch?"

Kurt shook his head, noticing the flash of disappointment in Blaine's eyes. "No. I don't want to spy on you guys, not when you've all been so nice to me. We'll be seeing each other at Sectionals, anyway."

Blaine nodded, understanding. "I hope we'll be seeing each other before Sectionals though," he said quietly and now it was Kurt's turn to understand that Blaine was pretty much laying his heart on the line right there.

So was Kurt. And all he could do was hope that it would pay off.

"We will. Trust me."

* * *

**Ah, my crazy Warbler boys. Becoming more and more canon by the day.**

* * *

**I was too early for MusicalEscape today I think. Sorry!**


	215. Kam

**So wait, America doesn't get Glee next week either?**

**I rewatched parts of Mash-Off today. Rory... oh my god, I nearly cried again. I just can't handle seeing that happen. It is _not_ okay in any world.**

**From **_**Klainebows Everywhere (Anonymous): Rumors: They aren't together and everyone thinks Kam are having a secret love affair of sorts, because Sam doesn't want to come out. Obviously they are not, but Blaine is miserable and keeps trying to be the supportive bestie while trying to get Kurt to tell him about it. Kurt is not amused.**_

**Oh Blainers. Kurt is actually a little amused.**

**And this is ridiculously convenient because we just showed my mum Rumors for the first time. The look on her face when Sam and Kurt left the motel together... ;)**

* * *

Kam

"I can't believe their _nerve_!"

Blaine blinked a couple of times, staring at Kurt who had just stormed through his bedroom door without so much as knocking. That in itself wasn't uncommon - whenever Kurt was particularly frustrated about a bad Warbler practice or being left out of something that New Directions were a part of, he would always practically knock down Blaine's door to rant to him about it. Blaine had made it clear from Kurt's first day at Dalton that he was always welcome and Kurt had taken it to heart, considering his dorm room was just down the hall and it was the first place he could come to when he was angry or upset.

The one thing throwing Blaine for a bit of a loop was the fact that Kurt had _transferred_.

"They think my personal life is any of their business? Just because they all flout their relationships in everybody's faces doesn't mean I want to do the same with mine! And they have _no _right to spy on me like that, to intrude into my life and Sam's life and think that they're being helpful!"

Blaine knew better than to interrupt Kurt when he was mid-rant, but this was a bit different. "Kurt, I have no idea what's wrong. What happened with Sam?"

"It's not what happened with Sam," Kurt explained, cooling off a little. "It's what they all _presume _happened with Sam and what they went out of their way to spy on us to see if it happened - and yes, the evidence is compelling in their favour but that doesn't mean it's _true_!" Blaine coughed lightly and Kurt stopped, turning back to him. "Right, sorry. New Directions is convinced that Sam is involved with me and Quinn at the same time so they've been spying to catch us alone."

Okay. Right. Breathe.

"I thought Sam and Quinn dated," Blaine began, taking the easiest task first.

Kurt nodded. "They _dated_. Quinn cheated on him with Finn and then picked Sam but Sam found out and wasn't impressed so they broke up and Finn and Quinn got together but now Finn's convinced that Quinn's cheating on him with Sam."

"Does your school actually know what a healthy relationship is?"

"Clearly not." Kurt sighed, dropping onto Blaine's bed and letting his bag thud to the floor. "Naturally Quinn's not impressed but since Rachel's fueling Finn's fire, there's no way this is going to stop. And the stupid newspaper leaking everything from Santana being a lesbian to me and Sam hooking up in a motel… I mean, they get some things right and others horrendously wrong."

Blaine was thankful Kurt had spun away from him at that moment as he had to close his eyes again. Clearly the thing the newspaper had gotten wrong there was Santana's sexuality - Kurt had described the girl as a 'ravenous man-eating leech' at one point - so what they got right was Sam and Kurt in a… _no_.

Kurt wasn't that kind of guy… was he?

"And you and Sam?"

"Well Rachel cracked out the binoculars," Kurt said, spinning back around to face him, "and her and Finn staked out the motel, got a couple of photos of me leaving. Finn confronted me and I told him it was none of his business but he's determined to find out what's going on which is amusing because I know if I started giving 'details', he'd freak out."

Blaine was just about ready to do a bit of that freaking out himself because Kurt had just admitted there were _details _to be given and where the hell had the little innocent Kurt that had been at Dalton gone?

Obviously to a motel with Sam.

Kurt sighed and leaned back in the chair. "I just feel awful for Sam. It took ages for him to settle in as the new kid and then this happens to him and the whole Glee club turns on him and it's like myself and Quinn are the only ones with any sense. I mean, Quinn's dealing with so much, being accused of cheating even though there's no way she's doing _anything _with Sam."

And the definiteness in Kurt's tone made it final for Blaine.

There was no way Quinn was doing anything with Sam because _Kurt _was the one doing things with Sam.

"I hope things work out for you guys," Blaine found himself saying helplessly because what else could he do? As much as every fibre of him wanted to tell Kurt _exactly _what he thought of him and Sam being together in a motel, he kept quiet. After everything Kurt had been through and was going through with New Directions, Blaine knew his role was clear. To be the friend who would take Kurt's side, the one who would stick up for him and tell him that there was nothing wrong with what he was doing and to stay strong.

Kurt smiled gratefully at him. "I knew you'd take my side. Thanks." He stood, grabbing his bag again. "I'd better run, I told Sam I'd come see him tonight, I just needed to get that out of my system." He paused by Blaine's desk, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You're a great friend, Blaine."

Blaine smiled as Kurt left before it dropped off his face and he sighed.

_That's all I'll ever be._

* * *

"So it's true?"

"We saw them, dude."

Blaine sighed, dropping back onto his bed. "When you say saw them," he began tentatively, _really _not wanting to know but needing to. "What do you -"

"Nothing like that!" Finn said loudly and Blaine pulled the phone away from his ear a little. "We saw Kurt leaving the motel, talking to Sam pretty seriously. Neither of us can lip read so we didn't work out what was being said but Kurt put a hand on his shoulder and they sort of stared at each other for a minute before Kurt left."

"And he's there tonight?"

"Not sure. But he's there every night, unless Quinn's there." Finn sighed and Blaine could hear the frustration in his voice. "I just don't get why she'd go back to him."

Blaine matched his feelings completely. "I don't see why they're _both _going there. I mean, I thought Sam was straight."

"Well there are guys who like guys and girls aren't there?"

He had to smile at that one. "Bisexuals, yes. There's also girls who like girls and guys."

Finn was silent for a second and Blaine cringed, wondering what images he had set free in the other boy's mind. "Anyway, I don't know how to get the truth out of Quinn. Right now she's pissed at me for not trusting her and Kurt won't listen to me if I try to get him to talk. They both say it's none of my business but considering it's my step-brother, my girlfriend and a guy I thought was a friend, how is it not?"

"I don't understand it either, Finn."

Suspicious silence. "Hold on. Why are you so concerned? You and Kurt aren't dating."

Blaine hesitated a second before figuring Finn had been honest with him and he deserved the same. "I kind of want to be. Obviously if he's with Sam I'm not going to intervene but… I guess I'm just worried that Kurt's rushing into this, especially if there are motel rooms involved."

"Well, you'll just need to keep an eye on -" Finn cut himself off and Blaine could hear him getting up and the sound of a curtain being pushed back. "Oh, Rachel's here. Apparently we're going to spy again. I'll let you know if Kurt's there."

"Thanks, Finn."

The phone went dead and Blaine sighed, putting it on his bed and covering his face with his hands. _You __are __fine, _he told himself sternly. _You __are __a __good __friend __and __you __are __going __to __support __Kurt __and __his __new __boyfriend._

_So _much easier said than done.

* * *

_Can I transfer back? - Kurt_

_What's happened? Are you alright? Do I need to call? - Blaine_

_Calm down, nothing like that, I promise. ND are just driving me crazy - they won't stop making assumptions about my personal life when it is seriously none of their business. - Kurt_

_I'm sorry. - Blaine_

_It's Sam that I'm sorry for. I mean, I'm used to this sort of thing but he isn't. It wasn't long ago that he was on top and now it's like he's fallen so far. - Kurt_

_If there's anything I can do for him, let me know. I know how it feels to fall like that. - Blaine_

_That's sweet, I'll let him know. Thanks Blaine. How's Dalton? - Kurt_

_Same as ever. Different without you. - Blaine_

_I miss it sometimes. - Kurt_

_I miss you sometimes. - Blaine_

_Same. - Kurt_

None of it meant what he wanted but Blaine knew that ship had long sailed.

* * *

"He's wearing his clothing."

Blaine frowned, quickly taking the phone off speaker and waving away the curious glances from his friends. "I'm sorry… Rachel?"

"Obviously. Do you not have my number in your phone? That's not important," she continued before Blaine could answer. "What's important is that I saw Sam today in that jacket of Kurt's and I _know _it was Kurt's jacket and Kurt didn't even deny it and I don't understand how or why this happened but I _will _get to the bottom of it just like I will prove to Finn that Quinn is cheating and he is therefore much better off without her."

Blaine still didn't understand how it was possible for Rachel to not pass out from oxygen deprivation at least twice a day. "I - okay," he said finally. "Look, maybe it's better to just leave Kurt and Sam to it. If they want to be open about what's going on then they can."

"No!" Blaine winced before shaking his head at David who was starting to look concerned. "No, because if I stay silent about this then we'll never figure out what's going on with Quinn and Sam and then Quinn and Finn will stay together and -" Rachel cut herself off abruptly and Blaine had to smile because yeah, that was obvious and a half.

"What?" he asked anyway.

Rachel struggled for a few seconds. "And Quinn will never atone for what she's done."

Blaine snorted. "I thought Quinn was a Christian? Pretty sure she'll have _some _kind of atoning to do." He sighed and decided to let Rachel off the hook. "Maybe Sam is just confused about his sexuality, or maybe he's not ready to come out yet."

"But that doesn't explain Quinn!"

"I can't explain Quinn." _I __can__'__t __explain __any __of __this. _"Just leave them be, Rachel. The truth will come out when it does and the last thing you need is for the truth to come out about you and Finn spying because that really just makes things a lot worse."

Rachel sighed. "You know, you and Kurt would have made a good couple," she said suddenly. "It's a pity you don't feel the same way as he did."

Even after Rachel had (finally) hung up, the words continued rolling in his head. _As __he __did._

_Did._

_Had, but no longer does._

* * *

**Feeling sorry for myself. Do not enter.**

Blaine hung the sign on the door with a rueful smile - it was stupid, yes, but he was actually grateful to Jeff for making it for him after getting sick of walking into Blaine's room to find him moping. This way the other Warblers would ignore him unless there was an emergency and Blaine could, as the sign said, feel sorry for himself in peace.

It wasn't _that _often that he needed to mope. Usually Blaine was a pretty cheerful and down to earth guy who let things roll off his back. He had dealt with a lot of crap in the past and it put small things like being shot down in a Warbler meeting or told off for jumping on furniture into perspective. But sometimes certain things got to him just a bit too much and he needed some time off, some time alone to think things through.

Or, like right now, he just needed to crack out the violin and mope.

Blaine hadn't heard from Kurt in the past two days and, according to Finn, Kurt hadn't been home either of those evenings. To think of Kurt and Sam in that motel together - and Sam was _still _wearing Kurt's clothes according to Rachel - wasn't horrifying to Blaine or scandalous like the others seemed to think.

It just left him cold.

Blaine had _had _a chance with Kurt, he really had. If he hadn't screwed everything up on Valentine's Day then he definitely would have talked to Kurt before Regionals and told him exactly how he felt. But it was too soon and after jumping into something with Jeremiah after a couple of coffee dates, Blaine knew Kurt deserved better. So he had kept quiet and waited a little while, hoping for the perfect chance to tell Kurt that he was interested, _more _than interested and hopefully Kurt could forgive him for being an idiot.

And then Kurt had wanted to go back to McKinley and Blaine had no reason to make him stay. So he had watched as Kurt had left then combined the Warblers to give him a proper send-off where it had taken every ounce of self control not to cry or run into Kurt's arms and tell him how much he actually cared about him. Instead he had hugged him normally like the rest of the guys and disappeared, leaving Kurt to it. Of course they still met up for coffee frequently but Blaine could feel himself slipping out of Kurt's life every time he heard the latest story of what Mercedes was up to or why exactly Rachel was planning to get cosmetic surgery.

Now Sam. Sam had swept in and taken his Kurt away from him and Blaine had nobody to blame for that but himself.

The bow scraped across the violin discordantly and Blaine sighed, tossing it away and gently placing the violin back in its case. Even _that _wasn't helping today.

And then the sound of footsteps and Blaine knew it was coming.

Kurt pushed open the door and fell into Blaine's desk chair with a sigh. "They all found out."

Blaine winced, gently closing the clasps on the case so he didn't have to look at Kurt. "Oh."

"Nobody said anything. They baited him for too long and he just came out with it and then ran out and they all just stared at each other and obviously Quinn and I had a superior moment but _still_. It shouldn't have happened like that and they should be more supportive. It's not his fault, not even close to it. And I went after him and did everything I could to cheer him up but even I couldn't help and -"

"Kurt, do we have to talk about this?" Blaine finally interrupted, trying to mask the hurt in his voice.

Kurt was silent for a few seconds. "Why not?" came the question finally, so simple and confused and Blaine couldn't _handle _this anymore.

"Because I know you're just talking about what's going on but every single time you mention _his _name you're rubbing salt into the wound and just reminding me of how stupid I was!" Blaine jumped to his feet and began to pace, the long unsaid words spilling out of him in a torrent. "I have tried so hard to just be the supportive friend here but I've also been trying to find a way to tell you for _weeks _that I was wrong on Valentine's Day and you were right and you're always right and I _am _crazy about you but I just never knew it. So yes, I'm happy for you and Sam and I hope things work out and I'm sorry your club haven't gotten over their homophobia yet but please, _please _stop with all the details. You can still talk to me about anything but please just be considerate of my feelings. I know you didn't know but now you do so -"

"Sam's homeless."

Now it was Blaine's turn to stop. "Okay," he said tentatively. "I'm sorry for him. That's… yeah, that's actually pretty awful. I'm glad he's got you to look after him then, if there's anything I can do just let me know."

There was a sigh. "Sam's _homeless_," Kurt emphasized.

"I got that. Are you saying money matters to you or something?"

Silence and Blaine was beginning to wonder whether he had said the wrong thing when a pair of hands landed on his shoulders, spinning him abruptly towards the owner. "This is what all of this has been about," Kurt said firmly. "Sam's parents lost their job and they're homeless. Living in a _motel_. Sam had to sell a lot of his possessions to get them money including a lot of his clothes so I gave him some of my older collections to tide him over. Quinn's been bringing him food and together we're babysitting his siblings while Sam works at night whenever he can."

Comprehension was slowly starting to dawn. "You mean -?"

"I'm not dating Sam, Blaine. Sam is completely straight and always has been. I am simply helping his family out with a difficult situation, Quinn's doing the same and the whole Glee club have been making assumptions about it. And you," Kurt added a little quieter. "You have been too."

Blaine ducked his head. "I know, I'm sorry, I just - Kurt, you never said you _weren__'__t_."

He couldn't look up at Kurt in that moment because now he had just screwed up _more _and there was no way this perfect specimen of a human being who just kept on getting _more _perfect would ever want him now. Not after this.

And then there was a sudden chuckle. "You're right," Kurt said sounding amazed. "I never did. Blaine, look at me?" Blaine hesitantly looked up and Kurt smiled at him. "I'm not annoyed at you. You really didn't have a lot of detail to work off and I didn't make that easy for you to figure out - I should have just come straight out and told you instead of assuming you knew. I'm just so used to you knowing everything about me that I figured you did. I'm sorry."

"You shouldn't have to apologize for that," Blaine said immediately. "I should be apologizing for making stupid assumptions and not actually asking you. And… I should be apologizing for never taking that chance on you and never telling you how I felt and _god_, I just told you in the middle of a rant and you deserve _far _more than that and I know you probably don't feel the same anymore even if you are still single and I think you should go," he finished, defeat suddenly tingeing his words. "I'm sorry."

More laughter and then Kurt was taking his hands, squeezing once, hard, before holding them gently. "I'm not going anywhere unless you actually want me to walk out of here not your boyfriend." Blaine looked up again, scarcely daring to believe it, but it seemed like it was _true_. "Do you really think I don't still adore you?"

The sound Blaine made was close to a whimper and he had to shut his eyes, overwhelmed because Kurt hadn't actually _said _he still liked him but Blaine had to draw an assumption from what he _had _said and was trying so desperately not to at the same time.

"Blaine?"

He forced his eyes open and Kurt was still there, still smiling at him. "That's a yes. Yes, I still want to be with you and yes, I forgive you for not saying anything earlier and yes… I would like it if you kissed me sometime soon. Get that confidence back, bring back the Blaine I fell for and come and get what you want."

And with that, Kurt stepped away, disentangling their hands and waiting. Just far away enough that Blaine would have to make some kind of move, the _first _move. It was kind of terrifying and something he had never done before and -

It was Kurt.

Suddenly everything else cleared and Blaine shook his head a little like a fog had lifted. Yes, the past week had been crazy and such a strain on his emotions but here was Kurt right in front of him _wanting _to be his and Blaine wanted him and now it was just so easy to -

Blaine stepped forward, took Kurt's face in his hands and kissed him.

Kurt made an appreciative murmuring noise against his lips and wrapped his arms firmly around Blaine's shoulders, drawing him closer. And Blaine realized in that one action that this was how a relationship with Kurt would be - equal but role-sharing. Sometimes one would have to take care of the other, one would have to be the confident one, one would have to make the first moves. In this case, Blaine had been the one forced into making this move but he knew a time would come where Kurt would have to be the one to step up and do it.

It was exactly what they both needed.

They would build trust in time - proper, relationship trust. Blaine would soon learn that Kurt spending time with various males did not mean he was involved with them, just like Kurt would learn that Jeff and Blaine alone in his room with the door closed meant helping Jeff plan something amazing for Nick's birthday and not whatever they would later argue about. They would make mistakes and learn from them, have fights and make up. There would be plenty of time for all of that.

For now they were just two people learning how to be together and learning to deal with what the world might throw at them.

* * *

**Oh jeez, I got sappy. Again. It's just Klaine - they bring out the worst in me ;)**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Never have I ever randomly burst into a Katy Perry song."**_

_***gasp* "NICK! WE MUST MENTOR THE NEW GUY! Blaine, you're the expert! Become his friend/crush and go through the long courtship ordeal so you guys can date!"**_

_***wipes tear from eye* "Blainers is growing up... Hey, maybe he'll follow New Kid gave us the chance for a solo! I can almost taste it! It tastes like... Huh, tastes like cool mint."**_


	216. Goodbye

**I have Tamagotchi fever. The only problem is that I don't have a Tamagotchi. And did you know those things are collectors items now and worth hundreds? And we used to throw them out once they died as kids because it was cheaper to buy a new Tamagotchi than buy new batteries. **

**I want one!**

**From **_**Klaineforthewin: You know the phrase "a kiss to remember me by"? So like one of them is moving, or joining the military, or they're breaking up, or what have you, basically they won't see each other again for a long time to ever again, and the other one kisses them goodbye.**_

**I refer to it as the army. You'll have to forgive my Australianisms here but I'd get far too confused if I changed it.**

**I wrote this story when I was publishing around Chapter 92. I couldn't get this out of my head because I had a dream that I was dating Blaine (as Kurt) and I left him for eight months and had to say goodbye. And when I wrote it, I wrote a sequel which will be up straight after this chapter is. I encourage you to read that too, it's called _Four Years On._**

* * *

Goodbye

"It's only four years."

"You can't use the words 'only' and 'four years' in a sentence and expect that it'll make me feel okay."

Blaine sighed, shifting his bag to his other hand. "I know."

Kurt sighed as well. He was still attempting to smile, but Blaine knew it had been fake for the past few days. In the few months of their relationship, they had simply been able to ignore the impending date coming up, ignore the fact that Blaine had already signed up for this, that there was no choice anymore.

Blaine had tried to convince Kurt not to date him. After all, he was leaving soon, he had tried to reason to the other boy. He loved Kurt, yes, more than he thought he could ever love anybody, but he didn't want either of them to end up heartbroken. But Kurt had fought back. "Why shouldn't we be able to have a few months of happiness, Blaine?" he had asked, and try as he could, Blaine couldn't argue. He had kept the physical aspect out of their relationship completely though, knowing that it would be even harder to leave if he so much as kissed Kurt.

And now it came to this. Both of them, standing outside the airport, trying to fight back their tears. And even as he thought that, he saw Kurt succumb, the first tear slipping down his cheek. "I just don't want to lose you," he whispered brokenly, successfully breaking Blaine's heart.

"I know," he whispered back, opening his arms. Kurt all but fell into them, burying his head into his shoulder. Blaine pressed his cheek against Kurt's temple, inhaling his scent for the last time in four years... and possibly the last time ever. "I know, but you'll never lose my heart. You'll never lose what we've shared."

Kurt nodded, pressing his head in closer. Blaine rubbed his back, his own tears beginning to fall. _I __never __thought __it __would __hurt __this __much_, he thought bitterly.

Because he honestly hadn't. When his father had sat down with him and told him about the four year plan, Blaine had thought it was a great idea. Enlist for four years, serve the country, and then come back and do what he wanted to do - his music. He would be financially secure, his father would be happy and the rest of his life would be his.

But back at the start of the year, Kurt had just been a friend. And while Blaine had known it would be hard to say goodbye to his friends - Wes and David had both struggled to hold it together while saying goodbye, considering they had known each other for years - he didn't realize how difficult it would be to leave Kurt.

"I love you," he whispered into his boyfriend's hair.

Kurt pulled away a little, still keeping his head down. "I love you too."

But Blaine knew Kurt would be okay. He was heading off to New York in a few weeks time, to study fashion design. He would make a name for himself, build himself up to the top of the ladder where Blaine knew he belonged.

And he would do that, knowing his boyfriend was off in war. He would do that with Blaine's memory constantly hanging over him. And Kurt was loyal - he would never allow himself to fall for another, to 'cheat', to do anything to disrespect Blaine. And Blaine knew he deserved better than that. He deserved to be able to have a normal life.

"Kurt, I need to ask you a favor."

Kurt sniffed and nodded. Blaine couldn't keep the twang of guilt away - yes, Kurt had said once that he would do anything for him, but could he really ask...

_Yes. You can._

"Don't wait for me."

Kurt's head reared up in surprise. "What?"

Blaine sighed. "Kurt, you're amazing. And you deserve to be happy, and I'm going to be gone for _four __years_. I want - I just want you to be happy. So -"

And then Kurt was _lunging _at him, crashing their lips together feverishly. The salty taste of tears mingled with the kiss and Kurt was almost sobbing into his lips. "No," he whispered when he finally pulled away, shaking his head. "No. Four years isn't that long. I - I'll wait."

With that, Kurt turned and walked away. Blaine watched him go, Kurt's shoulders shaking with the force of his sobs, before his own tears clouded his vision. He wiped his eyes hastily before turning and walking into the building. He had a plane to catch, a new life to lead.

And a boy to forget.

* * *

**I cried. I'll freely admit that.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"OH GOD. He's taken out the violin. What to do with him..."**_

_***the next day, wearing a mustache and overly large hat***_

_***sets down cardboard box* "Delivery for Kurt Hummel. Open this at home kid. Present from the Warblers. Just feed him on silver sparkles and juice and he'll be fine. And don't let him near any yarn!" *runs out of classroom***_

_**"...who was that?"**_

_**"I think I know, but I'd rather not be certain..."**_


	217. Accident

**READ: For anybody who has been complaining that I left yesterday's story where it was and asking/demanding for a sequel, I did state in yesterday's authors note that the sequel is _already _up. Demands irritate the hell out of me as well. Just saying. **

**Updating early for work again. Yey. At least I'm awake during the day at the moment.**

**We put our Christmas tree up today. I love Christmas :)**

**From **_**cornflakesareglutenfree: So kurt ends up with bruises/scratches on his face, from falling up some stairs, or maybe trying to hang decorations on a wobbly ladder, maybe falling into a prickle bush, what have you. blaine, being the great friend he is, is helping kurt clean up his face and put medicine on his scratches. they reminisce about how when you were little a kiss could make it better, so blaine kisses each scratch, etc.…**_

**Those of you who follow me on Tumblr will know that I talked about a chapter that Angela dubbed as LOVE. EXPLOSIONS. about a month ago. This is it. Enjoy!**

* * *

Accident

Kurt Elizabeth Hummel was graceful, far more so than almost any other teenage boy he had ever met, certainly not accident prone or best friends with a first-aid kit like so many of the other boys Kurt had met, both at Dalton and McKinley. Especially McKinley.

Although that fact was rather hard to press home when Kurt was gingerly pulling himself to his feet, cradling one wrist to his chest and trying so hard not to think about what he knew was the blood dripping down his face from multiple scratches, and trying _really_ hard not to think about the far more important and worrying fact of the matter.

_This is not going to go down well with Blaine. _

Ever since Kurt and Blaine had started rooming together - well, ever since Kurt had started at Dalton but whatever - Blaine had gotten super protective of him. Some times it was nice, like when Kurt was having a bad day and needed everybody else kept out of the room. But some times it really sucked, especially now when Kurt was going to walk into their room, looking like he had gotten into a fight with the parking lot.

...The fact that that was what had actually happened was significantly irrelevant at this point in time.

Ignoring the strange and concerned looks he was getting, Kurt focused on getting across the foyer without anybody catching a proper glimpse of his face. Honestly, it wasn't his fault that Mercedes and Rachel had kept him up nearly all night and he had been so tired driving home that he had nearly run up the back of four cars. And then so tired that he had forgotten about the ankle height parking barrier and tripped straight over it, faceplanting straight into the gravel. Unfortunately his face didn't see it that way, and his roommate probably wouldn't either. Bracing himself for a lecture, Kurt knocked once lightly - an agreed upon method for politeness sake - before opening the door gingerly with his good arm.

Blaine was sprawled on his bed, phone pressed to his ear and weekly planner spread in front of him. "... and just questions four to ten from that chapter." There was silence and Blaine smiled. "Anytime. Are you feeling any better? I still can't believe you never got chicken pox as a kid." Kurt rolled his eyes, assuming Blaine was talking to Wes who had been out all week. Dropping his bag on his bed alerted Blaine's attention to him, the boy glancing up once with a smile before literally doing a double take. "Kurt! What - Wes, I've got to go. Feel better soon." Blaine quickly hung up and jumped to his feet, crossing the room to stand in front of Kurt. "What happened to you?" he demanded. "Did someone -?"

Kurt shook his head. "I became intimately acquainted with the parking lot," he said quietly, ducking his head a little because _hey_, it was kind of embarrassing.

"Who did -?"

"Me," Kurt said quickly. "I tripped over the parking barrier on my way in."

Blaine paused. "Oh," he said carefully. "Right. Is this a, uh, a common pastime of yours?"

Kurt hit him. "I was just tired," he said defensively, trying to ignore the smirk making its way across Blaine's face. "Fine, be like that. I'm going to the nurse."

"Hey, no, wait." Kurt turned back curiously, trying to work out why Blaine would put his teasing above Kurt's wellbeing. His face was really starting to sting, after all, and it would be nice to get the shards of gravel out of his skin sometime soon. "You don't have to go down there. I can take care of you."

Ignoring the shiver that ran down his spine at the thought of Blaine looking after him, Kurt frowned. "What do you mean?" But his question was answered as Blaine reached into the top of his closet and pulled out a first aid box. "You have your own first aid kit? Really? You seriously are Mr. Prepared."

"Force of habit," Blaine said, his voice suddenly tense. "From Westerville."

_Oh. _

"I'm sorry," Kurt said quickly, putting a hand on Blaine's arm before wincing, remembering he had injured that wrist. "I didn't think -"

"It's okay," Blaine said, relaxing visibly. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Now," and here Blaine suddenly took on an authoritative tone, surprising Kurt with it, "sit down and tell me where it hurts. Your face, obviously, and I think you've done in your wrist too?"

Kurt nodded as he sat. "I think that's it. My knees hurt but they're not cut, I checked."

Blaine was already pulling out lengths of gauze and bandages, setting them up on the desk. "Okay, give me your hand?" Kurt gave it, feeling the familiar warm feeling spread through him at the contact... until Blaine bent it down and pain blossomed through his wrist. Blaine looked up at Kurt's hiss of pain, wincing. "Sorry, sorry. Had to check. I think it's just a sprain, if it starts swelling or feels a lot worse in the morning though I'll take you to get some proper medical attention."

"I think it'll be fine. I've had worse."

Blaine paused as he reached for the bandage and the hand still holding Kurt's tensed slightly. "I forget, sometimes," Blaine admitted. "You're so strong and nobody would ever know what you've been through unless you told them."

"Or if I took my shirt off and showed them the bruises on my back."

Kurt didn't mean for his voice to sound quite so bitter and winced again. Blaine still hadn't let go of his hand, his grip tightening to the point where it was almost painful. "Is this one of those times that you need to talk about it?"

"No," Kurt said quickly and honestly. "No, it just - I'm okay. Appearances can be deceiving is all. And speaking of appearances," he added, trying to get Blaine back on track because the intensity in his eyes was just almost too much for Kurt to handle. Especially when Kurt was so painfully aware that it didn't mean the same thing to Blaine that it did to Kurt.

Blaine blinked and nodded. "Right." He fumbled for the bandage and finally released Kurt's hand, cupping his wrist instead. "Tell me if I hurt you," he warned as he began to wrap the bandage around Kurt's wrist with a practiced ease that nearly broke Kurt's heart because Blaine shouldn't have to be good at this sort of thing. Nobody should, not for those reasons.

Kurt grimaced as Blaine tied off the bandage, but had to admit it was feeling better already. "Thank you," he said, twisting his wrist around a little and nodding. "I think it'll be fine."

But when Blaine ducked back into the kit and pulled out the alcohol swabs, Kurt couldn't hide a preemptive wince. "I know," Blaine said apologetically, catching it immediately. "This is going to be the hardest part."

And Kurt wasn't sure which one of them it was going to be the hardest on because Blaine was now staring down at the packages like they were poison, like the last thing in the world he wanted was to hurt Kurt. It was almost too endearing for Kurt to handle and all he wanted to do was close the distance between them and kiss that gorgeous little half-pout off Blaine's face.

Of course that wasn't going to happen. If Blaine had found him at all desirable before - and of course he _hadn't_ - Kurt knew there was nothing appealing or attractive about someone with blood dripping down their cheeks.

"Come over to the bed," Blaine said suddenly, a light blush touching his cheeks when Kurt looked at him curiously. "I want you to be as comfortable as you can. I know this is going to hurt."

That made just enough sense for Kurt to obey, especially when Blaine made it clear he wasn't going to lie Kurt down, rather have him rest against a mound of pillows on the headboard. It was very comfortable, Kurt mused, and for a moment it took away from the fact that he was still in pain and bleeding. But when Blaine returned to his side with cotton balls and alcohol solution, yeah. Kurt couldn't forget.

"I'm sorry in advance," Blaine said as he prepared the cotton buds. "I'm going to make it better though."

Kurt sighed impatiently, just wanting to get it over and done with because it was just a little bit too difficult to have Blaine practically lavish him with attention and not feel the way Kurt wanted him to. "Blaine, I'm not a small child, I don't need -" Kurt cut himself off, letting out a hiss of pain as Blaine swiped at the first of the cuts. "God, that hurts!"

Instead of apologizing again or stopping - two things that definitely would have irked Kurt more at that point - Blaine simply held out his other hand, the invitation clear. Kurt took it, squeezing hard every time one of the cuts stung. Of course he wasn't going to cry, that would be ridiculous and babyish and as long as he kept his eyes shut, Blaine didn't need to know just how hard he was fighting not to. _You're __the __idiot __that __fell __over,_ Kurt reminded himself firmly, squeezing Blaine's hand again as he dabbed at one of the cuts under Kurt's eye. _Suck __it __up._

"Okay, that's the worst part over with," Blaine finally said and Kurt cautiously opened his eyes to see his friend discarding the cotton buds. "You alright?"

Kurt nodded, releasing Blaine's hand somewhat reluctantly and frowning when Blaine flexed it. "Did I hurt you? I'm sorry."

"Considering what I just did to you, I think it's okay." Smiling, Blaine reached over to grab the antiseptic cream and quickly skimmed through the directions. "Okay, I'll just rub this into your skin and we'll be all done for now."

Kurt stared at the tube, trying to remember why it looked so familiar. Then it hit him.

"This is the one my mom used to use on me."

Kurt wasn't even aware he had spoken until Blaine stilled, watching him carefully. "I have to be honest, I'm not sure what to say here."

And Kurt had never loved Blaine more because he actually knew when not to talk. Such a refreshing concept.

"It's the strangest things that bring back memories," he began to speak quietly, not really sure why he was talking or where he was headed, just that it was good to talk about the little things without having to get mega-serious. "Just things like places she took me for the first time or - or brands she introduced to me. And it doesn't make me horridly depressed or even that sad, it's more like I'm glad I can still remember her through the small things." Another memory suddenly flashed back to Kurt and he smiled. "Last time I did something stupid and got all scratched up, I was seven. I ran crying to Mom and she did the same thing, cleaned me all up. But as she did, she kissed every single scratch and told me it would make them feel better."

"And it always did, didn't it?" Blaine was smiling too, clearly remembering events from his own childhood. "No matter how flawed the logic, a kiss always made it better."

Kurt nodded before wincing slightly as the action flared up one of the scratches near his ear. "I could really use some of that magic right now," he admitted, once again just feeling really ridiculous for ending up in this state.

Blaine didn't respond and Kurt frowned. "Blaine? I -"

And then Blaine was leaning in, ducking his head to kiss the scratch underneath Kurt's ear gently and Kurt bit back a gasp as heat blossomed from the area because _holy __crap_ Blaine had just kissed him.

"Did that help?"

And as stupid as it was.. "It actually did," Kurt said quietly. "But there's a lot of scratches that could use the same kind of lo - magic right now."

"Of course," Blaine murmured as if there was no question about it. "I'd better make a thorough inventory of just how injured you are anyway."

And that was such a Blaine thing to do - talking seriously one minute, kissing every scarred section of Kurt's face the next. At least Kurt presumed it was a Blaine thing, after all they had kind of never done this before. All he could do was close his eyes and try not to do something really stupid like grab Blaine who was kissing his forehead and kiss him properly. But no. Blaine was doing him a favor, nothing else.

It was meant to be strange, Kurt realized after a little while. It wasn't exactly normal, after all, to have your closest guy friend kissing your wounds in such an intimate way. But Kurt couldn't bring himself to feel anything but right.

"Seventeen," Blaine said against his skin, jerking Kurt back to awareness as he placed one last kiss to Kurt's neck before lifting his head. "Unless I missed somewhere?"

_Take a chance. _

"Actually... my lips hurt a little."

Blaine blinked twice, his eyes widening ever so slightly but the rest of his face remaining impassive. "Would you like me to kiss them better?" he asked, just like they were talking about the freaking _weather_ or something.

"Yes, please."

Blaine nodded and, without preamble, leant in to finally - _finally!_ - kiss Kurt on the lips.

It took everything Kurt had not to melt against Blaine, to pull him into his lap and wrap Blaine in his arms and kiss him until they physically couldn't kiss any more. But this was still all presumed and Kurt needed to be sure. So when Blaine pulled away, asking, "Did that help?" in a slightly lower pitch than usual, Kurt shook his head.

Blaine looked like someone had kicked a small animal in front of him but was desperately trying not to show it, and Kurt just had to laugh, a low chuckle that immediately caught Blaine's attention. "No, I think you need to try again."

Thank goodness Blaine wasn't clueless all the time, especially not now. Because now they could - really could - kiss each other, properly, and Kurt actually could wrap his arms around Blaine's neck like he had desired so many times and focus all of his attention on memorizing the feeling of Blaine's lips on his and just hope and hope that he wouldn't have to memorize, that he could do this again and again forever.

But there was no reason to presume, not even when Blaine was still kissing him, not even when Blaine pulled him closer like he needed Kurt in his arms. Because this was still unnamed, unsure, almost unreal. Kurt would believe he was dreaming except his mind had never been this good at making up how amazing the first kiss would feel.

And then reality hit with a certainty as Blaine pulled back, blinking in surprise and of course he regretted it now, of course he didn't really want to -

"I've wanted to do that since the moment I saw you on that staircase," Blaine said in a rush, stopping Kurt's heart completely. "I just - Kurt, _please_ tell me that meant more to you than just a kiss because I don't know if I can go back to spending every day pretending that I don't want you to be mine."

"You are far too good at pretending, Kurt stated as he looped his arms around Blaine's neck again, "and far, far too clueless."

"I -"

Kurt kissed away his protests before breaking away with just the smallest of smirks. "I'm kind of in love with you," he explained calmly. "Kind of since forever."

"I see," Blaine said, his tone thoughtful but also slightly amused. "So does that mean you kind of want to be my boyfriend?"

"No, I definitely want to be your boyfriend," Kurt replied immediately. "I'm kind of waiting for you to ask but kind of considering skipping that step and going back to kissing."

"And which one wins out?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow. "Why don't you ask and find out?"

"Kurt," Blaine began in the tone of someone who already knows they've won, "will you be my -"

So Kurt pulled him in and kissed him again because no, Blaine hadn't won. But then again, neither had Kurt.

They both had.

* * *

**Love explosions?**

* * *

**No MusicalEscape today. Understandably so.**


	218. Never

**Another followers fic on Tumblr just got posted. If you love Rory and protective Klaine, the link is on my profile.**

**I'm sure I had something to say but I've forgotten. **

**From ****_Chasing Aspirations_:**_** This is a bit AU but what if Blaine was the one who'd never been kissed? How would Kurt deal with his insecurities/make that first kiss that bit more special…**_

**Insecure Blaine… *whimpers***

**And I know it wasn't _necessary_ to make Kurt super-confident and experienced or Blaine incredibly insecure and broken but hey, if an AU opportunity calls…**

* * *

Never

Blaine Anderson.

Lead soloist for the Dalton Academy Warblers. A friend to everybody, especially those in need. Out and proud and a firm activist for rights for all. Charismatic, mild-mannered, easily excitable, confident and incredibly dapper.

Never been kissed.

He tried not to let it get to him but it was difficult to be the out and proud one when he didn't know what it was _really _like to be with a guy. All of the people saying that gay guys chose to be 'gay by default' because things hadn't worked out with girls… well, sometimes Blaine had to wonder if that was true for him.

But then he reminded himself that he had never dated or kissed a girl either.

Of course it wasn't something he ever talked about. For one, nobody needed to know that much about him - yes, he had friends who he trusted and told a great deal to and got along with very well, but they were all _straight_. He was somewhat close to Nick and Jeff but Nick and Jeff were only really close to… well, Nick and Jeff. Dating for two years, very serious about one another and inclusive but exclusive at the same time. He didn't like to intrude. Plus, looking at them for too long simply reminded Blaine of what he didn't have himself.

He had been at Dalton for a year and a half and Blaine still couldn't bring himself to forget the words he had spent so many years hearing. Words he couldn't recall without shuddering in horror but whose general impact stayed with him every day.

_You will never be desirable. You will never be wanted. You will never be loved. _

Letting himself believe otherwise was dangerous.

Soloist for the Warblers had been a complete surprise but apparently from the first moment he had opened his mouth to sing, the Council had known he was what they needed. The Warbler had been lacking in morale and community before Blaine had joined and it had looked like they would need to step down from Sectionals that year. An a capella show choir that couldn't even stay together long enough to sing one song certainly couldn't give the performance necessary to get to Regionals, let alone Nationals.

But then Blaine had shown up and sung a _Rhianna _song of all things and the guys had begun to back him up with no prompting, no coercing, nothing. Simply because they wanted to. And the Council realized that Blaine had brought just what they needed - a simple and honest love of music.

He had been the lead soloist for a year when one boy walked in that could change everything.

It was a typical meeting - boring and stuffy as the Warblers were, the other boys quickly losing interest and waiting for the moment when they could actually sing - when the knock came on the door. "Excuse me? I was told this was where the Warblers met."

All eyes shot to the door and Blaine's breath caught in his throat.

An honest to god _angel _was standing in the doorway, dressed in Dalton uniform but with the distinct accent that showed he wasn't an Ohio boy. Hair perfectly styled, flawless skin and a hint of what was clearly a heightened fashion sense showing through in his accessories that were just enough under the radar to pass. And he was familiar, but Blaine couldn't quite put his finger on it. "I - yes, it is," Wes said, clearing his throat. "And you are?"

"Kurt Hummel. Transfer student from San Francisco. I arrived yesterday." Kurt took another step into the room and Blaine heard a click that he wasn't accustomed to when Dalton boys walked. Glancing down, he had to do a double take when he realized that this Kurt was wearing _boots_, again just close enough to the uniform regulation that he would get away with it but _wow_. "I was in my old school's show choir and I was hoping to audition?"

"Well," Wes began, his official voice in place, "we have to set up a time for auditions so if you can come back in a few days, we could -"

Kurt crossed the room, boots clicking, to the Warbler desk and placed a piece of paper on it. "You might want to read this first." Murmurs broke out at that because _nobody _had interrupted Wes before, especially not when he was laying down the law. Eyebrows raised to extraordinary heights, Wes picked up the piece of paper and skimmed through it.

He turned pale.

"I - ah, I think we can arrange that audition for right now. Obviously just a formality but… well." Wes cleared his throat and moved straight into official mode. "Gentlemen, this is Kurt Hummel -"

_Yes, __we __know __that, __Wes_.

"- former lead soloist of the _Blackbirds_."

Absolute silence. Blaine knew his wasn't the only jaw that had dropped as they all stared because, oh, that was _that _Kurt Hummel. Here. Joining _their _show choir.

_Well._

"So, do you want me to sing?" Kurt finally asked and Blaine could hear the amusement in his voice. An immediate chorus of yesses rang out and he chuckled. "Okay. Call it cliche but I'm going to sing the song I auditioned with that gave us our name. I hear this is a capella so I'd love it if you backed me up."

Blaine knew it was coming but it didn't stop the tidal wave of shock hitting him when Kurt actually opened his mouth and began to sing because this boy?

Yeah. _Phenomenal._

They sang the backing vocals of course, Blaine struggling a little to keep up with the others - partially because he had never actually sung the harmonies in this group before, mostly because he was transfixed - but Kurt didn't even need them. He was captivating alone and it was no wonder that the _Blackbirds _had taken out Nationals for the past three years with Kurt as their soloist.

And Blaine could see that this was going to be his downfall.

The Warblers were a _unit_. It had taken them so long to get to this point and Blaine knew the Council weren't willing to let that go, even if it meant giving up the most amazing talent they had ever gotten, far better than Blaine himself, he knew it. While Blaine was more than willing to step aside - because yes, performing was his love but for talent like that he couldn't be selfish - he wasn't sure that the Council would put Kurt in his place.

So the real shock came when Kurt had finished and began to speak before anybody else could. "I'm not asking to be your soloist. I haven't heard much about your performances - apparently you dropped out for a few years - but I gather there already is a lead soloist and I don't want to take his spot." Every eye in the room turned to Blaine at that, Kurt catching their glances and doing the same. "I'm guessing that's you?" Blaine nodded reluctantly. "Yeah, I don't want your spot, don't worry. I just -" he sighed. "Okay, I'm not used to spilling my guts to people I've never met but I'm going to just be honest from the get go. My team was never a team. We all hated one another with a passion and everybody resented me for getting solos. We're a little like the Vocal Adrenaline of your show choir world. And I loved the spotlight, still do love it with my whole heart, but I'm pretty much craving some friendship, some teamwork."

Blaine watched the stern expression melt off Wes's face instantly. "Do I need to put it to a vote?" he asked, and Blaine swore there was a hint of a smirk when everybody shook their heads. "Well, Blaine?"

Every eye turned to Blaine who suppressed a sigh - new Warblers had to be run by him as the lead soloist, making him wonder just _why _they even had a council. "Do you really think I'd say no?" Acting as tradition dictated (and a little just because he wanted to) Blaine stood and held out a hand to Kurt. "Welcome to the Warblers."

Kurt shook his hand and it was like electricity.

He was brilliant at hiding things, of course, so Blaine never let on that holding Kurt's hand was like wrapping them around a heater in the middle of winter - that sudden warmth that left you rejuvenated and never wanting to let go. Obviously Blaine knew what it was like to be attracted to boys but _that_, that was something he had never experienced in his life. It wasn't even a fear of getting too close to the fire and getting burned, it was like the closer he got to Kurt the warmer he would get until he finally thawed out again, until he wasn't numb inside anymore.

And that was just _so _Blaine. Didn't even know this guy and already he was trying to lean on him, trying to get Kurt to be the one to fix him and that was so not fair on Kurt. Blaine needed to deal with this himself, needed to be strong enough to just get on with his life and not let the past haunt him.

He was a wreck and Kurt… Kurt was strong and beautiful and graceful and everything that Blaine not only wanted but wanted to _be_.

But the moment passed as they all did and soon enough Kurt was sitting down at the other end of the couch to Blaine, listening intently as the Council began to drone on again. The other boys seemed torn between watching Kurt and pretending not to fall asleep and, since Kurt seemed so distracted, Blaine allowed himself to do the same.

Irrelevant of gender or sexual preference, the first reaction for all upon seeing Kurt Hummel was undoubtedly _beautiful_. There was something different about him, something that nobody else in this room seemed to have. The confidence he exuded was _real_, for one, and Blaine could tell the difference between real and faked confidence like nobody else. He was self-assured but also probably built up by the people around him and this looked like a boy who had never been bullied or hated on and Blaine wanted to hate him for it but couldn't.

All he wanted was to get to know this boy but not let Kurt get to know him. Not the real him.

* * *

It took Kurt a little while to settle in properly, longer than Blaine had expected. While Blaine being their soloist was one thing, another person showing up with equal talent and being just as friendly was apparently now a threat and a few of the Warblers had trouble taking to the newest Warbler.

Blaine wasn't one of those, not by far. As soon as the meeting had ended and Kurt had pulled out a map of the campus, Blaine had immediately offered to take him to whatever class he had next. From that he learned Kurt was a Junior, but he also learnt that Kurt warmed quickly to people and by the time they had made it to Kurt's seventh period class, they were talking like old friends and arranging to get coffee after class. From there it had been simple to start hanging out after school, finding their common interests and becoming good friends.

And Blaine had started falling hard.

It was typical of course - when he first arrived at Dalton and it had been _okay _to like boys, he had fallen for both Nick and Jeff (not to mention the myriad of straight boys) within four months of his arrival. But instead of a sudden rush of feelings, of _want _and hope and jumping straight to imagining marriages and children, this was different. It was a slow process, small steps of realizations that Kurt was something different, someone who Blaine really wanted to spend all of his time with and hold hands with and sing with and kiss, and as soon as he had made that last realization he knew. He liked Kurt.

Kurt wouldn't like him back, of course, and Blaine would never try to force his feelings on the boy or even tell him about them. He was just happy to have Kurt as a friend.

It hadn't taken long for Nick and Jeff to warm up to Kurt either, helped by the fact that Kurt had nonchalantly let slip over lunch about his last boyfriend (and Blaine had nearly choked on his water at that because _he_hadn't known Kurt was gay until then, only hoped). Blaine was fairly sure they were hoping for Kurt to find another boyfriend so they could double date - apparently they had given up on Blaine doing the same a long time ago - and it wasn't long before the four of them were hanging out frequently as well.

But Kurt still seemed to make time for just him and Blaine to be together and, try as he might, Blaine couldn't help but read into it. He still didn't say anything, but the smile on his face was a little more real every time Kurt smiled back.

* * *

They had been in the room together for all of five minutes that time when it began.

"So," Jeff started slowly, clearly a little apprehensive about what he was asking. "What are the guys like in San Fran?"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Why, thinking of dropping me for one?"

It was a clear joke - the two were _never _going to break up, Blaine knew it - and Jeff took it in good humor. "No, I was going to find you a better model of me to trade in for," he bantered back. "Seriously though, any stories?"

"Tons," Kurt said lightly and Blaine resisted the urge to sigh. Of course he knew Kurt had dated at least once, but Blaine had harbored a few vague thoughts that maybe, just maybe, Kurt was as inexperienced as he was, that he wasn't alone. But clearly Kurt's desirability had rubbed off on the San Francisco boys as well. "Wow, that just made me sound like I've got all the experience in the world." Kurt laughed, shaking his head. "No, I've dated a few guys but they were definitely all catches. I mean, my last boyfriend… wow. We were on for six months and it was incredible."

"I guess you have better luck with dates then," Jeff said. "We struggle. People are far less accepting here than it seems like they are over there."

Kurt nodded, looking sympathetic. "It just goes to show how strong you two are that you can keep going no matter how apparently wrong your relationship is. But yes, I've had some really good dates. That last guy, one of our first dates was pretty much the romantic dream."

"Tell us?"

Blaine wanted to leave, to hit his head against the wall because _why_, seriously, why did they need to do this?

"It was fantastic," Kurt told them, toying with the ends of his tie as he talked. "We went out for dinner - his shout, no matter how much I argued - and afterwards he took me out along the boardwalk and we sat on the edge and watched the tide roll in and he said to me, honest to god, _nobody __makes __me __feel __the __way __you __do, __Kurt. _And it should have been cliche but somehow it wasn't."

Nick sighed almost wistfully before shooting a worried glance at Jeff who was smiling. "And then?"

"And then he kissed me," Kurt said, a smile curving over his face at the memory. "I mean, I'd been kissed before that but _that _was a kiss. It was gentle and loving but also passionate and almost overwhelming all in one and I just kind of wanted to stay there and kiss him forever. You guys know what that's like?"

Nick and Jeff nodded, glancing at each other at the same time. "Yeah," Jeff said, his voice going almost dreamy. "Yeah, he makes me feel that way."

"Blaine?"

Blaine blinked a couple of times, glancing up at Kurt who was watching him. "I - yeah?"

"You with us? You kind of zoned out there."

Of course they were all looking at him now and Blaine didn't know what to do because he knew there was no reason to be _ashamed _of it but when there were three other equally gay guys sitting in front of him talking about how wonderful it was to kiss someone, he couldn't. Not yet. "I'm just -" he stood suddenly, chair screeching along the floor. "Bathroom. Back in a sec."

Blaine all but bolted along the corridor and into the bathroom, locking himself in the first available stall and resting his head against the door, breath coming out in shaky gasps. It just wasn't _fair_ - all of those guys knew what it was like to be loved and cherished and wanted and what did he have? Nothing. Never had, never would.

Footsteps entered the bathroom with a slight click to them that only meant one thing. "Blaine?" came Kurt's voice, soft and concerned. "Are you okay?" Giving himself a second to try and get some semblance of control, Blaine unlocked the door and stepped out. Kurt's concerned expression grew when he took him in. "You're so pale, what's wrong?"

Stepping across to the mirror, Blaine saw Kurt was right. "I'm not feeling great," he said, honest but deceiving enough that Kurt would think he was sick. Bending down he turned on the tap and splashed water on his face, hoping it would mask any tears that might escape.

And then a hand was resting on his back. "Poor thing," Kurt murmured. "Why didn't you say so? Do you want me to get the nurse?"

"No, it's okay." Blaine grabbed a wad of paper towel and dried off his face the best he could. He wanted to turn around and give Kurt his most reassuring smile but it wasn't coming. "I think I'll just go back to my room for awhile."

"I'm not letting you go alone." Kurt's arm was suddenly around his waist and Blaine leaned into him unconsciously, not wanting to appear weak but knowing it wasn't easy to be strong when you weren't. "That's it. Come on." And it was so easy to lean properly against Kurt's shoulder as they walked because Blaine wasn't used to this but it still felt so right. It was what he had always wanted and, more recently, what he had always wanted with _Kurt_ and even if he never had a chance of being Kurt's boyfriend, this was still amazing. For someone who had never been kissed anyway.

"Blaine?"

Blaine turned his head to look up at Kurt properly who was staring down at him, a faint smile touching his lips. "I need your key to get in." Unable to even find the energy for embarrassment - and maybe he _was _getting sick after all, it certainly felt so - Blaine dug in his pocket and pulled out his room key. Kurt unlocked the door and helped Blaine through, sitting him on the edge of his bed while Blaine kicked his shoes off. "Is there anything I can get for you?"

Tugging the covers back, Blaine slipped his legs in and thought about it for a second as he unbuttoned his blazer. "Water would be nice," he admitted, slipping it over his sleeves and hanging it on the edge of his bed.

Silence for a second then Kurt's voice, slightly higher than usual. "Coming right up."

Blaine rested his head against the pillow and closed his eyes before rolling to lie on his stomach. As much as he usually enjoyed watching Kurt's every move without being in the slightest stalker-like, right now he just wanted to be alone in his self-pity.

Kurt returned from the bathroom, placing the water glass gently on his bedside table. Blaine felt a weight settle on the side of his bed, the small dip where Kurt had sat down. "Blaine?" he murmured softly.

"Mm?"

"The water's by your bed. Do you feel like you're going to throw up? Because I can get you a trash bin if you need it or some tablets to settle your stomach."

Blaine shook his head against the pillow. "Just want to sleep. Sorry to make you go to all this effort for me." His voice was slurring out and Blaine could feel himself slipping off the edge but somehow still wide awake, well aware of every movement but unable to move himself.

So when Kurt's hand was resting on his back again, rubbing in soft circles, it was simple for Blaine not to react. "It's never an effort for you," came the murmur, so quiet that he barely heard it. "Are you going to be okay?" Blaine couldn't find the energy to respond and Kurt sighed, rubbing his back for a little longer before standing. "So strong, but when he falls he falls hard."

As Kurt left, Blaine opened his eyes against the fabric with a little sigh of his own.

_Kurt, you haven't seen me fall. Not by far._

* * *

"Come on you guys, lighten up a little!"

Wes shook his head firmly. "No. Absolutely not, Kurt. It's against the rules."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong." Kurt pulled out a copy of the rulebook and flipped to the middle. "Dalton Academy clubs are entitled to two club parties a year as long as there are no alcoholic beverages present and all visitors are signed in and leave the campus at the appropriate time." Murmurs of interest began and Blaine swapped an amused look with Trent - Wes _lived _by the rulebook and to find that someone had bested him with it… well, Blaine simply could not stop falling for Kurt.

Wes pulled out his own copy and flicked through, reading slowly. "I see," he said finally. "Well I suppose we had better put it to a vote."

Every single hand in the room flew up before Wes could continue and David laughed from beside him. "I'd say we have an agreement, Wesley."

Wes hit him. "Fine," he said as David rubbed his arm theatrically. "It looks like we're having a party tonight. Go get changed and call your girlfriends or significant others and we'll meet back here in an hour. Kurt, do you think you could decorate?"

There was silence and everybody turned to see empty space where Kurt had been. A second later, Blaine's phone buzzed and he opened the text. "Kurt says to tell you that he's gone to get changed and some of you need to raid the kitchen and return with food," he read, smirking up at the council members. "He left as soon as Wes said vote."

The others laughed, all well used to Kurt and his antics by now and Blaine had to smile because _finally_ Kurt was one of them. He knew how it felt to be an outcast and the last thing he wanted was for Kurt to feel the same way. And if he had, he didn't need to anymore.

As others pulled their phones out and began to make calls, Blaine left to get ready. As usual there was the brief flash of loneliness, of knowing there was nobody for him to call and invite, but he pushed it aside. Tonight was about having _fun _after all - they had never had a Warbler party before and Blaine was looking forward to everybody just cutting loose and having some fun. He changed quickly, choosing red jeans and a plain t-shirt before heading back to the choir room to see if Kurt was ready and needing help.

Blaine was used to seeing Kurt out of uniform by now but every single outfit never ceased to amaze him. The small attention to detail, the way every piece complemented the other perfectly to create an outfit that, were it missing one piece would have been a fashion disaster. Or perhaps it was just Kurt that pulled the outfit together. "Oh, Blaine!" Kurt called out as he entered. "Could you -?"

He broke off and Blaine frowned. "What?"

Kurt blinked a few times, shaking his head slowly. "You. I think this is the first time I've seen you out of uniform."

"Oh." Blaine glanced down self-consciously. "Yeah. I know it's nothing on your outfits but -"

"You look fantastic."

Blaine began to blush but Kurt was still smiling at him like it was the most natural compliment to give. "Anyway, do you think you could help me out? I need all the couches moved to the sides and those two tables pulled together over there for food."

They made quick work of it and by the time other Warblers began to arrive back with food and drinks the room was all set up. Kurt collapsed on a couch, fanning his face and Blaine perched on the arm, chuckling softly. "Your hair is fine," he said preemptively and Kurt smiled up at him gratefully.

"Thanks. How many girlfriends are coming to this thing?"

"Well nearly every Warbler has one excluding us and Nick and Jeff… and maybe Cameron," Blaine said contemplatively. "Him and his girlfriend are on and off. But everybody's all paired up nicely right now."

He had to fight to keep the bitterness out of his voice and Kurt's smile softened, dropped a little. But he didn't say anything, simply closing one hand over Blaine's quickly before standing. "Does nobody know how to organize a food table properly," he tutted, crossing the room to begin barking out orders.

"You're into him."

Blaine jumped, turning to see Nick leaning against the wall, watching him. "I'm sorry?"

"Kurt. You so like him."

"I - no, no I just -"

Nick sighed and cut him off. "Okay, you and I are friends, yeah? Friends see these things and friends also tell friends to _go __for __it_. Take a chance, Blaine. You haven't dated anybody in the year and a half you've been here and Kurt's the first person you've taken a noticeable interest in. And he's a great guy, you know if he doesn't feel the same he'll let you down nicer than anybody else could."

"Your boyfriend's here," Blaine said quietly, waiting for Nick to turn before standing and striding across the room to strike up a conversation with Trent. He knew Nick would be disappointed and probably want to talk to him again later but this wasn't something he wanted to think about tonight. Tonight was about just having fun.

A rush of girls entered the room and suddenly everything was alive. Music began to blare and people started mingling and dancing together. Blaine knew nearly all of the girls and found himself quickly drawn into conversation with a couple of the singles who had come with their friends. "Who's the new guy?" Elizabeth asked, casting a sideways glance at Kurt. "He's _cute_."

"Also doesn't play for your team," Blaine explained with an apologetic smile. "But that's Kurt from San Francisco."

He was asked the question many times over the evening, talking more about Kurt than himself and not really caring. Of course he spent plenty of time talking to Kurt too and finally found himself relaxing, hanging out on one of the couches laughing with a group of Warblers.

Of course all good things had to end.

"Hey, who's up for Spin The Bottle?"

One of the Crawford girls was holding up her empty Coke bottle, waving it suggestively. The rest of the girls were already forming a circle, tugging their respective others in with the rest of the boys following suit. Blaine glanced helplessly at Wes but even he seemed in on the game, settling himself between two of the Crawford girls happily. Kurt was glancing up at him now and any second he was going to comment and draw everybody elses attention and Blaine couldn't handle that. He could handle Kurt knowing because Kurt at least had tact but not other people who would ask questions and try to work out why he couldn't handle such a simple game.

So with a quick look to Kurt which hopefully conveyed everything he couldn't say, Blaine turned and slipped out of the room.

This wasn't one of those things he could compromise on. He couldn't sit by and pretend he was involved and just hope that nobody ended up getting him because that was too much of a risk. He couldn't sit out because that would raise questions and that was something he couldn't handle. Instead he had to run - run like he always had, be the same coward that had run to Dalton and hid behind the fancy walls and blending in with the uniform, the hair, the smile.

It was something that should be such a small deal - _never __been __kissed, __who __cares? __It__'__ll __happen __some __day _- but to him it meant the world. It meant that all the words that had been piled on him were closer to being true.

Blaine knew eventually someone would come looking for him and immediately on arriving back in his room began to plan a cover story. Phone out, on the desk, giving the impression that he had taken an urgent call. Cover story… parents, maybe. Instructions for the weekend when they went away -

He hadn't expected it to take less than five minutes for them to arrive. And yes, he had expected someone but it was more than likely going to be Wes or David, someone he could lie easily to and then get them back down to the party while he moped. Not _this_.

"Okay," came the voice from behind him and Blaine jumped, spinning around to see Kurt closing the door behind him. "We're going to talk. And we're both going to be very honest with each other and I can see that look in your eyes already, you're trying to escape and I'm not letting you. Not physically, not emotionally. Sit down."

"Kurt, I -"

"Don't." Kurt's voice was as soft and kind as ever but Blaine knew he wasn't getting out of it. "I'm not here to judge or make you uncomfortable. I'm just at the point where I can't handle seeing you hurting all the time and I want to know what's happened to make you this way."

_He knew._

All of the effort Blaine had put into hiding, into pretending that his life was just fantastic and he was just like any other person was all for waste. Kurt knew - knew he was inexperienced and naive and unwanted and all of those horrible things that Kurt definitely _wasn__'__t._

Blaine found himself sitting on the edge of his bed, hands twisted together with Kurt sitting beside him. "Hey, it's alright. You don't have to be afraid of me, I just want to try and help you."

"You can't."

Kurt nodded slowly. "Maybe I can't fix it, but that's not what I'm trying. I want to help. Now," Kurt continued before Blaine could interrupt again, "I've been thinking about this a lot and I think I've pinpointed the trigger - whenever we talk about relationships." Blaine stiffened and Kurt nodded again. "I've come up with two options. One is that you've been through a bad one and if so, I can assure you now that I'm not going to make you talk about it if you don't want to. And the second is that you haven't been in one at all and it gets a bit much to hear us talking about it all the time."

It only took a second before Blaine began to speak without consciously being aware of the decision to do so. It got easier with every word and before long he was spilling it all - every hurtful comment he had ever heard and how much it had destroyed his confidence, made him feel like he would never experience what Nick and Jeff had or what Kurt had experienced. That it wasn't just that he _hadn__'__t _experienced it but that he wasn't sure if he ever would. And that, above all, being a seventeen year old boy who had never been kissed was just _demeaning_, like there was something wrong with him.

It took Kurt a long time to reply after Blaine had finished. Somehow their hands had linked and Kurt's thumb was running softly over the back of Blaine's hand. "There's nothing wrong with you," he said finally. "And more than that, this is something you should never be ashamed of."

"I try not to be but it's hard not to wonder why nobody's ever _wanted _to kiss me."

"You don't know that," Kurt said. "Just because you haven't been kissed doesn't mean nobody's wanted to, believe me."

There was something to that that Blaine figured he should understand but he was getting too worked up to think into subtle nuances. "Look, I've dealt with it for this long. It's just difficult seeing you coming along and you've experienced so much and then there's always Nick and Jeff and you're all so confident -"

"Not that confident."

Blaine snorted, aware it was rude but not up to apologizing. "Please. You look like you've never doubted yourself in your -"

"When I first came out to my dad, it was awkward," Kurt began quietly and Blaine silenced instantly. "Obviously he still loved me no matter what - still does - but he didn't know how to handle having a gay son. At first he thought it was something that would go away and that upset me more than I thought it would. So I decided to… well, rub it in his face."

Blaine frowned. "What did you do?"

"I went out and found a guy to date." Kurt laughed suddenly. "People call me flamboyant but this guy… well, walking gay comes to mind as the best description. Brought him home for dinner and watched my dad's eyebrows go higher and higher and then walked him out and he -" Kurt closed his eyes. "He kissed me. My first kiss and it was _horrible. _Practically mauled my lips, obviously thinking I had more experience than I did and when I couldn't reciprocate he laughed in my face and told me to get a few years of practice and then come back to him."

"Oh my god, Kurt…"

"I didn't like him," Kurt explained, his voice dropping. "I barely knew him. But it still hurt. And that's what I have to remember for my first kiss, Blaine. Obviously I've had others and they've all been much better but… it stays with you."

And now Blaine just felt _worse _because he had been sitting here complaining about not being kissed and Kurt's first kiss was something like _that _and wow, he was kind of the most selfish person ever. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"I didn't say that to make you feel bad," Kurt said gently. "I wanted to show you that you actually have an amazing opportunity. You've never been kissed, Blaine. You didn't get kissed as a teenager when you thought you needed it to make someone like you. You didn't kiss someone in Spin The Bottle - which I admire you for leaving, now that I understand. And now… now you have the opportunity to make that first kiss mean _everything._ You can offer it to someone who means everything to you, you can share it with them and only them and it can be a gift. And from you, that would be amazing, better than any other kiss anybody's ever given m - them. I mean..."

He was right and Blaine could scarcely dare to believe it but _he __was __right. _But more important right now was Kurt's last sentence and the way he was suddenly blushing and looking away and _oh._

"Kurt?"

"You don't have to feel the same, obviously. I mean, none of this was said to try and get you to be my boyfriend or anything like that, I honestly care about you as a friend first and I can totally understand if you're not ready for a boyfriend or, again, don't feel the same." Kurt stopped and took a breath. "And I'm rambling," he finished sheepishly.

"Yes."

Kurt blinked at him. "Yes?"

Blaine found his smile growing impossibly wide. "Yes, I want to be your boyfriend. And no," he continued, already seeing the look on Kurt's face, "it's not because I've never had anybody want me before or because I think you'll give me all the firsts I've never experienced. It's because you're amazing and I've never met anybody like you and I've kind of wanted to be your boyfriend since your first week here."

The way their hands were still linked suddenly took on a whole new meaning as Kurt squeezed his lightly and smiled again. "Okay. Boyfriends."

And then Kurt was looking at him intently and before he could stop himself, it was out there.

"Please don't kiss me."

If Kurt was surprised, he didn't show it. "Too soon?"

Blaine nodded. "I - I just need to know that this is going to last. I really care about you -" _it__'__s __too __soon __to __say __love __so __I __won__'__t_"- but it's the first time anybody ever has and I just need to be sure."

He glanced up, worried that Kurt would suddenly realize that he didn't need a boyfriend who had no idea what he was doing and go find someone else, but Kurt was still smiling reassuringly at him. "How about this? When you're ready, you kiss me."

"I wouldn't know how -"

"You don't need to know. Trust me on this one, you _don__'__t_, unless you're planning to try and make out with me the first time our lips meet. And I want this for me as well, Blaine."

That certainly surprised him. "You'd actually prefer me to kiss you first?"

"There's going to be a lot of trust issues," Kurt said bluntly and Blaine winced. "I'm not blaming you or saying it's a bad thing, I'm just putting it out there. When you're at a point where you're comfortable to give me your first kiss - and it'll be more of you giving than me taking this way - then I'll know that you believe this is going to last. And that's what I want more than anything. I want this to last."

Before Blaine could stop himself he was leaning into Kurt, pressing his head into his shoulder because after so long here was someone who _got _him and wasn't trying to change him except to help him get better. And he was going to give everything he could to trust Kurt for both of their sakes, for the sake of this brand-new relationship that he had been wanting more than anything else.

He actually felt Kurt's chuckle more than he heard it as a pair of arms slipped around his back. "Oh, you're a cuddler."

"Is that bad?" he asked, wrapping his arms around Kurt's waist in return because even if Kurt said it was, Blaine wasn't sure he could bring himself to move. Kurt was _comfortable_.

"God no," Kurt murmured, pulling him in closer. "I love cuddling."

And if Blaine had hoped for a different word at the end of that sentence, he didn't let on. There was plenty of time for that later, after all.

* * *

Blaine's biggest worry had always been that he wouldn't know how to be a boyfriend.

He had seen it, of course. In movies, in books, in his friends, in random people on the street even. But he had never been that himself and he had obsessed over what kinds of things he would say, how he would act, what would have to happen to avoid having a single fight or how to deal with the aftermath.

As it turned out, being _Kurt__'__s _boyfriend was just as easy as being himself.

They were three weeks in and it was natural to meet Kurt in the hall outside their dorm rooms in the morning, hug him and let their hands slot together as they walked down to breakfast. Their coffee meetings had turned into dates but that was the only thing that had really changed about them - Blaine would still try to pay, Kurt would successfully wave the offer away about ninety percent of the time and they would talk about everything under the sun. And afternoons spending homework together would invariably turn into cuddling on whichever piece of furniture they were using as a desk (except the desk itself because that had never quite worked).

The Warblers had ribbed them at first but that was natural too and soon enough it was apparently as normal to them as seeing Nick and Jeff act like a couple. Blaine knew they were mostly happy that he had finally found someone.

Blaine wasn't planning on letting his someone go any time soon.

There had been struggles, of course. The first time they had gotten close to arguing about something, Blaine had backed off straight away, apologized profusely and then tried to lock himself in the bathroom. On that day he had learned two things; Kurt was an excellent lockpick and Blaine had confrontation issues. They had talked through it, Kurt calm the entire time even though he was sitting on the bathroom floor for close to an hour repeating the same words over and over.

Blaine knew he wasn't broken. He just struggled with a few things like everybody else did and he was lucky enough to have someone as amazing as Kurt to help him through them.

But he hadn't told Kurt how terrified he had been waking up the morning after that party, alone in his room, not even sure whether it had happened or whether he had dreamed it up once again. Getting dressed, hands shaking because he wasn't sure how he was going to handle it if he walked out there and Kurt wasn't his boyfriend. And opening the door to find Kurt standing there with two cups of coffee and a smile that Blaine immediately knew was reserved only for him, saying he thought he'd bring his boyfriend a cup to wake up. Of course Kurt knew he would be worried and had dealt with it in a way that only Kurt would think of doing and Blaine continued to wonder how he had gotten someone so amazing.

And even that thought process was starting to change. Yes, Kurt was still amazing and like something out of Blaine's dreams, but he was also realizing that Kurt had fallen for him too. It wasn't pity or empathy or just for fun, it was Kurt having the same kinds of feelings that Blaine had, Kurt actually wanting him, desiring him, proving that all of those words that had haunted him for so long were _wrong._

Blaine was starting to believe it. And more than anything, he was believing that Kurt wasn't going to walk away.

_Can I take you out for dinner tonight? - Kurt_

He stared down at the text for a long moment then cast a glance over at Kurt who was pretending to listen to Wes across the room.

_Afraid not. - Blaine_

The hint of disappointment was only there for a second but long enough that Blaine was sure. Then Kurt nodded and typed something back.

_Other plans? - Kurt_

He knew Kurt was watching him now so kept his face as blank as possible.

_Yes. I'm taking you out for dinner. Be ready at six. - Blaine_

Blaine didn't even have to look up to know Kurt was smiling.

* * *

"That was amazing."

Kurt was hanging on his arm as they left the restaurant and Blaine smiled at him, loving him more by the second. "I'm glad you enjoyed it. I hope it was a good first date."

"But we've been on dates before." Kurt looked confused and Blaine continued to smile, waiting until the penny dropped. "_Oh_."

"First date I've taken you on."

Kurt's smile had actually never been more beautiful than in that moment. "Perfect first date."

And as much as Blaine just wanted to take that, he couldn't. "But you always talked about that guy and the boardwalk and -"

"That wasn't the first date he had taken me on," Kurt interrupted softly. "Every other first date I've been taken on was something like a movie - impersonal and cliche. The first date you took me on was to a proper restaurant where we could actually spend the whole evening talking, _and _you did that in homophobic Westerville. And it was you."

"What about me?"

Kurt chuckled quietly. "You mean more to me than any other guy ever has."

Blaine's car was coming up but instead he turned the corner, taking Kurt into an abandoned side alley. The streetlight overhead gave just enough light to illuminate Kurt's face which was filled with confusion. "What are we doing?"

"We are having a private moment so I can tell you two things." He reached out to take Kurt's other hand. "The first is that I trust you, I believe that you're not going to leave me and you truly do care about me and want me."

The delight on Kurt's face was perfect in itself and Blaine only hoped it would stay after his next confession. "I'm just - Blaine, you don't know what this means to me, to hear that. Thank you."

Blaine smiled, releasing Kurt's hands to wrap around his waist instead, needing to be closer. Kurt apparently needed the same as he leaned into Blaine fully, resting his forehead on his shoulder. Leaning in so his lips were brushing against Kurt's ear, Blaine finally whispered the words that had been there for so long, the ones he had only ever dreamed he would be able to say to another person.

"I love you."

And when Kurt's head lifted in surprise, Blaine leaned in and kissed him.

It was worth it. It was worth never having done this before, worth waiting while the rest of his friends progressed to making out, third base, all the way while he hadn't so much as kissed anybody. It was worth keeping himself guarded until the right person could come along and break through those walls. And it was worth Kurt wanting him to be the one to initiate the kiss.

He could give everything to Kurt now, and he would.

Their first kiss was short but nothing could take away from what Blaine was feeling, at least not until Kurt was pressing their foreheads together, his breathing slightly ragged and actually _trembling _in Blaine's arms and for a horrible moment he thought everything had gone wrong, that it was too much too soon or he had been a horrible kisser and it was actually was one of those things you needed to know.

And then Kurt's eyes opened and the emotion in them was blinding. "I love you too," he whispered and Blaine watched as a tear slipped down his cheek.

"Why are you crying?" he asked softly, somehow knowing it wasn't bad. Kurt squeezed his eyes shut and Blaine wiped the tear from his cheek, leaving his hand there, waiting.

"Because I thought I wouldn't have any firsts left to give you," he finally said. "Obviously there's the big ones but all of this, all of the things that were so precious to you, I had already experienced with other people. But none of them ever told me they loved me."

Blaine's breath caught in his throat because that had been his biggest worry too - even if he had never admitted it to Kurt - that nothing he would give Kurt would compare to what he had already experienced, that his other boyfriends would always be the benchmark that Blaine could never live up to. And now he had given Kurt his first _I __love __you _without even realizing and meant it with his whole heart and he had given Kurt something precious of his own.

They were going to work. No matter what it had taken to get there, no matter how many years Blaine had spent alone and wanting, thinking he would never be loved. No matter how many others Kurt had been with in the past, no matter how many experiences he had had with them that could never be had here in Westerville, they were going to work. And Blaine knew that because he loved Kurt with everything he had and with more, more that he would experience in the years to come that Kurt would still be his.

And Kurt loved him too.

* * *

**Face tsunami.**

**I actually didn't realize it was this long until I checked the word count just before posting. What is with me and mammoth chapters lately? **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Actually, my lips hurt..."**_

_**"Have you tried lip balm? Vaseline? Lip scrub? I hear they might help painful lips. Have you done any of those?" *pulls out phone and frantically searches Google for ideas***_

_***facepalm* "That's where you kiss me, dummy!" *grabs head and kisses***_


	219. Marriage

**What fruit is in season where you live in the world? In Australia it's strawberry season and my cousin just brought over a tubful for us. **

**From **_**Proverbial Sunset (Anonymous): their first kiss as a married couple at their **__**wedding**_

**This was designed to be my final chapter, but I actually already had one that I wanted to do for the final chapter, but I still really did want to do this.**

**My favourite way to look at the Klaine relationship is that it's like a old-fashioned Victorian courtship. At the time of writing this (early September when all of the promos were driving us crazy!), we've seen them kiss on set once and on stage once (but that was so totally Darren and Chris, not Kurt and Blaine), and they're constantly holding hands and being just gorgeous (obviously that has changed a LOT now but still). So, if that kiss hadn't happened in Original Song, I don't think that this would be that far of a cry. I don't know whether the prompt was intended as their first kiss being at their wedding, or showing their first kiss as a married couple with other kisses having happened. However, I'm sticking with the idea of this being their first kiss. I have friends who have done this, so I reckon it's possible. It's very different, I know, but I want to try it.**

**Some people may struggle with this. If you are one of those, feel free to pretend that they have kissed before and this is simply their first kiss as a married couple.**

* * *

Marriage

Kurt was shaking as he walked back into his and Rachel's flat, so much so that it took him four tries to get the door open and Rachel was already halfway down the hall by the time he did get inside. "Kurt?" she asked, looking at him closely before taking his arm. "Honey, what is it?" Kurt shook his head and Rachel, clearly worried, led him to a chair. "What's wrong? I thought you were out with Blaine - oh. Oh, no, he didn't?"

"Didn't what?" Kurt asked, aware that he should know the answer to the question but couldn't quite engage his brain.

Rachel frowned, looking endlessly sympathetic. "Break up with you," she whispered.

Kurt stared at her for a few seconds before suddenly grinning so wide it actually hurt because _holy __crap, __that __just __happened__. _Rachel looked stunned at his sudden mood change, most likely concerned for his well being. "Quite the opposite, actually," he said, before deciding words weren't enough and holding up his left hand.

Rachel shrieked at the top of her lungs and threw herself into Kurt's lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. "He _proposed!_"

"He did." Kurt couldn't control his elated laughter anymore, burying his head in Rachel's shoulder and letting it out, as well as a few tears because this was just so _surreal_.

For a good few minutes they just held onto each other, completely wrapped up in the emotion of it all before Rachel pulled away. "You have to tell me how he did it! I can't believe Blaine didn't tell me he was going to, he _promised _he'd let me know in advance."

"That's probably because he didn't know he was going to." Kurt paused before grabbing his phone. "Hold on, let me get Mercedes on the line, otherwise she'll kill me for not being the first to know." Rachel waited patiently - somewhat - while he called Mercedes, waiting for her to pick up before he put her on loudspeaker. "Mercedes? It's Kurt and Rachel, I have something to -"

"Blaine proposed!"

Kurt turned and frowned severely at Rachel. "Excuse me, that was _my _news."

"Are you for real?" Mercedes's excited voice came down the line and Kurt could practically see her now, on the edge of her seat with the phone gripped in her hands. "Deets!"

Kurt laughed. "Okay, okay. As I was saying to Rachel, he didn't actually plan it out. We were on one of our regular coffee dates and we went for a walk around the streets afterward and ended up at Central Park. And we were just talking about life and the future and he said that no matter what happened, he wanted me to be a part of his future, forever. So, of course, I told him that sounded a lot like a proposal and he just stopped in his tracks and turned to me and said, 'I think it is. I want to marry you.'"

Mercedes and Rachel squealed in tandem and Kurt laughed again. "And what did you do?" Rachel demanded.

"Well, I told him that we've been very traditional about things so far so if that was what he wanted, he'd better do it properly. And then he gets down on one knee right there in the middle of the park," Kurt rolled his eyes but couldn't contain his smile, "and begins one of his Blaine Rambles, telling me how much he loves me and there's nobody else out there in the world that could ever be as perfect for him as I am and it would be such a privilege to call me his…"

There were a few seconds of silence. "And?" Mercedes finally prompted.

Kurt felt himself blush. "I just started crying. Like, a lot. And Blaine got all worried that he was taking things too fast -"

"Too fast?" Rachel cut in. "You've been dating for three _years _and you haven't _kissed_. There's no way you two could be accused of taking things too fast."

Kurt sighed. "You know full well why that is… oh my GaGa, I get to kiss him!"

This time three squeals of delight rang out around the apartment, Kurt's being the loudest. "I still can't get over the fact that you've been dating for so long and _haven__'__t _kissed," Mercedes said. "I mean, don't you want to?"

"Always," Kurt admitted. "But I love him, so I can handle it. Of course, on the other hand, I love him so it's an absolute struggle, but this is what he wants and I am completely willing to respect that. But back to the proposal?" He received two murmurs of assent and continued. "Anyway, I had to reassure him that I _definitely _wanted this and then we went ring shopping and I ended up with this."

He held his hand out, quickly pulling up the camera on his iPhone and snapping a shot to send to Mercedes. Her exclamation of delight a few seconds later made it clear that she had gotten the picture. "Gorgeous! Is that white gold?"

"Yep. And three diamonds." Kurt wiggled his fingers, staring down at the glittering ring in wonder. "Blaine's is more simple - silver titanium with bevelled edges which looks perfect with his skin tone. I'll get him to send you a photo. But now that that's out of the way, how's Los Angeles? And how's Marcus treating you?"

As Mercedes began to talk, Kurt allowed himself to drift off into thought, still trying to catch up to the fact that his boyfriend had actually just proposed to him. Not that Blaine was his boyfriend anymore, and wow, fiance had such a _ring _to it that Kurt couldn't keep the smile off his face. And soon enough he was going to get _married _and then he and Blaine could move in together and there'd be a _wedding _and… and they were going to kiss. For the first time ever.

Kurt knew it was strange that he and Blaine had spent the past three years dating without going any further than holding hands and many people didn't understand it at all. It had taken Kurt himself some time to get used to, all those years ago in high school when it first began. When they had first started dating, neither boy had ever been in a relationship before and Kurt automatically left any decisions and 'first moves' up to Blaine. It had made so much sense at the time - Blaine was as confident as all get out and had been the one to ask Kurt out in the first place. So Kurt had just sat back and waited, enjoying the simple things like being able to hold hands with another boy or cuddle together when they watched a movie.

But when one month of new relationship activities became three, Kurt started getting curious and, admittedly, a little worried. He wanted to kiss Blaine, so much sometimes that it hurt, but did Blaine not want to kiss him? Was there something wrong with him? Was it because of what had happened with Karofsky and Blaine didn't want sloppy seconds?

When Kurt had finally worked up the nerve and posed all of these questions to Blaine, it had taken all of three seconds for Blaine to burst into tears (and Kurt had no idea what to do because Blaine had never _cried _before) and decide that he was an awful boyfriend and Kurt deserved so much better than him. And when Kurt had finally calmed Blaine down and assured him that they wouldn't be breaking up now or any time in the foreseeable future, he had gotten the story.

Blaine's father was up to his fifth wife - sixth by now. The past four women who had fallen for his father at that time had jumped into bed with him and then changed their mind when it came to actually being a couple. The only one who had stuck around for any amount of time was Blaine's mother and that was because she had gotten pregnant - by the time Blaine was three, she was out the door and the long line of replacements began.

"_I never want that, Kurt," Blaine explained, his voice trembling. "It's the most awful way to live. So I made myself a promise that I wouldn't have a physical relationship until I'm married because for me, marriage is for life. And the other guys have told me that it all starts with kissing - all the hand holding and stuff is innocent enough but as soon as you start kissing, that's when you lose control. So, I can't kiss you. And if that means we have to break up then…" Blaine shut his eyes, clearly preparing himself for the inevitable. "Then I understand."_

_Kurt surveyed him for a moment, waiting for Blaine to hesitantly open his eyes. "If you even try to break up with me right now, Blaine Anderson, you've got another thing coming." He reached out to take Blaine's hand gently, running his thumb along the back of Blaine's hand. "I care about you, not about what you can give me in regards to physical stuff. I mean, it's not like I have the best track record with that kind of stuff either. I can wait."_

_Blaine was still looking anxious. "You mean you're willing to wait on the chance of us getting married?"_

"_I want us to last, Blaine. I'll do whatever it takes."_

And he had kept to his word. Three years - sometimes three _long _years but sometimes like time had never passed - and they hadn't gone any further than hand holding. When the decision had been made to move to New York, Blaine was adamant about living separately and had managed to bribe his father into purchasing an apartment for him which was pocket change. Of course, Burt was so keen on the idea that he suggested that Rachel and Finn also live separately, which was what led to their current situation.

Which also raised an important question. _What__'__s __going __to __happen __now __that __Blaine __and __I __are __getting __married?_

Mercedes and Rachel had finished gossiping so Kurt ended the conversation with a promise of sending a wedding invitation out to Mercedes as soon as he had picked a date, then turned to Rachel. "So," he started carefully, "me and Blaine are getting married."

"I am aware."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Which means we're going to be living together, and I'm guessing I'll be moving in with him. What's going to happen with you and Finn?"

Rachel ducked her head, a suspicious blush forming. "Well, actually, it's really good timing. Finn and I have been talking and we thought it might be time for us to possibly move in together. I didn't want to say anything to you and Blaine because we didn't want you to feel like we wanted to kick either of you out or anything, but this kind of works perfectly."

Kurt just shook his head, the grin refusing to leave his face. "Everything's perfect."

* * *

"Tell me again why we didn't get a wedding planner?"

Kurt rolled his eyes fondly, reaching over to take the stacks of paper out of Blaine's hands and began to expertly sort them into piles. "Because this is our wedding and we want it to be perfect for us. And we're just as capable as any wedding planner."

Blaine sighed. "You are. I'm not cut out for this sort of thing."

"You can be the coffee maker." Kurt squeezed his hand lightly before letting go, continuing to sort through the paperwork. "So, we're going down to look at flower arrangements tomorrow, outfits will be sorted by each of us respectively as well as vows, rings are on Thursday. I'll start looking into invitations tomorrow and possible venues for us to check out… anything else you have to add?"

"Only that I picked the best man possible to be my husband."

And even after three years, Blaine could still make him blush with the simplest of words.

* * *

They weren't going _that _traditionally, of course. A church wasn't really something that either of them were vying for, and a registration office seemed just a little too cheap for Kurt's standards. So when they had come across the manor house that was rented out for weddings and had managed to make time in their schedules to get out to look at it, Kurt had instantly fallen in love.

The only issue?

"Well, the booking schedule is quite tight for this place," the owner told them, flipping through her date book. "It seems our next opening is in eleven months time, unless you're willing to do a Tuesday afternoon in eight weeks."

Kurt sighed and turned to Blaine who also looked dejected. The chances of them falling the perfect place that would actually marry a same-sex couple had been so slim - yes, New York had advanced but that didn't mean _everybody _had - and now that they had it, it was fairly upsetting to find out they couldn't use it. As the woman's phone rang and she answered, Kurt shrugged. "I guess we'd better go find the least offensive looking registry office then."

"Actually, you might not have to." The woman set her phone down and flipped back to the start of the book, crossing a name out. "I've just had a cancellation. In regards to normal policy, I'm meant to go to the waiting list which is at about fifteen couples long right now but…" Kurt held his breath, grabbing Blaine's hand. "I think I can make an exception."

"Oh my goodness, thank you _so _much!" Kurt fought back the urge to squeal or something equally as embarrassing like jumping in his seat, instead reminding himself that he was an adult now, and one planning his wedding to boot.

"So, we'll be seeing you next Saturday and -"

Kurt froze. "What? _Next _Saturday? As in, ten days from now?"

Blaine squeezed his hand, forcing Kurt's attention to him. "Babe, relax. You have most of the details sorted out, all we need to do is get our family out here and tell all the caterers and detailers where they need to set up."

"Don't forget the honeymoon," Kurt reminded him.

"And due to my dad's frequent flyer points, we can go anywhere at any time," Blaine reminded him back. "Let's do this."

It only took Kurt another second to make up his mind, as was always the case when it came to Blaine - that one look and all of Kurt's carefully calculated plans were out the window for one of Blaine's impromptu ideas. "We'll take it."

_I__'__m __getting __married __in __ten __days, _Kurt told himself, not even sure if he could believe it.

* * *

So, it had been short notice, but they were finally ready. Kurt and Rachel's place - more Rachel and Finn's now, considering most of Kurt's things were boxed up and ready to be moved to Blaine's apartment after the honeymoon - was packed to the roof with friends and relatives, all trying to find somewhere to sleep before the big day. Kurt knew Blaine's apartment was equally as crowded and also knew his fiance would be having just as much trouble sleeping as he was - after all, they were getting _married _tomorrow. Sure enough, when he called Blaine's phone, he picked up after only two rings. "How did I know you'd call me tonight?" Blaine asked, his tone amused.

"Because I can't see you," Kurt said simply. "Can you believe it? This time tomorrow, we're going to be _married_." The silence coming down the line was suspicious and Kurt couldn't help but smile. "Don't cry. Marrying me isn't that bad, I promise."

"Prat," Blaine murmured, his voice thick. "You know it's not too late to change your mind. I know I'm too weird and cry too much and I didn't even _propose _properly and -"

"Blaine Anderson," Kurt said as sternly as one could in a half-whisper while their old high school friends slept on their floor. "For one, I really cannot wait to call you Blaine Anderson-_Hummel_, so don't you dare tell me I can't." The chuckle emanating from the other end of the line was a positive and Kurt pressed on. "You are _everything _I've ever wanted and so much more. The only reason I want you trying to call off this wedding is because you've decided you aren't in love with me - and when I say want, I mean I really _don__'__t _want that, please don't do that, that would really suck right now -"

"I'm not going to do that," Blaine said, the amused tone back. "I'm a bit of an idiot sometimes, but I'm nowhere near stupid enough to give up the best thing that's ever happened to me."

Kurt smiled at the ceiling, letting the comfortable silence drift between them. "Are we going to fall asleep on the phone again?"

"Yes," Blaine said immediately. "And then tomorrow night, we can fall asleep in each other's arms, where we actually belong."

"In our amazing honeymoon location that you are yet to tell me about," Kurt bantered back, trying to ignore the way his heart had skipped three beats at _least_ from Blaine's last comment.

Blaine was smiling, Kurt knew. "I want you to have at least one surprise. You'll love it, I promise, at least -" Blaine cut himself off with a yawn. "I hope," he finished. "Can I hear snoring?"

"Puck," Kurt explained. "Tina already bailed out of the room, I have no idea where she's sleeping now but at least she's getting some peace and quiet." Fondly, Kurt glanced down at his friends sprawled in various locations around his room - not for much longer, Kurt reminded himself - all fast asleep. And if anybody had told him in high school that they would all be able to coexist like this without wanting to kill each other, Kurt would have said they were crazy. But there they were, 70% of New Directions fast asleep on his floor. "How are things on your end?"

"Mm, they're all over the place. I think Finn's a bit creeped out by Wes and David but that happens."

Kurt shook his head at Blaine's tired slur. "You need to go to sleep. Can't have you passing out from exhaustion tomorrow."

Blaine chuckled drowsily. "I love you so much," he mumbled and Kurt could hear his breathing evening out, preparing to drop into sleep.

Kurt gripped the phone a little tighter, closing his eyes with a fond smile. "I love you too," he whispered, listening to his fiance fall asleep.

* * *

_Why are there people on my bed?_

Kurt's eyes shot open as a particularly hard bounce threatened to spill him over the edge. "I'm up, I'm up! What is your problem?"

The five girls stopped and stared at him. "Really?" Tina finally said. "Come on, Kurt, I know you just woke up but -"

"I'm getting married today."

A second later, six shrieks filled the apartment and Puck shot to his feet, fists raised protectively. "What happened?"

"I'm getting married!"

Puck slowly raised his hands to rub at his eyes. "Kurt, dude, we _know_. And we're all very happy for you and that's why we're sleeping on your cold and uncomfortable floor but it's seven in the morning. Can we be happy for you at a normal time?" Mike grunted his agreement, curling up in a ball around his pillow and Kurt had to wonder again why they hadn't just crashed at Blaine's place with the rest of the guys.

"You can," Kurt said as he pulled himself out of bed, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. "We, however, have a _lot _to do. Ladies?" The girls followed him to the bathroom where Kurt immediately pulled out every single beauty product he owned. "Help yourselves, I'm just going to text Blaine -"

"Isn't there a tradition against that?" Quinn asked as she pulled out her own travel bag and began to lay out nail polish bottles.

Kurt shook his head. "Only against seeing each other and I need to check that he's awake and he's got his vows and all that and - oh." His phone had just buzzed in his hand, Blaine's name appearing on the caller ID. "Hold on," Kurt said quickly, ducking out of the bathroom before accepting the call. "Sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Blaine said, sounding slightly exasperated. "Rachel's laying down the law and confiscating my phone so she gave me a minute to talk to you. I've got the vows, I hope Finn still has the rings, there's no dramas and if there are then I'll get Finn to call Rachel who will pass the message on to you. And I love you so much."

Kurt blinked a couple of times. "Okay. Rachel's over there? I didn't even notice she was gone."

"She is and she's waiting right in front of me so if you have anything to say -"

"Oh, right. Everything's organized on this end, I'll see you at the end of the aisle at 4pm and I love you with my whole heart. And I promise that this is forever so if you're having any doubts about me not showing up or sticking around, you can get rid of those right now. You're mine for as long as we both shall live."

A moment of silence and then Blaine's quiet sniffle was audible. "Stop it."

Kurt smiled fondly. "Never. See you later."

Yes, maybe his husband-to-be cried a lot but Kurt simply wouldn't take him any other way.

* * *

The day had somehow simultaneously rushed by and dragged on in Kurt's mind. He had spent the morning getting ready with the girls with an hour long session dedicated to his hair alone - and thank god he didn't have to worry about makeup otherwise he probably would have missed the entire wedding - until the boys had forced them to stop for lunch. His nerves were getting the better of him by then but Kurt forced himself to eat knowing that nothing would ruin his wedding quite like him passing out. He had rehearsed his vows for the first part of the afternoon before everybody had gotten dressed and bundled together for half a million group photos until it was time to leave.

Which left Kurt sitting in the back of Finn's car wondering how on earth he was so calm.

"Dude, are you like, internalizing or something?"

He had to laugh. "Blaine taught you what that meant, didn't he?"

Finn nodded. "Are you?"

"No," Kurt said thoughtfully. "I don't think I am. I guess I just know that there's no way I'll ever regret this and so there's no need to be nervous. It's life changing but Blaine is worth changing my life for and the only person I've ever wanted to change for."

There was a long moment of silence and Kurt figured the conversation was over, staring out the window again. "You two have something really special," Finn suddenly said. "I don't think Rachel and I have that - that's not to say that I don't love her and of course I want to spend the rest of my life with her, but I've never seen anything like you and Blaine before. And I know I was kind of a jerk to Blaine at times in high school and pretty awful to you, but I've never been happier for two people than I am for you two."

Kurt bit his lip as hard as he could. "Stop it. You do not get to make me cry before my wedding."

"Do I have to apologize for that?"

"Absolutely not. I - I really appreciate it."

Without looking back, Finn held out a fist and Kurt chuckled quietly, bumping his against it right before they pulled to a stop. "Okay, here's the back door. I'll go find a park and then sit down. Do you wish people good luck for weddings or tell them to break a leg?"

Kurt actually had to contemplate that one for a second. "I don't think it's either. Just - wish them happiness, I guess."

"Doing that."

Kurt rolled his eyes and stepped out of the car. He had already been shown which room to wait in and made his way there quickly, closing the doors behind him. The other set of doors led out to the room itself and Kurt could hear the hum of noise from inside where most of their guests should already be seated. And he knew that in another room on the other side of the house, Blaine was waiting too, waiting for his cue to go out there.

It wasn't too long before music began to play - soft, ambient music to set the scene. The music that was also Kurt's cue to head out.

Slowly, Kurt walked towards the doors, resting his hands on the wood for a second and taking a deep breath. _Are __you __ready __for __this? __Are __you __ready __to __change __your __life __forever?_

_Yes ,_Kurt told himself and pushed open the doors. _A __million __times __over._

Kurt heard the murmurs as he walked to his place at the front of the aisle, turning to wink at David and Wes who looked stunned. Everybody had assumed that Kurt would be the one to walk down the aisle, which was almost part of the reason why they had chosen to have Blaine be the one to walk. It was always fun to keep people on their toes and besides, Blaine had been the one who had been dreaming of his wedding since he was seven while Kurt had been planning everybody else's. This was what Blaine wanted - even if he hadn't said it in so many words - and Kurt was more than happy to let him.

Glancing to his other side, Kurt rolled his eyes fondly when he saw Rachel had already started crying. Mercedes beamed at him and Kurt took her hand briefly, unable to keep his own smile away and strongly resisting the urge to scream "I'm getting married!" at the top of his lungs.

And then the music began to play.

Kurt and Blaine had had many songs over the years that had meant something to them, ranging from _Teenage __Dream _to many of the songs Blaine had written himself. So picking the perfect wedding song had been the product of a two hour conversation and four debates, but it was worth it as the sound of Pachelbel's _Canon in D Major_ began to play softly. Kurt turned along with the rest of the guests, staring at the back door and waiting.

And even though he had known what he was going to see, Kurt still felt the lump in his throat when the doors opened and his own father was standing there with Blaine on his arm, standing in for Blaine's father who wasn't exactly interested in seeing his gay son getting married. Kurt pushed past his moment of pride and focused on the fact that he _should _have noticed instantly - his fiance.

_Holy hell._

Blaine was _gorgeous_.

Kurt had to fight to keep his jaw from dropping as the man who was going to be his _husband _walked down the aisle towards him, absolutely _beaming_. And then his own grin was threatening to split his face and tears were welling up and he didn't even care if he was going red and blotchy because Blaine was there. Blaine was walking towards him to become his, legally and permanently and nobody else even existed right now.

The two reached the end of the aisle and Blaine accepted a hug from Burt before the man stepped forward to embrace Kurt. "I'm proud of you," came the whisper in his ear and Kurt choked up, fighting to hold it together.

"I love you, Dad."

"Love you too, Kurt."

Burt broke away and turned to stand with the other guests as Blaine stepped forward. Just by looking at him, Kurt could tell he was shaking and held out his hands straight away for Blaine to take, squeezing reassuringly. _I __love __you_, he mouthed.

Blaine's smile was brilliant. _I __love __you __too_.

"Welcome," the officiant began from behind them, Kurt not even able to spare her a glance. "Today you are all here to witness the union between Blaine Anderson and Kurt Hummel."

The look in Blaine's eyes was almost too beautiful to bear because he had just _gotten __it_. He knew this was going to last, this wasn't going to be like what he had grown up with. Kurt hadn't been sure whether Blaine would ever truly understand that and to see him realizing that Kurt was going to be with him forever was almost too much for his emotions. Forcing himself to hold it together - the vows were going to be difficult enough without him crying all over the place - Kurt simply smiled at Blaine, unable to stop for a second.

They had asked the officiant to keep it brief - the obligatory statement about marriage was kept in but none of the usual prayers or Bible readings were done after that. Instead they jumped straight into it.

Vows.

Blaine went first by mutual agreement - as the most likely to cry, he was going to tear up during Kurt's vows no matter what they were and he wanted to get his out first. But Kurt wasn't sure how he felt about that since his own eyes were welling up from the very first word.

"Kurt," Blaine began softly. "Four years ago we met on a staircase by chance. Out of everybody running down those stairs, you picked me to ask for assistance. I sang _Teenage __Dream _to you and you didn't run away screaming - an accomplishment." Soft laughter from the audience and Kurt rolled his eyes fondly, unconsciously moving a little closer to Blaine as he did. "From then on in, our lives began to revolve around each other, even if we didn't realize at the time just how big an impact that was going to make. It took me longer to see it than you but maybe that was because I was scared."

Blaine paused, taking a deep breath and Kurt lifted a hand to catch the first tear as it fell, wiping it away gently. "I was scared to get you because that would mean I could lose you. But I should have known that I wouldn't lose you, that when you give your whole heart to something that you will never let it go. And I have the privilege, the _honor_ of saying that I am in possession of your heart. All I can do is promise to never break it, never let it go and cherish it with all the love it deserves and all the love I can give for the rest of our lives." Another pause and Blaine's voice was trembling now. "I love you, Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, and I will love you forever and be yours for as long as you will have me."

Blaine ducked his head but Kurt lifted it up straight away, gently wiping the tears from Blaine's cheeks. "I'll have you forever, you know that," he said softly, aware that his own voice was shaky and not really caring. "Blaine, when I stopped you on that staircase, I had a preconceived notion of you from the second I saw you. Dapper, charming, always in control… I was worried at first that you might be a bit stuffy but as soon as you got a little bit excited and that puppy dog expression came out, I changed my mind straight away." Laughter from the Dalton boys and Blaine pouted a little. Combined with the tears still escaping, it was close to heartbreaking even if it was just in fun. "The day after you asked me out, you wanted to know what the bruise on my arm was from. I think it's safe to tell you now that I spent the rest of that day pinching myself to find out whether it was real or not."

The laughter was just a background noise now - Blaine's smile was what Kurt focused on. "I did the same. You just bruise easier than me."

Kurt laughed softly. "We really are perfect for each other." He took a deep breath, knowing it needed to be said. "This relationship wasn't what everybody expected, and it wasn't what I expected at first." As expected, Blaine stiffened a little. "Yeah," Kurt continued, "apart from the ones who told us that we were wrong for being two guys in love, others also started asking whether this was real or not, whether we were making the right decision." Blaine's head fell again and Kurt lifted it, staring into his eyes. "Judging by the fact that we're here, I think they were _wrong_. Because it doesn't matter that we didn't spend high school getting it on like people expected us to, it doesn't matter that we've been living separately for the past few years instead of together like expected. We defy expectation, Blaine, and that's what makes us special. That's what makes us what we are and it doesn't matter what people say or expect of us. We know that we love each other and this is forever and that's why I'm standing here today to promise you that this is forever. I love you, Blaine Everett Anderson, forever."

He was crying now and naturally that was making Blaine cry more and there was a long moment where all they could do was stare at each other. It had always been a weakness for both of them when the other was crying and they were helpless to do anything, but it wasn't _bad _for either of them and Blaine seemed to realize this first, laughing shakily. "Are we going to stand here crying or are we going to get married?"

Kurt released Blaine's hands to wipe his eyes quickly, Blaine doing the same. "Okay," Kurt breathed, taking his hands again. "Okay, we're good."

Their arrangements for the rest of the ceremony were simple and together they turned to the officiant. "Kurt," she began and that was all it took for Kurt to turn straight back to Blaine. "Do you take Blaine to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish and to be faithful to for all the days of your lives, till death do you part?"

"I do," Kurt said and the smile that crossed Blaine's face was nothing short of perfection.

"Blaine, do you take Kurt to be -"

"If it's the same as above then yes," Blaine interrupted and Kurt couldn't hold back a snort of laughter. "I do."

"You really are impatient, aren't you?"

Blaine hadn't stopped smiling and Kurt felt his face mirroring it. "I want to be married to you. So sue me."

Finn coughed awkwardly behind them and Kurt rolled his eyes, turning to the boy who was holding the rings out to them. "This whole wedding is just running to par - we're both crying, you can't let anybody finish their sentences and Finn's interrupting." The audience laughed and Kurt reached over to take Blaine's ring before turning back to his fiance - _nearly __husband, __nearly. _"Blaine? Will you accept this ring as a symbol of my love and as a promise that this will be forever?"

"I will," Blaine said, his voice shaking again as Kurt lifted his hand and slid the ring onto it. He took a second to run his fingers over it before releasing Blaine's hand, allowing him to take his own ring from Finn. "Kurt, will you accept this ring as a symbol of my love and as a promise that this will be forever?"

Kurt closed his eyes against the onslaught of yet more tears and nodded. "I will."

He felt the coolness of the ring as it slid onto his finger before his hand was lifted and brushed against Blaine's lips. "I love you," came the whisper.

"I love you too," he said, feeling another tear escape as he opened his eyes to stare into Blaine's - the man he loved and was going to spend the rest of his life with.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I have the honor of presenting to you, Kurt and Blaine Anderson-Hummel."

_My husband._

"You may now kiss."

Kurt could see the change in Blaine's face and knew he was afraid. Of what, Kurt wasn't sure, but that was a conversation for later. For now, Kurt simply smiled at him gently and raised a hand to touch Blaine's face. "Will you let me kiss you?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah. Please."

"Of course," Kurt whispered and leant in to press their lips together.

The audience burst into applause and Kurt could feel Blaine smiling against his lips and he could _feel _Blaine and it was almost too much. He had been in love with this boy - this _man_- for the better part of four years and this was the first time they had ever kissed and it didn't change their relationship one single bit. Blaine had still been his, even if he hadn't given his body over. He had given his soul and that was what mattered to Kurt, always.

But he would be lying if he didn't say that kissing Blaine was _phenomenal_.

Blaine was still trembling so Kurt continued to kiss him, kiss the fear and worry away until Blaine knew that Kurt was one hundred percent his. Which, in the end, took only a very short amount of time - after all, they had been each others since that day on the staircase. They just hadn't known it at the time.

Kurt finally broke the kiss once he remembered a few of the audience members present - his father still considered Kurt his little boy no matter how old he was and while Puck and Santana had grown up, Kurt still couldn't trust them to keep sacred moments sacred. But nothing could tear his sight away from Blaine in that moment as his husband opened his eyes, staring at him with so much love that Kurt choked up again. "I love you, Kurt."

"I love you too, Blaine."

Together they turned to face their audience - their friends and family, people who had been so special to them throughout their lives, people who were now on their feet clapping and cheering for them. Blaine's hand tightened in his and Kurt knew without looking that the smile on his face would be one of the happiest Kurt had ever seen.

In a moment they would head to the reception room to celebrate with their loved ones, to accept congratulations and gifts and various innuendos that Kurt was powerless to control. They would dance together and Blaine would, no doubt, have some cheesy number prepared that he just _had _to sing to Kurt while Kurt pretended to hate it. And then they would leave together to a hotel for the night before flying off to the mystery location of their honeymoon the following day. And unlike most other couples, their wedding night would be spent talking with kisses and soft touches. There was no hurry and when Blaine was ready to move to sex, Kurt would be right there with him.

After all, they had never been a 'normal' couple. Why try when what they had was beautiful enough?

* * *

**Angela's betaing lately has just been her sending back the document with 'my creys' written at the top. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"...good god, I think you're the only person that can order Wes around." *stunned silence***_

_**"Well... He might have talked to my old club director, Ms. Sylvester. I think I heard her say to him, 'my Porcelain will do whatever he wants at any time because I'm Sue Sylvester. If you try to stop him, I'll take that gavel you're so fond of and make it into a cheap wooden spoon for serving you up some Defeat with a side of Shame. I'll also use my Sue-plane to come here and punish you myself, with confetti cannons and a koala or two.'"**_


	220. Victim

**I completed the epilogue last night. For me, this story is complete. **

**Oh my god. I don't know what to do now. Except tell you all to go to my Tumblr and bet on what you think the last word of the epilogue is as there are prizes for it. Because I was bored this afternoon. It should be directly underneath the link to this chapter which, right now, is second from the top.**

**Back to business. ****I just want to chuck this out there in response to yesterday's chapter. Most of the reviews were beautiful and heart warming but I did get a few, as expected, that found the concept a bit weird. What surprised me was that it wasn't so much them not kissing but things like them not living together before getting married. And why this is weird is because I don't plan on living with the person I'm going to marry before I marry them. I'm kind of old fashioned like that but I don't see it as a necessary prerequisite to getting married. Maybe that's just me. It just surprised me.**

**From **_**Klaineandfinchel (Anonymous): what if kurt and Blaine are near where Blaine used to go to school and Blaine runs into some of his old bullies and they start harassing him and kurt comes up and starts acting like blaines boyfriend to piss them off then they kiss in front them.**_

**Now, I know I'm going to get some 'too early' comments for this one. I hope I justified my reasoning well enough.**

* * *

Victim

They didn't end up going for lunch.

That much was apparent when they had passed by all the food areas that Lima had to offer that were any good (all three of them) and were headed out of town. Kurt frowned out his window for a few minutes before figuring that maybe it was a good idea to ask the driver of the car where he was going and if it would be necessary to call his father for some kind of ransom demand now.

"I'm taking you out to see a part of my life that nobody else has seen," Blaine explained.

Right.

_That_ helped.

But there was a tenseness to Blaine's shoulders that told Kurt that asking what was happening was probably not the best idea right now. After all, Blaine had just helped him out and been shoved around and told off for it, then had to deal with Kurt's mini breakdown in response. He had safely established by now that Blaine was one of the good guys and figured that whatever was going on now was for his sake, something else to try and help with what had just happened.

And Kurt was still struggling with that too, struggling with the full realization that his first proper kiss - his first kiss with a _boy_ - had been wasted, taken from him forcibly by someone who spent their days hating him for who he was, who they _both_ were. It hurt, a lot, and the last thing he wanted now was to keep talking about that and rubbing salt into the wound which was why it was good that Blaine wasn't talking.

After awhile - and just when Kurt was relaxing a little, resigning himself to the fact that he would never have the fairytale romance other boys got - Blaine leaned over and switched on the radio. Perfectly timed too because it was just starting to get a little tense and Kurt silently thanked Blaine for somehow knowing him this well already, knowing what to do to keep things as easy as possible.

The first song was Adele and Kurt grinned, suddenly realizing the opportunity he had been presented with. He had heard Blaine sing, after all, but Blaine had never heard _him_. As Blaine glanced over curiously, Kurt winked - actually _winked _what was wrong with him? - and joined in with the chorus. "_But __I __set __fire __to __the __rain, __watched __it __pour __as __I __touched__ your __face, __let __it __burn __while __I __cried __cause __I__ heard __it __screaming __out__ your __name, __your __name.__"_

Blaine waited until he'd finished the song before commenting quietly; "Don't you ever let them silence you, Kurt."

And that was more of a compliment than any other he could remember receiving.

They sang together to the rest of the songs - mostly Top 40 but he could forgive that - and Kurt eventually lost track of time as he always did when a good run of songs were to be sung. So when they pulled up outside another school and Blaine turned off the ignition, Kurt glanced out the window, surprised. "Where are we?"

"This is Westerville High." Blaine's hands were still tight on the steering wheel, not quite to the point of white knuckles but there was definitely tension there. "The school I attended before Dalton."

Kurt sucked in a breath, shocked. "Blaine, you didn't -"

"I wanted to." Blaine turned to face him, releasing his hands from the wheel and knotting them together. "I'm not going to lie and say that this is easy for me, but what you went through today and what you've been going through hasn't been easy for you either. And I know when you came to Dalton, all you saw was a group of confident looking guys having fun but… it hasn't always been like that. For some of them, yeah, but not for me. Life is better now, so I wanted to show you where it began for me and that you can get out."

It was touching beyond belief and Kurt, horrified, felt the tears well up again. "I don't know what to say, Blaine. Nobody's ever done anything like this for me before."

Blaine's hand found his and squeezed gently. "You don't have to say anything."

In silence, Kurt left Blaine's car and crossed around to join him where he was leaning against the drivers door, staring at the building. "I haven't come back in years," Blaine admitted quietly. "I can remember three years ago, standing out here like this every morning wishing with everything I had in me that today would be the day that people stopped hating me, that things would get better or that maybe an alien invasion would hit and they'd ban school." Kurt laughed softly and Blaine smiled, shaking his head. "Yeah. Anything would have done. But in the end I'd have to walk in and deal with another day."

Kurt slid his hand into Blaine's, feeling how tense he was. "We can leave now if you want," he said softly. "I can understand how hard this is for you."

And he truly could.

But Blaine shook his head. "No, I - I want to go in. This is for me too, and class is in so we shouldn't run into anybody. I know you have your places in McKinley that you're terrified of going into now -" Kurt suppressed a shudder at the thought of ever having to set foot in the locker room again, "- and I want to show you mine. But more importantly, I want to prove to myself that I can go back there, that I'm a stronger person now. And that's not to say you're weak for being afraid," Blaine said quickly. "It just takes time."

"I understand," Kurt said again. "Let's go."

Blaine released his hand, Kurt not mourning the loss too much. He wouldn't hold another guy's hand at McKinley, after all, and since they were just friends there was no reason for them to walk around hand-in-hand anyway, no matter how right Blaine's hand was starting to feel in his.

Pushing open the gate, Blaine led the way onto the campus. Kurt glanced around at the worn looking buildings, cigarette butts in the gardens, graffiti on the walls and mentally tried to figure out how someone like Blaine had lasted more than a _second_ here. Blaine shook his head as he took in the same sights. "I don't know whether being at Dalton has made me snobby and pretentious but I suddenly feel the need to shower."

Kurt laughed quietly. "Yeah, that's kind of the feeling after being at McKinley for a day. Though usually that's due to a slushy to the face or dumpster toss. Do those particular evils exist here?"

"They were usually a fan of the port-a-potties." Blaine gestured to a row at the edge of the football field and Kurt noticed his hand shaking a little. "Seven hours in one of those is enough to give anybody claustrophobia." Kurt had to wince because yeah, the dumpster tosses were gross and painful but at least he could get out once the jocks had left.

"We don't need to go over there," he said and Blaine shot him a grateful look. "Did you have a choir room here?"

Blaine's expression brightened and he was leading Kurt down to a set of classrooms near the back of the school. Unlike McKinley, all of the rooms were spread out with only a few blocks here and there so they didn't have to worry about corridors with potential enemies lurking around corners. "Choir room," Blaine said, gesturing to one of the rooms that looked just as plain as the others when Kurt peered through the window. "No instruments?" Blaine said, correctly interpreting Kurt's confusion. "We couldn't have anything that wouldn't get vandalized. So we had to bring in our own and the teacher would lock them up in the staffroom until the end of the day."

Kurt hadn't imagined there would be anywhere rougher than McKinley but Westerville was certainly coming close. "Is there anywhere you need to go?"

Blaine nodded but made no move to leave. "We had a Sadie Hawkins dance," he explained quietly. "I took the only other gay guy in the school and certain people didn't like that."

"What happened?"

Blaine ducked his head. "They - ah, they beat the living crap out of us."

Kurt winced again. "I'm so sorry." He hesitated for a moment before linking hands with Blaine again, feeling how tense he was. "You want to go back to -?"

"I don't but I think I need to. Obviously not right there but I just need to see it."

Kurt nodded. "Okay," he said as reassuringly as possible. "I'll be right there with you."

And whether Blaine knew it or not, this was one of the most helpful parts of the healing process for Kurt. Blaine had been through hell too, had people knock him down and hurt him and had so many bad memories from this place and yes, they were still with him. But he was at a point where he could come back to the place that had hurt him so much, face up to the past and realize he was stronger, he was past this. And it showed Kurt that one day he would be able to do the same.

The auditorium was across the other side of the school and Blaine's hand stayed in his the whole way, Kurt sensing he needed the comfort. It wasn't exactly a _hardship_ after all. Instead of entering the building, Blaine led him around the side which linked to the student parking lot, currently filled with cars. "Here," he said quietly, gesturing to the area in front of them. "We were waiting for his dad, didn't realize they'd followed us out and left their dates to keep watch."

Blaine was trembling and Kurt wanted nothing more than to hug him but he didn't know how that would be taken. "It's over," he said instead. "It happened a long time ago."

"I know." Blaine took a deep breath and the shaking decreased noticeably. "I just - I can see it if I think about it hard enough but it's not as clear as it was. Like it's always going to be there but as time goes on, I don't have to be controlled by it."

"And that'll happen to me too."

It was barely a whisper but Blaine heard, turning to him with a smile. Not as strong or confident as before, but getting there. "It will. It hurts now but you're going to get there too."

Kurt managed to smile back. "Thank you, Blaine."

It was for much more than just today and Blaine understood. "You're welcome."

He turned back to stare at the spot for a few more minutes, Kurt letting him have the silence he needed. There were a few questions itching to be asked but Kurt left them, waiting. Finally Blaine nodded as if something had connected in his mind and turned back to Kurt. "Ask."

"How did you -?" He gave up, shaking his head. "What happened to the other guy?"

"Private school in another state," Blaine explained. "His dad arranged a transfer instantly, he was a bit more traumatized than I was. We keep in touch on occasion, apparently he's dating another guy now and he seems pretty happy."

Kurt smiled as they began to walk back towards Blaine's car. "That's good. I mean, not good that he had to move out of the state but good that you're both doing alright."

"Oh my god. Is that _Anderson?_"

Blaine completely froze up, his hand becoming an iron grip on Kurt's. He knew part of Blaine wanted to pull away, probably to run away but he couldn't move, just like Kurt knew with a certainty that the two boys walking towards them were two of the boys who had made Blaine's life a living hell when he was a student there.

"Told you it was his car," one said to the other, nodding imperiously at Blaine's car parked outside, just a few steps away, so _close_. "And look, he's brought another fairy with him? This your boyfriend?"

Blaine didn't answer and the second boy sniggered. "I doubt it. I mean, switching to guys because you can't get any girls doesn't mean the guys are gonna like you any better, does it? How much did you pay this one to come with you, huh?"

"More than you two would ever sell for, even as a double act," Kurt said immediately. "Nothing."

Confusion, and Kurt smirked because yeah, this was just as easy as baiting the other jocks at McKinley. Start using long words and not putting things clearly and insults to the face worked like a charm.

"So, which one of you takes it?" came the next unoriginal comment and Kurt rolled his eyes.

"For two supposedly straight young men, you seem very interested in the dynamics of a homosexual relationship. Need pointers?"

Oh, that was one of his best and more importantly, Kurt could feel Blaine's hold on him relaxing a little, clearly over the initial shock. "Did you just call us gay, fag?"

Kurt chuckled. "I was aiming more for bi-curious but if you want to label yourself that quickly then that's fine with me. I'm sure I can find you a pamphlet since your school seems very uneducated on the way to interact with or as a gay person. After all, beating the crap out of someone won't turn them straight." Blaine stiffened a little and Kurt squeezed his hand in apology. "Just like making you watch _Broadway_ classics with us wouldn't turn you gay. Except you already are so -"

"Shut up!"

He had hit a nerve, Kurt could tell. But he didn't want to bait them too far considering these were the boys who wailed on Blaine and probably wouldn't be afraid to do the same to both of them, even if it was broad daylight. "Okay, how about this? You two can continue to live in your straight-denial lives and me and Blaine will go and be 'super gay' somewhere else."

"You two aren't even dating, are you?" Kurt rolled his eyes at another shot from the redhead. "We all knew a long time ago that Blaine would never find anybody, that the gay thing was just an excuse because he couldn't figure out how to get a girl to want him. And now he's gotten to the desperate point of bringing some guy around to try and show us that someone wants him when we know nobody does."

Blaine flinched and Kurt had pretty much had enough. "Actually," he said, looping his arm around Blaine's arm properly, "we were just trying to keep things modest enough for your sensibilities but since you've worked it out, there's no point in hiding it anymore. Is there, baby?" He didn't wait for a reply from Blaine - probably a good thing since he wasn't sure how good of a liar Blaine was. "That's alright. I always said I never wanted to keep you a secret, especially not from the people here. I was going to show them just how amazing a person you really."

"Oh god, really?" Kurt snapped his eyes back up to the second boy who looked bored. "That's a load of crap. I don't care if you're gay to the moon, _nobody_ wants Anderson unless it's for a quick -"

"Okay," Kurt cut in, his anger finally boiling over in the same way it had when Karofsky had provoked him. "One, let's keep this PG. And two, do I need to show you just how much I _want_ Blaine?"

Yes, it was a stupid stupid decision but Kurt was good at making those today. And he had already lost his first kiss to Karofsky, the first kiss that mattered, so really why was it such a big deal to grab Blaine, spin him towards him and press their lips together?

Oh, but suddenly it _was _a big deal because this wasn't some girl he was kissing to try and please his dad or some closeted jock who was forcing something on him. This was _Blaine_, someone who actually meant quite a bit to Kurt, someone who had helped him through a lot and understood him and was someone that Kurt was beginning to consider a very good friend. Someone who he was actually kissing of his own choice and this? This was his actual first kiss.

He couldn't take it back but he couldn't regret it. If it was considered a waste of a first kiss to help out a friend in need, then Kurt could consider his first kiss wasted. But he would never regret it.

Breaking away before he could really work out whether Blaine was responding or horrified or hating him, Kurt tugged on his hand hard and led him across to the car. The jocks were still standing still, staring at where they had been and Kurt knew it would only take a second for them to react. Blaine was shoved into the back seat as gently as Kurt could, door closed behind him and Kurt slid into the drivers seat. He had one last glance of the two boys headed towards them as Kurt floored it, leaving them behind.

Three blocks later and Kurt pulled over, turning the car off. He stepped out of the car, walking slowly around to the other side and opened the door to the back seat, settling in himself and turning to face Blaine who had his head in his hands. "Well," he said quietly, musingly, "it seems that all of my impromptu ideas and sticking up to bullying end up with kissing." Blaine began to shake and Kurt leaned in, alarmed. "Are you okay? Oh god, are you crying? I'm sorry, I -"

Blaine snorted and Kurt broke off as he lifted his head, realizing he was trying to suppress his laughter. "Kurt Hummel, you are _unbelievable_," he choked out. "You - I just - give me a second." Kurt rolled his eyes, waiting while Blaine got his laughter out. "I can't believe you just did that!"

"Well I wasn't exactly going to stand there and let them say crap like that about you," Kurt pointed out. "It shut them up, that was for sure."

Blaine sobered, staring at him properly. "I - Kurt, are you sure you won't regret that? After everything that happened with Karofsky and then this -"

"Shh," Kurt said quietly. "No, I don't and won't regret it. You're my friend, Blaine."

And then Blaine's head was resting against his shoulder, his breathing ragged. "Do you mind?" he asked a second later, sounding so insecure that Kurt's heart clenched. "I just need a moment to be weak before I can be strong again."

"You're not weak," Kurt murmured, smoothing a hand over Blaine's back reassuringly. "And you certainly don't need to be strong. But yes, take all the time you need."

Blaine sighed against his shirt and Kurt could feel the trembling ease, his breath evening out a little. "Thank you," came the murmur, so quiet that Kurt might have imagined it.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered back.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"So...where are we headed for the honeymoon?" *bounces in excitement***_

_**"Katy Perry's hometown."**_

_***patented bitch please glare***_

_**"Kurt, you're scaring me... Fine, it's Paris. By the way, I accidentaly left your skin-care product bag at home. So I bought you a stuffed giraffe to make up for it. Look, squeeze his foot! He sings P!nk songs." **_


	221. Birthday

**We had a mega competition on Tumblr last night to see who could guess the final word to the epilogue. I lost followers in the process because of my spam but meh, they're the ones missing out on the giant ball of Klaine love. Anyway, we did get a winner and it was heaps of fun and I'm not sure why I'm telling you all this when I'm not revealing the word here. I guess you're used to my random and misplaced authors notes by now.**

**From **_**Mispent Youth: It's either Blaine or Kurt's birthday and so, of course they deserve a birthday kiss!**_

**Ah, the old birthday kiss... we had so much fun with this - you know the cake cutting one? Where if you hit the plate, you have to kiss the person closest to you? Yeah, I always made sure my best friend was there so I'd kiss her... on the cheek of course. We did that every birthday and, as such, she's my inspiration for this story.**

**Oh, and why do we never see their birthdays? The only one I've ever heard a mention of was Sam's which was the week before Prom (and if Glee is consecutive which I don't know about at all, that means his birthday was sometime during all the allegations of Rumours... ouch)**

* * *

Birthday

New Directions had never been big on birthdays. Kurt wasn't sure why, but as a group they never seemed to do much to celebrate each other's 'special day.' Maybe it was simply down to the fact that every day had enough drama to focus on anything else, but either way they hadn't ever done any kind of birthday celebration.

Joining the Warblers, Kurt had immediately decided that they would be exactly the same, if not worse. Not in the drama aspect of course, but the solemnity of the group practically screamed at Kurt that they wouldn't be going out of their way to throw parties or anything that detracted from meetings. Not that it bothered him or anything, he was used to it.

So when Kurt was instructed to hold Ethan back for a few minutes before going to rehearsal, he didn't expect the two of them to walk in to the Warblers bursting into their rendition of _Happy __Birthday_ in eight part harmony. And it was to the amusement of the whole group that Kurt was informed that he had looked more surprised than Ethan. But that wasn't the end of it. When Wes pulled out a cake, Kurt was left wondering who these guys were and what they had done with the robots he usually had meetings with.

As Ethan cut the cake, a pair of arms grabbed him and pulled him to the side. Surprised, Kurt turned to see Blaine smiling at him. "We follow tradition. I didn't think you'd want to be the one closest to him."

Kurt frowned. "What tradition?"

Ethan answered the question for him by leaning over to kiss Nick on the cheek, the action followed by laughter and wolf whistles by the group while Jeff pretended to swat the boy away. "That tradition," Blaine said unnecessarily. "Your old club didn't do that one?"

Kurt shook his head. "New Directions didn't do birthdays."

Blaine looked like someone had stolen his piece of cake, which had just been handed to him. "You didn't do birthdays?" he repeated. "Why on earth not?"

"I don't really know." Kurt accepted his own slice of cake. "I mean, Mercedes and I always got each other presents on our birthdays, but it wasn't something we did as a club."

Blaine looked like he wanted to ask more questions, but then Wes was calling out over the noise and reminding them that they did still have a meeting and if everybody could settle down? And with that - apart from the cake in everybody's hands - the meeting went on as normal. And after that day, Kurt promptly forgot about the birthday tradition.

* * *

It was only a few weeks later when Kurt woke up to his phone buzzing madly with texts from family and friends wishing him a happy birthday. He typed out his responses a bit ruefully, noticing that none of his Dalton friends had sent him anything, then remembered he hadn't told any of them when his birthday was so he couldn't expect them to know.

Except for the part where he had Wes, David and Blaine on Facebook, and there was nothing there from any of them.

_You__ do __live __with __them__ after __all, _his mind reasoned. _They__'__ll__ probably __say__ something__ in __person._

But when Kurt went down for breakfast, it was just like any other day. The boys gave their greetings as normal, Wes informing a slightly disappointed Kurt that there was a Warbler meeting that afternoon. As they all split for their first class, Kurt had to accept that he clearly hadn't quite settled into the group yet. _Maybe __next __year..._

* * *

The bell finally rang and Kurt pulled his books together, glad to escape. He had spent most of his other classes texting Mercedes and Tina about birthday plans for the weekend, but his last teacher had eyes like a hawk so he had had to refrain. There had still been no recognition of it being his birthday by any of the Dalton boys and Kurt just wanted to get the Warbler meeting over and done with so he could get out to Lima for his birthday dinner with his family followed by a sleepover at Tina's place. That would cheer him up.

As Kurt left the classroom, he was surprised to see Blaine waiting outside. "What are you doing here?" he asked, adjusting his bag. "Shouldn't you be down at rehearsal?"

"Just need to talk to Ms. Larken for a minute. Can you wait for me?"

Kurt shrugged, a bit surprised by the request but more than happy to oblige if it meant time with Blaine. "Sure," he said, digging his phone out as Blaine disappeared into the classroom and resuming his progressed on Angry Birds.

Kurt was just getting into the game when he became aware of a presence at his side. Looking over, he saw Blaine smirking at him. "I thought I was going to have to yell to get your attention."

"Oh, how long were you there?" Kurt felt himself blush as he tucked the phone away. Usually he didn't get so lost in the game, but it was good stress relief for a less than perfect birthday.

Blaine laughed. "Not long," he admitted. "Anyway, ready to go to rehearsal?"

Kurt nodded and the two made their way down the hall. "So," began Blaine, clearly making small talk, "have you had a good day?"

Kurt considered his answer for a few seconds. "I've had better," he answered slowly, searching Blaine's face for any signs of recognition. None came.

"Oh, well that's a pity." Blaine paused with his hands on the doors to the choir room, turning over his shoulder to give what Kurt could only describe as a smirk. "Hopefully this will make things better."

And before Kurt could even think about what Blaine was saying, the doors were opening to reveal the Warblers in formation, already singing the opening refrains to _Happy __Birthday_.

Kurt's jaw dropped, and the memory flooded back to him. _How__ could __I __have __forgotten?_ But he had truly believed that the Warblers had forgotten about him, and to know that the entire group had set this up was getting to Kurt more than he was willing to let on.

Blaine was still by his side, smiling at him. "You thought we forgot?" he said quietly as the others finished singing. "Happy birthday, Kurt."

Kurt shook his head, stepping further into the room as the rest of the guys surrounded him, wishing him a happy birthday. "You have no idea how hard it was to not say anything all day, but Blaine insisted." Nick draped himself across Kurt's shoulder, smiling at him. "He wanted to make it special for you."

Glancing over at Blaine, Kurt found his friend staring in the other direction, his cheeks flushed. "I'm glad he did," Kurt said, loud enough for Blaine to hear. The blush deepened, but a smile was tugging at his lips.

"Cake!" Jeff yelled, and Kurt turned to see Wes bringing in a cake. The rest of the Warblers gathered around, Kurt finding himself pulled in between Thad and Blaine with a knife being pressed into his hand. A moment later, Thad stepped away a little and Kurt frowned slightly. _Does __he __not __trust __me __with __a __knife __or __something?_

Kurt sliced the knife straight into the cake, only remembering what it meant once he hit the bottom. He turned quickly and suddenly realized that - thanks to Thad's quick maneuvering - the closest person to him was... _Blaine._

Blaine was still staring down at the cake as if his mind hadn't quite caught up. Kurt swallowed harshly before deciding it would be easier to just get it over and done with - not that he _minded _kissing Blaine of course, but the potential awkwardness was a little too much - and leaned in to press his lips to Blaine's cheek. Which would have been fine if Blaine had not suddenly snapped out of his daze at that point, turning towards Kurt to see what he was going to do.

Their lips met.

The room stilled, as did both of the boys. Kurt knew he had approximately half a second to think about it before things got really awkward. _You__'__re __already __kissing __him, __what __have __you__ got __to __lose?_ With that, Kurt wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck and began to kiss him properly. It only took another second before Blaine was kissing him back just as eagerly, his arms curling around Kurt's waist and tugging him in closer.

They finally pulled apart when Cameron let out a rather loud wolf-whistle, which was quickly followed by David smacking him on the back of the head. The other Warblers promptly decided that doing something _other _than watching the two boys kiss was probably wise and immediately focused their attention on getting cake distributed to everybody, thankfully leaving Kurt and Blaine in peace.

Blaine still looked stunned. "Wow," he murmured quietly.

Kurt nodded in agreement, realizing his arms were still around Blaine's neck but not making any move to remove them. "Wow indeed. Am I safe to say that you wanted that too?"

"For ages now." Kurt finally allowed a tentative smile to cross his face in response. "It's interesting actually, I was going to ask you to come out with me on Saturday night to celebrate your birthday... I guess I can ask you on a proper date now."

"I guess you can," Kurt agreed, his smile growing wider. "Hey, did you get me a present?" Blaine nodded, looking almost scandalized. "Whatever it is, I don't need it." He unwrapped his arms from Blaine's neck, allowing one hand to briefly brush over his now-boyfriend's lips. "That was the best present I could have gotten."

Blaine's smile grew. "Well then, I'll make sure to give it to you again on Saturday."

* * *

**I can really tell the difference between chapters I wrote more than a month in advance and the more recent ones. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**Chapter 220, part of a quote from bully: "...nobody wants Anderson..."**_

_***scoffs* Tell that to the multi-million amount of fangirls who have major crushes on said boy. Too bad all the good ones are gay, taken, or fictional characters. (Mr. Anderson happens to be all three :P )**_


	222. Type

**Nearly forgot to authors note for you guys!**

**I've been writing Blangst this afternoon. Another oneshot idea that wouldn't leave me alone that involves Blaine at the Hudmel household sobbing in Kurt's arms while the other three watch on with no idea what to do, especially the one person who caused it. So keep an eye out for that at some point in the near future. **

**From **_**lizzard713: Each of them is having a discussion about his "type" of guy (i.e. appearance, personality traits, etc.) with a friend (and since you use Wes and Mercedes so much, I challenge you to use Thad for Blaine and Rachel or Santana for Kurt). They eventually realize that they are describing each other, cue ensuing fluff...**_

**One, I always take my bonus points/challenges and two, I haven't done a good conspiracy in awhile. So here we go ;)**

**I just love writing Santana too. I'm not the best at writing her but she's an amazing character to develop.**

* * *

Type

She was Queen Bitch of McKinley High for a _reason_.

That reason currently had Kurt Hummel trapped at a table at the Lima Bean with her, the boy trying not to look afraid and so clearly failing. "Relax, Hummel, I'm not going to rape you. You're not my type."

"And you're not mine," he snarked back. "What's this about, Santana?"

"You need to get some."

Kurt looked like he was going to choke on nothing. "_Excuse _me?" he finally got out, and Santana patiently repeated herself. "No, I heard you the first time. Wish I hadn't though," he added in an undertone. "Santana, there are so many things wrong with that, I can't - okay. First, why is it any of your business?"

Santana rolled her eyes. "Please. When is it _not _my business what sexual antics people are getting up to at this school?"

"I don't go to this school."

"You're still one of us, Hummel." She noticed Kurt's expression soften a little at that and hurried on, not wanting him to get all _mushy _on her. "Plus, I'm sure there's meant to be some wanky prep on prep action going on over at that school of yours and you're the only person I can ask who'll actually tell me."

"Who said I'd tell you if I was?"

She laughed. "Seriously? You're such a prude that if you actually were you'd go bright red the second I asked. And I'm perfectly happy with hearing about what the other boys are up to but I'm more curious about why you _aren__'__t_."

Kurt sighed. "I don't have a boyfriend."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"I don't do one night stands or hookups, Santana. I don't think any of the gay guys at Dalton do - or any of the guys full stop. At least none of the Warblers ever have."

"_Bor-_ing!" Santana took a sip of her coffee, tapping perfectly manicured nails against the rim. "Fine. Get a boyfriend."

Something akin to hurt flashed in his eyes but it was gone before she could ask, if she had even bothered to do so. "It's not that easy," he explained. "Contrary to _your _belief, there's only a few guys who are gay or at least out. Two of them are dating each other -"

"Wanky! Why didn't I hear of this earlier?"

Another sigh and now Kurt seriously looked like he wanted to throw something at her. "Because I don't ask for the intimate details of Nick and Jeff's love life and they are respectful enough not to shout it out over the choir room. I know it's not a concept you're used to but we're not all completely open about our personal lives. And even if I _did _know anything, I wouldn't tell you because that's not fair -"

"Yeah, you've made your point," Santana cut him off, bored. "You haven't got any details. Got it. What about the rest of the homos?" Kurt slowly raised his eyes, glaring daggers, and she raised a hand. "Fine, gays?"

"I suppose that's better than -" Kurt shook his head. "There's only three others. One's in a long distance relationship, one's just come out of a bad relationship and isn't looking to date and the third is Blaine."

"What about him?"

"What _about _him?" Kurt shot straight back, crossing his arms. "I don't have to fall in love with my best friend, you know? In fact, I don't have to fall in love with _anybody_, I'm only seventeen. Why are you pushing me to date when all of the relationships I've ever seen just fall apart?"

Santana winced, realizing he was right. "Because sometimes they don't," she said simply. "Look at Tina and Mike, they're like _never _going to break up."

"Tina was with Artie first."

"And it's very uncommon that you stay with your first partner," she explained, suppressing the urge to roll her eyes because _seriously_? Was he actually that naive that the first love was the one that would _last_? "It's about finding the kind of person you want to be with and sometimes you have to go through a few to get there."

Kurt nodded slowly. "I just don't know how to do that."

And this was something she _could _do. "Tell me what your type is then."

There was a long silence. "I don't know."

Santana let herself sigh. "Okay, let's break it right down to basics then, Hummel. Two main categories - appearance and personality. Let's start with appearance. Hair? Dark or light? And before you answer," she added in quickly, "don't think about it. Just say the first thing that comes to mind."

Kurt nodded and she repeated her first question. "Dark."

"Curly or straight?"

"Curly."

Immediately a picture flashed to Santana's mind but she held her tongue, waiting to get the full effect once it all came clear in Kurt's mind. "Height?"

"Doesn't matter. Shorter would be kind of nice."

Smirking was _really _hard not to do right now. "Fashion sense?"

"I have enough fashion for the both of us." And now he was pretty much _preening_, but Santana had to admit he was right. "I don't care. Whatever he's comfortable in."

"Anything in particular for first impressions?"

Kurt shut his eyes. "He needs a nice smile. Eyes too, preferably something around hazel. Soft skin but his hands could be calloused from playing guitar a lot. Not too muscly, that's just not that attractive to me, but sinewy, compact kind of build."

This was about a million times easier than she had thought it would be and Santana finally allowed the smirk to cross her face since he still wasn't looking. "Personality?" she prompted.

"Accepting," was the immediate response. "Friendly, and a friend before anything else. Someone I can really get along with, talk about _Vogue _covers and music and sing and get coffee with. Someone who'll understand that I get upset sometimes and sometimes I just need to be alone and they won't take offense to it. Obviously this would really suck but maybe someone who's experienced some of the hurt I have so they know."

He may have rambled forever but Santana caught movement out of the corner of her eye and knew it was time to act. "Okay, come back to me Hummel. Enough fantasizing." Kurt opened his eyes, glaring again and she laughed. "Come on, just listen. Put it all together and then maybe, just for a long shot, try comparing that guy against all the guys you know."

It took longer than expected and Santana thought she had blown it until his eyes suddenly shot open again, perfectly timed. "Blaine," he breathed out. "It's Blaine. He's my type."

"Well thank god for that," came the voice from behind Kurt and Santana grinned as Kurt's eyes went wide, "because I had no idea how to start this conversation except by saying the same thing about you."

* * *

Apparently being on the Warbler Council wasn't quite enough to be trustworthy.

"What's this all about, Thad?"

Blaine was staring at him so suspiciously that he had to laugh. "Seriously, you need to relax," he said. "I'm not planning anything, I just want to talk to you."

"If you're trying to get me on the Council next year, the answer is no."

"You're not even going to be a _Senior _next year, Blaine." Thad sighed. "It's not about anything Warbler related."

Now the suspicion was even higher because yeah, they were friends but they weren't _close_ the way Blaine was close to Wes or David and they were almost definitely the better choice for this but Thad had… well. He had drawn the short straw. "Then what is it?"

Better to just jump into it, he figured. "Why don't you date?"

Blaine stiffened, noticeable even across the table. "I fail to see how that is _any _business of yours," he whispered, harsher than Thad had ever heard.

"Well I could go ahead and tell you about some silly Warbler rule that says that Council members are fully entitled to ask after their Warbler's personal lives to make sure they're making the right choices… but really, I'm just a bit concerned. I know you went through crap and I just - I want to know that you know it's okay to be yourself."

And that was the truth.

He softened, taking a sip of his coffee before answering. "It's nothing like that. I'm definitely out and proud, it's just that I haven't found that right person to be with, I guess."

That was encouraging and Thad immediately jumped on that thought before it could get away. "_That _right person? Sounds like you've got a bit of an image in mind."

Blaine rolled a shoulder back nonchalantly. "Well, I mean I have a few things, yeah."

"Tell me about them?"

A raised eyebrow. "Why?"

Thad shrugged. "Why not? Might help you work out a bit of an action plan on how to get this Mr. Perfect of yours." Blaine still looked uncomfortable and Thad sighed. "Okay, let's go right back to basics. Close your eyes and tell me what you see when you think of him."

"Most of it is about personality -"

"But not all of it," Thad interjected, catching the slip. "Come on, clearly you can think of something. What's the fantasy, jock?"

Blaine shook his head, forehead creasing a little. "No, not a jock. An artist, like myself. Someone who looks just as beautiful as the creations they make and not just because they style themselves that way - even though a lot of effort goes into appearance with them - but because their beauty is natural. I've got a thing for soft skin and pale too, pale is seriously beautiful."

Thad shot a glance across the cafe and grinned.

"But it's the personality that gets me," Blaine continued, clearly lost in his fantasy now. "Someone gentle but easy to fire up if they get passionate about something. Someone who wants what they want and takes it, but also knows when to step back. Someone who doesn't let their past haunt them or define them, just remind them of how sometimes you need to be on guard. And graceful." Blaine let out a little laugh. "I never even realized graceful could be a personality trait until I met -"

He froze and Thad resisted the urge to victory dance in his seat. "Until you met?" he prompted.

"Kurt," came the dull reply and Blaine opened his eyes, his expression unreadable. "That whole time I was fantasizing about Kurt being my perfect person and oh my god this kind of makes me the worst friend _ever.__"_

Thad shook his head immediately wondering whether Blaine was always this naive or only when it came to feelings. "No, it kind of makes you a great friend and potential boyfriend. And now that you've realized, what's stopping you from making a move?"

"Because I don't know if he feels the same."

"And what better way to find out than taking a chance?" Thad leant in and delivered the final hook, the one that he knew would get Blaine on board. "Isn't Kurt worth taking a chance on?"

Blaine closed his eyes slowly before nodding to himself. "Yeah," he murmured. "Yeah, he is."

"So," Thad completed, "tell me this. If you had the chance to say this to Kurt right now, to tell him how you feel and take a chance on him, would you?"

"Right now?" More thought and then another nod. "Yeah, I probably would."

Thad grinned, sudden and startling. "Great. He's sitting three tables behind you."

He was pretty sure Blaine nearly got whiplash from spinning around so fast. And when he spun back, rubbing his neck, eyes wide, Thad allowed himself to grin like he had wanted to the entire time. "You set this up."

"Santana set this up actually and pulled me on board." Thad's smile softened. "She's quite the girl. But she's currently talking to Kurt about his perfect guy and we're pretty sure you're going to come to an eerily similar conclusion on your preferences. And no, that doesn't mean Kurt's in love with himself." Blaine was still gaping at him and Thad sighed. "Come on, you said if you had the chance you'd tell him how you felt. You have the chance, and I'm not letting you back out."

The glare directed at him was livid but Thad smiled as sweetly as he could and stood, gesturing for Blaine to follow. "I hate you," Blaine said as he followed suit and Thad let him go first. Santana caught his eye and the look on her face was of such contentment that he knew they had gotten it perfect, especially when he heard the comment from Blaine.

Gesturing to Santana, the two slipped back to Thad's table and sipped their respective coffees for a second. "Job well done?" Santana finally said.

Thad nodded. "I believe so. What are they doing?"

Santana peered over his shoulder. "Talking. Blaine looks nervous but he's talking at least and oh, now he's grinning like Quinn does any time she gets one over Rachel. And they're - leaving. Great."

"Do we follow?"

"What do you think, prep school? No wait." Santana held up a hand, eyes clearly following their path. "Okay, now we follow."

Thad had completely lost track of the two but Santana seemed confident, headed straight towards the park across the road, deserted due to the time of day. The only two people present were the two boys they wanted, sitting together on a park bench with their hands linked. Thad grinned at the progress but Santana looked bored. "I did this so I could see some making out."

"Just be patient," Thad told her, glad he was finally the one with more information. "Blaine's ridiculously passionate and a touchy feely person, he probably won't be able to last much longer."

Santana raised an eyebrow without looking at him. "Explain how you know this?"

"Oh god, not like _that_!"

Thankfully Thad was saved from that as Blaine raised a hand to cup Kurt's cheek and they both silenced, watching. There were a few more words passed between them and then Blaine was leaning in to kiss Kurt, soft and sweet and Thad's smile grew. Yes, he had done this for Santana but really it had been for Kurt and Blaine themselves. It had been clear for some time that not only were they both lonely, all they needed was that push to realize that they already knew the person who would take that loneliness away.

They broke apart and Santana snorted quietly. "That's not a kiss - oh. There we go, Hummel. _That__'__s _what I'm talking about."

Thad grabbed Santana's arm and not-so-gently dragged her away from the two boys. Kurt had just leant back in, grabbing Blaine's face and kissing him almost desperately and yes, it was hot even for the straightest of guys, but it was also _private_. "That's their first kiss," he explained when they had gotten far enough away and Santana was glaring daggers at him. "Look, spy on them all you like once they're officially together. But just let them have that moment, okay? They need this."

Santana caved. "Alright, but you owe me another coffee. And don't even think about calling this a date," she added as she spun on her heel, returning to the Lima Bean.

"Wouldn't dream of it," Thad said, following her in.

Maybe he _would _dream of it. But he wasn't going to push his luck when it was so obvious how against relationships Santana was - yes, she had gotten the two together but it was only so she could watch them make out… wasn't it?

Thad thought. Remembered the way Santana's eyes had softened when they had kissed, the slight clenching of her hand like she wished she was holding onto someone at that point. The almost loneliness in her eyes that he had only just picked up.

The way they had told Kurt and Blaine to take a chance on each other.

"Hey Santana?"

* * *

**And poor Thaddeus would then get shot down because Santana's in love with Britt.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Open it!"**_

_***tears paper off* Thanks for the... um... Cardboard box!"**_

_**"We can play spaceship! Or car race!"**_

_**"Or you can buy me dinner and not risk a mysterious disappearance of your Katy Perry CDs later..."**_


	223. Death

**Christmas is in the air at our house. Coincidentally we're having a lunch tomorrow to catch up with some friends and it feels a lot like the kind of lunch we'd have on Christmas Day so I'm all confused... but oh well. I have to work Christmas morning anyway so it'll be a strange Christmas for me.**

**Please forgive me for this.**

**From **_**Klaineforthewin: One of them dies. And when he's either on the hospital bed or in the casket at the funeral, the other, who had never gotten up the courage to tell him their feelings, kisses the corpse.**_

**I actually received this at the same time as the 'near-death scenario' kiss and went 'no way in hell can I write this!' ****And then I published the near death one and I suddenly got a taste for horrible angst and I had to. But I couldn't make it _too _painful… still, the fact that one of them dies is horrid but I could never leave one of them in love with the other who had just died.**

* * *

Death

It made headlines everywhere.

_Funny, _he thought to himself, _funny __how __all __people __seem __to __want __to __do __is __ignore __the __gay __kids __until __something __like __this __happens._

And then he remembered that there was nothing at all funny about the situation and calmly told himself to shut up.

Everything had been calmly done the past few days. Calmly, responsibly, safely and with a very clear head. No emotions attached because that would hurt and the last thing he needed right now was to start hurting. Of course he was surrounded by other crying and hurting people but not him. At least not yet.

"… was the first person he came out to. I didn't know what to say because it didn't make him any different to me and it never should and…"

It didn't feel _real_, that was the problem. It was the kind of thing people saw on the news in other countries, other towns where homophobia was rampant. Of course he knew full well that gay bashing happened here in Ohio, he had experienced some of it himself. But it all seemed like a horrible horrible dream that he would wake up from, shaking and worried and sending the boy a text to receive a reply a minute later and be assured that no, he really _was _okay.

It wasn't going to happen.

"… always there when I needed someone, and now more than ever I just feel so bad that I could never return the sentiment, could never help him the same way…"

Someone started sobbing just in front of him. He didn't know the names of all of the friends but vaguely recognized the boy. His mouth twitched a little but he controlled it, not ready to break down yet. It was the strongest control he had ever exuded over his emotions but it was necessary.

He couldn't break down now, because if he started crying he was afraid he would never ever stop.

"… singing voice was phenomenal, just mind blowing. He had such amazing talent…"

It was open to anybody but he couldn't get up and speak. What could he say, after all? That he had known the boy for a few weeks thanks to a chance meeting on a staircase? That they sent texts - _had _sent texts - to each other constantly?

No. He didn't have the words anyway.

The pastor finally took over again, his voice low and soothing. He idly wondered whether the man struggled presiding over the funeral of a gay teenager before pushing it away in favour of hearing what he had to say. "It's time to say our goodbyes. If you wish to see this young man one last time, please file by the casket in an orderly fashion."

There was a short prayer and he bowed his head with the others, not taking in the words. The people in the rows in front of him stood. The family walked by first and he had to look away from the pain on their faces because _that _more than anything was too much. Friends were next, most still crying and leaning against each other as they slowly filed past. Some looked in, others didn't seem to be able to bring themselves to do it. And then all the other well-wishers until the room was near to empty and still he sat, staring ahead.

Waiting.

"Are you alright?" came the voice from beside him.

He nodded. "Can you just give me a minute?"

They stood from either side of him and followed the rest of the crowd out, worried glances going his way but thankfully not causing them to stick around. He waited until the room was otherwise empty and stood himself, slowly walking over to the casket.

_Beautiful, even in death._

For a long moment he stared down at the body, feeling the weight of truth settle somewhere in his chest. Not drowning him, not weighing him down, just there as a reminder that this _wa s_real.

Then he leant in and kissed him, a soft brush of lips together before pulling away. The reason he had waited for everybody else to leave because nobody would understand, not even his closest friends. It appeared weird on the outside, he knew it, and he had never understood the appeal of kissing someone who was _dead_. But this time there was a much greater reason.

"There's that real kiss you always wanted," Blaine whispered, staring down at Kurt again. "I'm just sorry I couldn't give it to you while you were alive to receive it."

When the newspaper had arrived at Dalton, Blaine had been certain that the headlines were wrong. Obviously Kurt was fine - no, Blaine hadn't heard from him the previous afternoon but that was okay, Kurt was often too busy with school or Glee to text. There was no way what he had read was true.

There was no way that Kurt Hummel had been killed in a gay bashing.

The name of the attacker hadn't been released, of course, but Blaine knew. He knew because David Karofsky had threatened Kurt's life the day before and Kurt had told him, called him and told him that he was terrified and what was he supposed to do? Blaine had given the best advice he could - tell his father, tell the school, tell _someone _who could do something - but Kurt had ended up deciding to leave it. And they had agreed that it seemed very unlikely that Karofsky would _actually _go through with it, that it was probably just a threat and nothing more.

So, so wrong.

Blaine had called Kurt's phone straight away and continued to call throughout the day. When nobody had answered by the end of the night and the news documentary had played, complete with interviews from the school and an attempt at an interview with Kurt's dad, Blaine had known. It was true.

He hadn't slept at all that night, staring at the wall the entire night. No tears had fallen - none had at all since Blaine had heard the news - and a numbness had seeped through him that still remained today. Like there was a way he was supposed to react but hadn't found yet.

Like there was something that would make this all okay.

There wasn't.

The first tear fell, startling him. It dropped onto Kurt's silver waistcoat and Blaine hurriedly brushed it off, knowing what Kurt's love for his clothing had been. And then he had to take a step back as the rest came - not in the broken sobs he had heard from the others but in silent rivulets down his face, seeping out, unstoppable.

He had only just known Kurt well enough to call him a friend but it still _hurt_.

He didn't need to cry for long. The tears stopped as suddenly as they had come and Blaine sighed, stepping closer to the casket again.

"I'm glad I met you," he said quietly. "And I'm sorry." It felt stupid but needed to be said. "I'm sorry you died, I'm sorry you won't get the chances you wanted, you won't get to follow your dreams like you wanted. I would change it if I could." He gently reached out to straighten Kurt's tie. "I want you to know that you inspired me. I spent so long hiding behind those walls at Dalton that I started to forget how to be myself. You reminded me. And some will say that _this _shouldn't be the thing to inspire me to stand up for myself and be more real about my sexuality, but it is. Consider this me picking up where you left off."

Kurt had been the one to inspire _courage_. Blaine had never sent it; Kurt had simply found it within himself. And now Blaine needed to do the same.

"I think I could have found myself falling for you," he admitted. "You were so fabulous that I was a little stunned at first, but there was something about you that I just wanted more of. But I can't dwell on that, or I'll never be happy."

He took a deep breath and let it out and began to heal.

Footsteps were winding through the room and Blaine stopped talking. "Blaine?" came David's voice from behind him.

"I'm alright," he said, turning to face them and not bothering to wipe the tears from his cheeks. "He just deserved my last respects."

Wes's arm slipped through his and Blaine held it gratefully. "Do you need some more time."

Blaine shook his head. "There's nothing else I can do."

But there was.

"I have a request for Sectionals," he said as the three of them made their way out of the funeral home. "_Candles_, by Hey Monday. In memory of Kurt."

* * *

**Yes, I just turned their first song as a couple into Kurt's 'in memory of' song. Go ahead, hate me.**

**Please no death threats for this one. Okay? Express your emotions but there's no way I can make this right with a sequel so I'd appreciate no threats.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Good singer, if possible... Sassy, perhaps. Outspoken, a natural beauty if that's an option. But not someone that flaunts that beauty, at least not too much. They should have a fashion sense that they use to accentuate that beauty."**_

_**"Now think... Blaine, who are you describing?"**_

_**"DRACO MALFOY?"**_

_***facepalm* "Think brunette. A real person. With the initials KH."**_

_**"Oh... Kurt. Kurt? OHMYGOD I'M IN LOVE WITH KURT."**_


	224. Pitch

**I'm sorry for those of you who regret reading last night's chapter. I regret that you had to read it if you didn't enjoy it. **

**It's the hottest day of the year today and I'm dying. I need a pool.**

**From **_**RayvnAshes2:Okay, for some reason Kurt gets really angry and/or frustrated about something and goes off into a rant in his lower register (as low or lower than in Give Up the Funk), possibly in French as well, because that would sound incredibly sexy. But anyways, Blaine comes across Kurt in the middle of his rant and...etc.**_

**I didn't write any French translations because I always get them wrong and people invariably complain.**

* * *

Pitch

"What the hell is wrong with my _voice_?"

Kurt threw his bag on his bed angrily and resisted the urge to kick his bed. Last time that had happened, it had resulted in a broken toe and an explanation to his father about the language emanating from his bedroom. And while he was sure that the Dalton beds were a lot softer - they had better be for the amount he was paying for one - Kurt wasn't going to take that chance.

Dalton was a safe place for Kurt in many different ways but right now it was probably safer for _Finn_ that Kurt was here.

"Seriously, why does it have to be _abnormal_ that I talk like this?" he asked the wall, glaring when it didn't reply. "There is nothing wrong with the way I speak or sing - and none of them ever complained when I hit those notes they needed, did they? But just because I get a bit high pitched when I get excited suddenly means there's something _wrong _with me."

Wincing, Kurt backed off a little because yes, it completely belayed his argument but he was getting a little high pitched for his own hearing. "It's not like I can control it… well, of course I can but it gets too much effort," he swapped down into his lower register, "to talk like this all the time."

As usual he had to smirk when the lower voice emerged from his mouth. But there was something strangely releasing about it so he continued, pitching his voice as low as he could. "Yes, this would be normal enough for them but why should I need to? It works for funk and yeah, maybe I can speak much better French like this but -" he paused experimentally. "Maybe I'd do better in my French final like this."

Pulling out a sheet from his desk, Kurt quickly rattled off a few of his French phrases before remembering he was meant to be angry. "No, I will not change my voice," he spat out, refueling his fire. "I _like _having a high voice, I like being able to hit those notes and know that I'm unique and I'm Rachel Berry's only real competition. I like being able to change my voice like this but that doesn't mean I want to keep it this way forever and why are we going through this _again_? Finn's been living with me for close to three months now and he still doesn't get that there's nothing _abnormal _about me? Different yes, unique definitely. It doesn't mean I'm not normal and I resent that and he's never going to get it. He's never going to understand that stereotypes don't matter as much as everybody thinks and I love being who I am."

Most of his anger was gone and Kurt was vaguely aware that he was still ranting in his lower register. "Should've recorded this," he muttered bitterly. "Shown him I'm perfectly capable of talking 'normally'." He sighed. "I should just go find Blaine and - Blaine?"

"I'm sorry," came the quiet voice of his boyfriend (and that was still so new, boyfriend of _three __days _and Kurt was still smiling at the word) from the doorway. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop."

"You're always welcome here," Kurt said before pausing and clearing his throat. "Almost forgot how to talk normally there for a second," he said, his voice back to its usual pitch.

"I thought you didn't speak normally."

Kurt was about to snap off a retort before he realized what Blaine was saying. "Oh, you heard all that?"

Blaine nodded, taking a step into the room and Kurt realized there was something a bit off about him, something he couldn't quite put his finger on. "Yeah. All of it, including the French."

The door closed and Kurt glanced at it, surprised because that was kind of breaking the Dalton rules. What surprised him more was how much he didn't care. "Yeah?" he asked, his voice going a little shaky because that _something _he had picked up on was definitely there in Blaine's eyes. Something that was both foreign and so familiar and he wanted to know, to understand.

"Yeah," Blaine said again. "You don't talk like that much."

"I don't," Kurt agreed, feeling his voice slipping a little higher. "It gets difficult to hold it after awhile unless I'm just going with it, not thinking about it. I couldn't sing like this too well because I get too caught up in the music and forget. But I sang like this for our funk number - I haven't shown you that, I should."

Blaine's hands were ghosting over his suddenly and Kurt blinked, unaware that Blaine had crossed the room so quickly. "You should," he said softly. "But not right now. Right now I just want you."

The tone of his voice was unmistakable and Kurt had to stare for a few seconds to make sure and - yeah. Yeah, it was. "You _want_ me?" he asked, just to clarify.

Blaine seemed to realize what he had said and closed his eyes for a second. "I was going to kiss you when I asked you out but - well, I guess I panicked a little. Wasn't sure if you were ready. But I've wanted to since then, since _before _then, and _that_… that was hot, Kurt. And now I just kind of really really want to kiss you."

Kurt smiled, dropped his voice to the lowest register he could and murmured, "Do it."

It took Blaine a second to move but once he did - _oh_. Yeah, Blaine _definitely _should have kissed him the second they got together and Kurt suddenly felt the need to break apart to inform Blaine of that fact.

Blaine huffed out a laugh. "Yeah, I'm aware of that _now_, would you seriously rather be telling me off than kissing?"

"Fair point."

Blaine was the next one to break the moment - granted, he had let it go on for quite a bit longer and Kurt was starting to go dizzy but _still_, that deserved a glare. "I want to hear this funk song you were talking about," Blaine explained, "before I forget about it completely."

Kurt smirked, knowing full well what would make Blaine forget. He began to rise from the bed - and _hold __on_, they had gotten to the _bed _somehow, when on earth had that happened? - but Blaine grabbed his wrist to stop him. "What?" Kurt asked. "I thought you wanted to hear the song? I need my phone for that."

"No," Blaine said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I want to hear you sing it. Now."

"Pushy little thing, aren't you?"

"I resent that 'little' comment."

"You would." Kurt rolled his eyes - fondly, he would swear by that - and began to sing.

He got to _mother _before Blaine attacked him again.

* * *

**If you've heard the song (which I hope you all have) then you'll understand.**


	225. Thunderstorm

**I've got a bit of a favor to ask you guys. Including tonight's chapter, there are ten days left until Kiss is finished. Take a moment to shed a few tears and then continue ;) **

**Seriously though, I'd like to think I've been pretty good at not begging for reviews or anything and the fact that this story is on over 9 thousand reviews is phenomenal and I love you all so much for it. But it's been a personal goal for me to get the story to 10k by completion and I think we could nearly do it with just reviews on the next ten chapters but I'm not sure. So if you find yourself with some extra time and you have some earlier chapters that you haven't reviewed (maybe you joined the story around chapter 50 or something and never reviewed before then) then I would love it if you could drop a review on a couple of those as well. I'm not asking anybody to go out and post another hundred reviews or anything, but 10k would just make an amazing finish and if you could spare a few minutes to put down a few extra reviews or review if you don't already, it would just mean heaps to me.**

**From ****_Pheobe__(Anonymous)_and similarly prompted by _aunthay: __Stuck __at __the __school __overnight __during __a __severe __thunderstorm __with __just __the __Glee __club __(and __maybe __the __football __team). __AU __with __Blaine __transferred __to __McKinley __with __Kurt._**

**I actually chose not to have Blaine transferred. Sorry. And I considered the football team but I figured there wouldn't be football practice and Glee practice at the same time. And for note purposes, Quinn and Finn are still together so I'll just put it between Prom Queen and Funeral. **

**And guess what? I pretended that the club wrote their songs _before _they left. Shocking, I know, like anybody would do that!**

* * *

Thunderstorm**  
**

"Okay, one more time from the top!"

The general groan from the group drowned out the last of Will's words. Even Rachel who was obsessed with perfection was looking disgruntled, slumped on the ground and rifling through sheet music. "Mr. Schuester, there is such as thing as _overusing_ your voice," she said importantly as if explaining to a small child. For once, nobody argued with her.

"Guys, Nationals is just around the corner and we want this to be perfect. We've still got to write one more song so the sooner we get this one perfect, the better."

Will gestured for everybody to move into position which they reluctantly did. Blaine smirked up from the audience and Kurt shook his head down at his boyfriend. Blaine had decided to come along and give his thoughts into their performance, something that Will had actually been all for. And while Kurt kind of loved having Blaine here, he didn't particularly like being the object of mockery. Just as he was about to start them, Kurt's phone began to ring and he pulled it out eagerly, grateful for the interruption. "Hello?"

"Kurt?" His step-mom's voice came down the line quickly, sounding almost worried. "I couldn't get through to Finn, are you two on your way home?"

Kurt frowned. "No, we're just about finished with practice. I'll leave aft-"

"No, you won't."

"What? What's going on?" Kurt glanced over at the rest of the club who looked as confused as he felt. "Is something wrong?"

There was silence from the other end. "You mean you don't know? Better put me on loudspeaker, sweetie, this will affect everybody." Kurt did what she said and gestured the rest of the club over to listen. "Hi everybody. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but there's a severe thunderstorm warning issued for Lima for the next twelve hours and it's already starting to set in. If anybody lives really close to the school, they might just make it home, but I think you might all be stuck there for now."

As the worried murmurs began to spread, Blaine and Tina's phones both started ringing. Kurt knew the only one who had a hope of getting out would be Mike who lived within walking distance, but he didn't see the boy in any hurry to leave. Will gestured for Kurt's phone which he handed over, taking off loudspeaker so his teacher could talk about details quickly before hanging up. "It's true, guys, the severity means we're going to be stuck in the school until tomorrow morning at the earliest." Kurt caught the phone that was tossed back to him, pocketing it. "Well, on the bright side, we can do more pra-"

"No way!" Puck spoke up from where he had collapsed on the stage. "Mr. Schue, we may be stuck in the school, but it's a big school. If you try to force practice on us, we'll be out of here."

The others murmured their agreement but Kurt's attention was on Blaine who was heading towards the door. "I'm going to find a window and see just how bad it is."

"I'll come with you," Kurt offered. Ignoring Puck's lewd whistle behind them, the two headed out into the hallway. "Hey," he said quietly the moment they were out, touching Blaine's arm, "I'm sorry you got stranded here too."

"Don't sweat it." Blaine shot him his usual disarming grin, taking his hand. "You know I never complain about spending extra time with you. Besides, it'll be an interesting experience to say the least."

Now that they were out in the hall, the rain could be heard and grew louder as they headed towards the main doors. Kurt whistled low as he looked outside, unable to see anything through the torrential rain pounding down. "It's really something out there."

"Anybody in your club afraid of thunderstorms?"

Kurt shrugged. "Not that I'm aware of. I'm certainly not and you seem fine."

Blaine turned to smile at him. "I love them. I usually go driving in the rain… obviously not today," he added at Kurt's skeptical look. "I just love the sound of rain pelting down on me and knowing I can't be touched."

Kurt shook his head, his own smile gracing his features. "Really? That's corny… and so very you." Still staring out at the rain, Kurt felt the chill hit him and shivered. "We're going to freeze tonight."

The next thing he knew, there was a pair of warm strong arms around him and for the first time ever, Kurt was glad his boyfriend invested in gaudy sweaters that were actually very warm. "Well, I can keep you warm for now," Blaine murmured, sending a shiver down Kurt's spine which, thankfully, he could fake away as the cold. "Do you have any, I don't know, sleeping bags? Blankets?"

"We used to have mattresses," Kurt said with a laugh, causing Blaine to look at him curiously. "Long story. Um, I think there could be some blankets and stuff in the drama department. It's just down the hall here."

Kurt realized his mistake a moment later when they moved to walk down the hall, meaning Blaine had to unwrap from around Kurt so they could walk properly. It wasn't so much that the cold was getting in than Kurt missing the feel of his boyfriend's arms around him. Moments like these were rare with Nationals getting increasingly closer and both boys heading into exams, so Kurt would take any private moment with Blaine that he could get, no matter the innuendos he would have to face from the club later.

Pushing open the door to the drama department, Kurt let out a sigh of relief. "Okay," he said, leading Blaine into the room, "we have blankets and cushions from whatever production we were meant to put on and never did. Not horribly warm but I'm sure we'll cope."

"Where are we actually sleeping?"

Kurt thought about it for a second as he handed over a pile of blankets to Blaine. "I guess on the floor of the auditorium. It's seriously the only place in this school that's carpeted and I know Mr. Schue will want to keep us all in one place." He grabbed his own pile and headed for the door, trying not to bump into anything with his vision impaired. "That said, they've probably spread halfway across the school by now."

Sure enough as they exited the drama room, Kurt saw Mike and Tina slipping around the corner, giggling as they did. Kurt rolled his eyes at the two as he and Blaine headed back down to the auditorium. The door was slightly ajar and the sound of Rachel singing was emanating out of the room. "Guess she couldn't pass up the opportunity of a stage and an audience who couldn't leave," Kurt muttered to Blaine who stifled his laughter as they entered. Sure enough, Rachel was belting it out on the stage while Quinn and Finn were making out and Sam and Mercedes were clearly pretending to pay attention.

"Oh good, I'm glad someone thought of that." Mr. Schuester gestured for the boys to join him where he had cleared some chairs out. "We're definitely bailed up here for the night so make yourselves comfortable. Blaine, do you need me to call your school and let them know what's happening?"

"That would be great, thank you," Blaine said politely, dropping his pile of blankets, Kurt following suit. "Here, I'll just write down my student number so they can verify who you're talking about."

As Blaine scribbled the number down, Kurt glanced around the auditorium again. Puck and Lauren were in the process of bailing as Rachel wound up for another song and he knew it wouldn't be long until the others followed suit. The last thing Kurt wanted was for him and Blaine to be pressured into any duets - not that he didn't enjoy singing with Rachel, just not tonight. Not when he had the entire rest of the day to spend with his boyfriend and a whole school to ensure their privacy. Nothing was going to _happen_, of course, he and Blaine were definitely not ready to consummate their relationship in an empty classroom at McKinley High. But to have some alone time with his boyfriend would be a blessing right now.

Blaine had written down the number and given Mr. Schuester the phone number for the school so Kurt took his hand again and gently pulled him away. "Well, I'm going to show Blaine around the school properly," he said, just in case their teacher was listening before leading Blaine back out of the auditorium.

"But I've already seen your school," Blaine said, looking at him bemusedly. "You showed me before the Night of Neglect."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "Yes, but would you rather be stuck in there with them?" He raised his voice as they entered the corridor again, aware that the storm was still picking up. "Besides, I never showed you the choir room."

Blaine slipped his hand out of Kurt's to link their arms instead. "Lead on, good sir."

_My boyfriend is such a dork._

Santana's voice could be heard coming from Coach Sylvester's office and Kurt frowned, trying to work out who would voluntarily enter that room before continuing, reminding himself that he had _Blaine _here to spend time with and nobody else really mattered at this moment.

In the next hallway over, Artie, Mike and Sam were racing down the halls while Tina and Mercedes watched on. As they flattened themselves against the lockers to avoid being run down - and was that _bowling __pins _at the end of the hallway? - Mercedes shot Kurt a knowing look which he returned with as much snark as possible because she didn't _really _know. Not like she thought.

Finally they reached the choir room which, to Kurt's relief, was empty. Flicking on the lights, Kurt checked down the hallway before closing the door behind them gently and turning to Blaine. "So, here it is. Nothing on Dalton, of course, but this is our home." Blaine was looking around, clearly taking in the stark difference between the two schools. Kurt noticed his fond smile at the piano and smiled himself, knowing his boyfriend's weakness for beautiful instruments. "You can play it if you want. Usually Brad keeps us well away but he's not here so…"

"Maybe later," Blaine said quietly, turning to the seats. "Which one is yours?"

Kurt frowned, thinking. "We swap around a lot but…" he climbed to the back, hovering next to one of the seats, "I think I sit here the most."

Blaine joined him, sitting down on the seat himself and looking around. "I can picture you here. Probably with your phone out, either texting me or looking up YouTube videos to pass the time. Judging Rachel's outfits, raising an eyebrow at the various PDA going on, making your voice heard for solos." Kurt ducked his head, blushing a little and wondering how someone who had known him for such a small amount of time could know him _that _well. "Come here?"

Startled, Kurt looked up to see Blaine staring up at him, holding his arms out a little as if…

_Really?_

Before Kurt could over think, he gently sat down on the edge of Blaine's knees, not wanting to impose too much. Blaine laughed at that, wrapping his arms around Kurt and tugging him closer. "I said come _here_, silly. I don't bite." Kurt found himself resting against Blaine's chest, his head on his shoulder and hopelessly in love with the fact that he was being _couple-y _with his boyfriend. Up until now, he hadn't even been sure if Blaine had wanted to touch him any more than just casual hand holding and hugs because they hadn't done anything more than that. So this - a position so common to many couples - was the biggest step Kurt had ever taken in a relationship. And he was kind of loving it. "So," Blaine continued, Kurt lifting his head a little to look at him, "tell me what it's like in here normally."

Kurt had to laugh at that. "There's no normal, I assure you. If Rachel's not having a tantrum then one of the couples are breaking up or someone's singing about their feelings or there's a huge fight and people aren't talking." Blaine looked a little overwhelmed and Kurt smirked. "Yeah, I know, the Warblers fall to pieces if someone dares to suggest different uniforms, you're absolutely out of your depth."

"I could handle it," Blaine protested.

"I'm sure you could," Kurt said a second later, aware that his response had been a little delayed but it was hard to think when one of Blaine's hands had idly started tracing circles into his side and it felt _that _good. "But they're a good lot, usually. I mean, if something serious is going on then most of the other stuff gets put aside so whoever is struggling can be helped out. Quinn's pregnancy, Sam's family issues…" he hesitated. "My dad."

Blaine stilled. "Your dad? What do you mean?"

And that was when Kurt remembered he had never brought up his dad's condition to Blaine before. With all the Karofsky drama when they had first met, it had simply never come up in conversation. "A little while before I met you, my dad had a heart attack," Kurt said, not bothering to mince his words. That was the easiest way to talk about it, just like it was to talk about his mom's death. "He was in hospital for about a week in a coma, they weren't sure if he was going to wake up. The club did their best to look out for me, even if their attempts were a little misguided at times… and sometimes just kind of the opposite of helpful but so very sweet anyway." Kurt had to smile as he remembered the book from Brittany - he needed to tell the girl that he still had it at some point.

Blaine was still silent and Kurt glanced up to see what was going on. To his horror, Blaine's eyes looked suspiciously bright, just like they had when Blaine had performed _Somewhere __Only __We __Know _in the McKinley courtyard. "Blaine? I - you know if you cry, I'm going to cry, right? I don't even know what I said to upset you."

"It's not what you said, baby, it's what you've been through." Kurt blinked, thankful that Blaine's concentration was elsewhere as he processed that sentence.

_Baby? _

… okay, he kind of liked it. But that was a thought for another time, especially when Blaine was looking this emotional and Kurt still didn't know why.

"I mean, I know about your mom," Blaine continued, "even if I don't know exactly what happened - and that's not me trying to get you to tell me, I know you'll tell me in your own time. I know about the bullying, I know about Finn and Sam and what you went through with them and I thought all of that was bad enough… but you nearly lost _both _of your parents and… god, Kurt, you're so much stronger than everybody gives you credit for."

Kurt wanted to blush, to look away and deny it and say if he was strong he would have stood up the bullies and wouldn't have run to Dalton, but with the way Blaine was looking at him, Kurt couldn't disagree with what his boyfriend was saying. "It was tough," he admitted. "But I got through it. I had to."

"Nobody should go through this at our age," Blaine murmured and Kurt was wrapping his arms around Blaine without a second thought because of _course _this was about both of them, of course this was bringing up memories for Blaine of what he went through as well.

"You're strong too," he told Blaine, putting every ounce of sincerity he could into the words. "I promise."

For a few minutes they just held each other, both soaking in the closeness of another person, someone who may not have been through exactly the same thing as them but knew what it was like to _hurt_. But instead of being sad, Kurt felt strangely content. After all, things were so much better now that Blaine was in his life, why did he need to be sad about the past?

Apparently Blaine felt the same because his usual smile was back when he looked up. "Do I make you happy?" he asked, completely out of the blue and so contrary to his current expression that Kurt had to stare.

"I - Blaine, of course you do!" Kurt finally got out when he realized that Blaine actually wanted an answer. "How could you not?" And then the horrible thought struck him - was this Blaine's way of trying to say… "Do I not make you happy?"

"You do," Blaine assured him reverently. "Incredibly happy, Kurt. I just wanted to make sure… that this is what you want. Completely what you want."

Kurt couldn't help but think that there was something more to Blaine's words but shook it off. He trusted Blaine, after all, and if Blaine was that happy with him then there definitely couldn't be any ulterior motives to what he was saying. "I've never wanted anything more," Kurt said honestly. "Not even the latest McQueen collection."

Blaine gave a quiet snort of laughter at that. "Good," he said, his eyes softening completely. "I'm glad that's how you feel."

And then Blaine leaned in and kissed him.

There were no words and Kurt immediately realized why Tina would just smile at him whenever Kurt asked what it was like to kiss someone because _yeah_, Kurt would definitely be smiling like an idiot if he weren't currently kissing Blaine. And then that reminded him that he was _kissing __Blaine _and that was something Kurt's mind would probably start comprehending in, oh, ten _years_. For now, all Kurt could do was kiss back - tentatively, because he had never done this before, not like _this_- and pretty much melt.

* * *

An hour later, Kurt and Blaine left the choir room hand-in-hand, swapping secretive smiles between each other. Kurt could see the reddish tinge to Blaine's lips and knew _he _had caused that and that he looked the same and his brain? Yeah, still missing in action.

They hadn't spent the whole time kissing, of course. There had been a lot of talking and cuddling done… but also plenty of kissing, just learning about each other and what they liked and simply reveling in each other's touch.

"Is that why you wanted to know if I was happy?" Kurt finally asked, realizing he probably should have thought of that quite some time ago.

Blaine smiled. "It was. I never wanted our relationship to be based on physical actions - and, of course, I did want to make sure you were happy."

"I've never been happier," Kurt admitted, leaning over to brush a kiss to Blaine's cheek. "Unfortunately, the fact that I'm somewhat starving is overriding that right now."

Blaine mock-pouted until his own stomach grumbled and Kurt smirked at him. "Okay, I'll shut up now. What exactly are we going to do for food?"

Kurt shrugged, pushing open the door to the auditorium. "Hopefully Mr. Schue's sorted something out."

The auditorium had filled up again with the only exceptions being Mike, Tina and Mr. Schuester himself. Most of the club members were talking amongst themselves, only Santana and Puck noticing their re-entry - Santana giving a smirk and Puck holding out his fist to Blaine who fist-bumped him awkwardly. "So, what's happening for food?" Kurt asked.

"Mr. Schue is checking the staffrooms to see if anything's lying around and looking for non-perishables in the cafeteria," Rachel informed them. "Noah volunteered to break into the vending machines but some of us don't enjoy chocolate bars for dinner."

"Not to mention the moral issues with Puck breaking things," Artie added. "Not that he seems worried about that in the slightest."

Puck shrugged and Kurt rolled his eyes. At that, Mr. Schuester entered the room with a basket full of food to the general approval of the group. "Nothing fancy, guys," he warned. "It's mainly fruit, but it's better than nothing." The basket was converged upon, everybody grabbing whatever they could. And sure, maybe Kurt didn't _need _ten oranges but it was still good to have extra.

"Hey, where's Mike and Tina?" Quinn asked when everybody was halfway through their meals. "They're going to miss out."

"I called Tina earlier," Artie said. "But her phone was off. I guess we'll have to go find them once we're finished -"

The lights went out.

Quinn, Rachel and Brittany all screamed and Kurt heard a flurry of movement, presumably as the girls grabbed the person closest to them. Kurt would have laughed if it weren't for the fact that his boyfriend was currently wrapped around him, clearly scared himself. "You okay?" he whispered to Blaine.

"Yeah," Blaine said, quickly unwrapping his arms. "It just - startled me. That's all."

Kurt grabbed his phone out of his pocket and switched on the flashlight, prompting the others to do the same. He had to keep fighting back his laughter as he saw Quinn and Rachel both cuddling close to Finn who looked supremely awkward, before remembering their previous conversation. "Guys, Mike and Tina are out there somewhere."

Mr. Schuester was on his feet immediately. "Everybody stay here, I'll go and find them."

"With all due respect, Mr. Schuester," Rachel began, "it would make more sense to send out multiple search parties with their phones on them. Then when Mike and Tina are found, we can all return to the auditorium. It would speed things up."

Mr. Schuester looked like he was struggling with that before finally nodding. "Okay, but not everybody can go. A few of you need to stay here in case they come back to let us know."

After a bit of discussion, it was sorted. Kurt and Blaine, Puck and Lauren, Sam and Mercedes and Finn and Artie would all head in separate directions while the others stayed back. Artie tried Tina's phone one more time - still no answer - before they all split up, heading their separate ways. "Okay," Kurt said quietly, keeping one ear out for the couple they were searching for, "I know Tina pretty well and I know she has a few places that her and Mike like to visit. Unfortunately one of those is the locker room which happens to be down this hallway."

Blaine understood, of course. "How about I go in and look for them while you wait outside?" he offered, grabbing his own phone out to turn on the flashlight. "It'll only take a second."

Kurt stopped him as he was about to go in, kissing him quickly. "Thank you."

"My pleasure," Blaine said softly before entering the locker room. "Mike? Tina?"

Once Blaine had left, Kurt glanced around the hallway, immediately wishing he hadn't. The school was an entirely different place without the lights on and every shadow had Kurt jumping, trying to work out what it was and who was in there and _oh __god _why hadn't he gone into the locker room with Blaine because at least he wouldn't be out there _alone_…

"Not in there."

Kurt shrieked, spinning around to see Blaine exiting the locker room. It took him a second to calm his racing heart long enough to speak. "Sorry, sorry! It just got really creepy out here and you scared the _hell _out of me."

"Sorry," Blaine said, wrapping an arm around him again. Now that there was another light and, more importantly, another person, it wasn't as bad as it had been and Kurt started feeling a little sheepish. "I didn't mean to, I didn't realize what it would be like out here alone. But we should keep looking."

It didn't end up taking long to find Mike and Tina after all. The astronomy classroom door, as per usual, had jammed up from the inside and Kurt could hear the two calling out for help. With Blaine's assistance, they got the door open to find the room pitch black and Tina almost hysterical. "Where's your phone?" Kurt asked as they led the two out, Mike doing his best to calm down his girlfriend. "We've been calling you."

"It ran out of battery," Mike explained. "And I don't have mine on me, I think I left it back in the auditorium. Thanks for coming, guys."

As they walked back, Kurt called the other groups to let them know to return. By the time he had finished the calls, they had just about reached the auditorium. And, of course, just like it had been rehearsed that way, the lights chose that moment to flicker back on.

"Well, that was anticlimatic," Blaine remarked as they entered the auditorium to the clear relief of the others. The girls were hugging Tina and Mike flopped onto a pile of blankets, grabbing the remainder of the food to eat, prompting laughter from the rest of the group. It didn't take long for the others to return, a few of the guys feeling the need to congratulate Mike on getting locked in a dark room with his girlfriend.

The rest of the night was honestly just like the biggest slumber party Kurt had ever experienced. Obviously there were no movies but there was plenty of singing, a few more runs through of their songs (with Blaine joining in for the heck of it) and more bonding of the group than Kurt had ever seen. Being locked in the school in the middle of a thunderstorm had somehow done more for their group than anything else they had gone through.

"Okay, guys, we might call it a night!" Mr. Schuester was clearing away the food scraps and chucking blankets to everybody. "If the storm clears, we will have school tomorrow so you all need to be well-rested."

There were general groans all around - and Kurt couldn't blame them, what kind of high school students went to bed at _ten __at __night_? - but the teenagers obediently began to get ready to sleep, kicking off shoes and finding spots to sleep. A few of the guys ditched their shirts, prompting whistles from their respective girlfriends, and Kurt wasn't sure whether to be disappointed or relieved that Blaine had kept his on, not sure if he could handle that on top of everything that had happened that afternoon between them. Kurt grabbed one of the warmer looking blankets, knowing he would need it if he couldn't have Blaine to warm him up.

_Unless… _

As the group finished spreading out the blankets, Kurt glanced around to make sure his theory was correct. Sure enough, Mike and Tina were settling in together, Quinn and Finn were doing the same and Puck was trying to get close to Lauren. Sam and Mercedes were also curiously close, something Kurt made a note of for later consideration, and Santana and Brittany were sharing a blanket. With all of those facts in mind, Kurt crossed the room and sat down right next to Blaine who smiled, wrapping an arm around him. "Can I join you?" he asked almost nervously because even though they had both boarded at Dalton, this was something they had never been able to try due to strict curfew requirements.

"Of course you can," Blaine said quietly, pulling him closer.

"Hold it!" came a call from across the room and Kurt turned to see Mr. Schuester staring at them. "Kurt, Blaine, you guys can't sleep together."

Kurt closed his eyes and counted to ten silently, but it didn't work. "Excuse me?" he demanded. "And why on earth not?"

"Because you two are dating and -"

Blaine had a hand on his shoulder, probably trying to calm him down but Kurt wasn't paying attention because _this __wasn__'__t __right. _"Look around you, Mr. Schuester." He gestured to the other couples who were all watching curiously. "They all get to be couples, why can't we? You said this club was all-accepting, that nobody got judged because of who they were or what they did or who they _liked_, and you're demonstrating the worst double-standard possible." Shrugging off Blaine's hand, Kurt stood, already missing the warmth of the blankets as he stormed out of the auditorium.

The hallway was even colder and Kurt wrapped his arms around himself as he paced, fuming. Of course the logical part of his brain told Kurt that there must be more to it than the fact that he and Blaine were both guys, but right now Kurt was mad. It only took a minute for Blaine to join him, slipping his arms around Kurt to stop him from walking. "Come on, calm down. You know he's not just being insensitive, there is a reason."

"There probably is but it's just not _fair_, Blaine, we always have people telling us what to do and I'm so sick of it and I thought it wouldn't -"

Blaine spun him around gently and kissed him thoroughly, leaving Kurt breathless when they broke apart. "Now that I've got you quiet, just listen. Come back in, let him talk and then decide what's going to happen. If you feel a need to sleep elsewhere, you know I'll follow."

Grumbling under his breath, Kurt allowed Blaine to lead him back into the auditorium where, of course, everybody was staring at them. "Kurt," Mr. Schuester began immediately, "it's absolutely not about you and Blaine being gay. It's the fact that Blaine isn't a student of mine, technically he's here representing Dalton Academy and I know you've mentioned strict rules at Dalton about overnight sleeping arrangements. I wanted to be sure that Blaine wasn't going to get in any trouble for this."

Kurt paused, grudgingly admitting that it did make sense. "I explained to him that it won't be an issue," Blaine said soothingly. "We can't do this at Dalton, naturally, but the Dalton rules don't apply when I'm not there. The whole _in __loco __parentis _thing is only an issue when I'm there and since I have verbal permission to be off campus for the night, there is no issue."

"As long as your sleeping remains sleeping - and that goes for all of you - then I can't stop you," Mr. Schuester completed.

Kurt nodded in his teacher's direction in means of an apology. "Would you like me to turn off the lights?"

A general assent rang out as everybody else laid down, settling in for the night. Kurt switched his flashlight back on, shielding it with one hand as he flicked the lights off and made his way carefully over to where Blaine was already lying down, waiting for him. "How are we doing this?" he asked, immediately feeling stupid for asking the question.

Blaine simply smiled at him, reaching over to turn off the flashlight before pulling Kurt into his arms. "However you're comfortable."

Since Blaine was practically the definition of comfortable, Kurt found his place pretty quickly. Head nestled into Blaine's chest, arms around his waist and Kurt was at home.

_Is it bad that I can imagine going to sleep like this for the rest of my life?_

Blaine kissed the top of his head gently, running his hands along Kurt's back. "Goodnight, beautiful."

Kurt's heart leapt.

_No, absolutely not._

"Goodnight," he whispered back, closing his eyes in anticipation of the best nights sleep he had ever gotten.

* * *

The rain had stopped and the sun shining through the open auditorium door from the hall as Blaine awoke that morning. Vague thoughts of waking the others for class and getting back to Dalton crossed his mind until Kurt shifted, nuzzling further into his neck with a sleepy sigh before drifting off again.

Blaine wrapped Kurt up in his arms and slipped back off to sleep.

* * *

**Someday.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_***slams open door* "Greetings, Finnigan. We are the Warblers-" *gestures at mass of people* "-and we were informed that you hurt our boy Kurt. Now, being from you, the insult probably wasn't fully unintentional. We've decided to take steps to punish you."**_

_**"You don't mean-?"**_

_**"Yes. Hand over the My Little Pony plushie, it's ours for a week."**_

_***whispered in the background* "Wait, doesn't Wes have the same one?"**_


	226. Accepted

**Wow... when you guys accept a challenge, you really take it on! It's so much fun for me as well to see your thoughts on the older chapters and to be able to remember those chapters myself. So thank you, I can see it making a difference in the count already :)**

**Tomorrow I'm meeting one of my Tumblr followers! I'm thrilled about this because I've been wanting to meet a reader/fan/follower for ages now and we've managed to make arrangements and I just can't wait! Oh, and it's Glee day and I've listened to the most recent song released today and oh my _goodness_ I can't wait. **

**From **_**madnad101: After "When I get you alone" Jeremiah accepts Blaines date. Then Blaine is nervous because he wants to be all romantic so he asks Kurt how to be romantic and realises that he is in love with Kurt. You could even make it so Jeremiah knows Blaine likes Kurt and accepted in a hope to get them together?**_

**We are totally ignoring the whole age thing that Jeremiah said to Blaine. **

* * *

Accepted

"_When I get you alone!"_

Blaine skidded to a stop in front of Jeremiah, pair of socks in hand and most charming smile on his face. There was a moment of silence and then the entire store burst into applause including Jeremiah. As he rang through the purchase, Kurt watched as Jeremiah leaned in to say something to Blaine, gesturing towards the door of the shop and Blaine nodded.

"Do you think he said yes?"

Kurt turned half-heartedly towards the voice before brightening when he realized who it was. "I'm not sure. I guess we'll find out when Blaine returns."

David nodded, looking at the two boys over Kurt's shoulder. "They're still talking. It's looking positive." Kurt sighed without meaning to and David squeezed his shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. You know -"

"I know. It's just -"

"I know."

David glanced up. "Oh, we're leaving. Come on."

They followed the rest of the Warblers out of the shop where they all turned to Blaine expectantly. Apparently he had been working on his poker face as he managed to stare at them impassively for a few seconds before breaking into a grin. "He said yes!"

Cheers broke out and Warblers were surrounding Blaine, patting him on the shoulder and offering their congratulations. Kurt waited, watching Blaine from the outskirts and trying to see the sparkle in his eye that he was used to seeing when Blaine was truly happy about something. The one he saw every time Blaine finished a performance or did well on an exam or - more recently - when Kurt showed up at his door to invite him for coffee.

It wasn't there.

"Do you -?"

"Yeah," Kurt murmured, rocking back on his heels and catching David's eye again. "Yeah, I do."

David nodded thoughtfully. "Don't you have a phone call to make?"

Kurt quickly excused himself, punching in the familiar number. "Hey," he said as soon as the other person picked up. "It's me. Stage one complete, B reacted exactly as predicted. I'll keep you posted." David was smirking at him and Kurt rolled his eyes at the boy. "Thanks A."

As Kurt hung up he realized Blaine was watching him and smiled at the boy. Blaine smiled back - truly smiled - and Kurt made his way over to try and offer some sincere congratulations.

* * *

Four fifteen and Blaine was knocking on his door.

Kurt smiled, pushing away his homework and beckoning the boy in. "What's up? Shouldn't you be getting ready for your date?"

Blaine nodded, sitting on the edge of Kurt's bed. "I don't know what to wear," he said quietly. "I can't remember the last time I voluntarily got out of this uniform and I know you have killer fashion sense and yeah, my wardrobe sucks and you might not even be able to make a suitable outfit out of it but I thought -"

"Okay, slow down." Kurt left his desk and sat down next to Blaine, gently untangling his clenched fists. "First, you need to relax a little. I get you've never done this before but you should be looking forward to this more than you're nervous about it. If you're not then maybe you need to consider whether you want to go on this date."

Blaine did actually seem to think about it for a second before shaking his head. "I want to do this."

Of course it wouldn't have been that easy and Kurt nodded. "Alright. I can help you pick out an outfit. Let's go back to your room."

Kurt took his time in picking out an outfit and yes, it was probably cruel, but it gave Blaine more time to work himself up. "I'm going to screw everything up," he suddenly said, making Kurt jump from where he was holding up a checkered shirt in distaste. "I have no idea what I'm doing and I'm great at pretending in song but I won't be singing tonight and I don't think I can do this."

He waited a few seconds after Blaine had finished rambling before turning around, raising an eyebrow. "Okay. First of all, how could you screw it up?"

"I don't know, say the wrong thing, be a complete idiot -"

"Which anybody could do. Why are you so convinced that you're going to do that?" Kurt gave him a second before continuing, a little more on edge himself now. "We hang out all the time and talk and you never screw that up."

Blaine was silent. "I - that's different," he finally said. "I know I can be myself around you and you're not going to judge me - or if you do, it'll be in jest. I trust you."

Strike one.

Kurt let it drop. "Well, just be yourself anyway," he said breezily, pulling out a leather jacket that was hiding at the back of Blaine's closet and murmuring appreciatively. "Now this is a jacket."

"Never worn it."

"Why on earth not?"

Blaine shrugged. "Wouldn't know what to wear with -" he stopped talking as Kurt held up a pair of jeans and a plain white v-neck. "Is it really that simple?"

Kurt had to laugh. "I see why you never get out of uniform. Clothing isn't difficult, Blaine."

"Not for you," Blaine said, taking the clothes from Kurt. "You might just have to teach me how to make everything in that wardrobe work."

"It would be my pleasure."

Blaine paused, giving him an incomprehensible look and Kurt tensed, wondering if he had come on too strong or been too obvious. But Blaine simply smiled and disappeared into the bathroom. "And wash the gel out!" Kurt called after him, figuring it was worth a shot.

Silence and then the door cracked open. "Excuse me?" came the voice, low and almost dangerous.

Kurt simply smiled sweetly. "Wash it out," he repeated, "and let me show you what I mean by size of a dime." Blaine continued to glare at him. "Trust me."

The door clicked shut and a second later Kurt could hear the sound of water running. He smirked, leaning back against the wall and waiting. And when Blaine emerged a few minutes later, he couldn't help but whistle. "What?" Blaine asked, clearly unaware of the universal _I __could __probably __jump __you __right __now _noise.

"You look - _wow_, Blaine."

"Good?"

Kurt had to roll his eyes. "The fact that I'm speechless isn't enough for you?" Blaine ducked his head a little and Kurt watched as a drop of water fell from his still damp hair, reminding him that there was still one thing to do. Digging in his bag, Kurt pulled out his emergency hair care products, eyeing up Blaine's hair again before choosing the mousse. "Now," he explained as he squeezed some onto his hand and gestured for Blaine to move closer, "this isn't gel but it's heavy duty so I can guarantee it'll give you the hold you need without making it look like you've drowned in a vat of hair product."

"You're making me feel so good about my everyday appearance," Blaine huffed but sat down in front of Kurt anyway, allowing him full access to his hair. "That actually feels a lot better than the gel."

"It's going to look better too," Kurt said as gently as possible. "I don't mean to put you down but you do know that you don't have to plaster your hair down to keep it in order, right?"

Blaine shrugged as Kurt finished running his fingers through Blaine's hair. "Nobody really told me how to style my hair."

"Well, I'm telling you now," Kurt said, keeping his voice gentle. "And if you ever want help, just ask. Because if you did, you could look like this." Pulling the mirror out of his bag, Kurt held it up in front of Blaine and waited.

"_Wow_."

Kurt grinned. "Curls but tamed. You're welcome." He snapped the mirror shut before Blaine could get a complex. "I think you're ready."

Blaine stiffened completely. "I can't do this."

And this time Kurt knew he couldn't just talk Blaine into this, he couldn't just give him a push in the right direction and force him into it. This was Blaine completely backing out, refusing to go and Kurt knew that.

He had also seen it coming.

"Here's an idea," Kurt said as if it had just occurred to him. "Why don't we double-date?"

Blaine froze up for another reason. "You… you're going on a date tonight?"

"Well it is Valentine's Day," Kurt explained. "So I asked Andrew if he wanted to go out. Just as friends, but who knows?"

"I - well, that's great, Kurt!" But the sparkle had disappeared again, no matter how happy Blaine looked on the outside. "But you have your own plans, you shouldn't have to drop those because I'm terrified."

Kurt sighed. "I was doing it because you were nervous. Now that you admit you're terrified, do you seriously think I'd let you do this alone?" He continued before Blaine could backtrack. "Andrew and I didn't have any set plans anyway, I think we were just going to catch a movie. He got tickets to something."

"Well," Blaine said slowly, "the restaurant Jeremiah and I are going to is quite small and apparently they were surprised that I even called to book because they don't ever have a waiting list or anything. So if you wanted to join us - only if you wanted to, of course - then it wouldn't be a problem."

"Great! Let me just call Andrew, back in a second."

He couldn't miss the way Blaine's smile changed as he left the room, as if a weight had just been taken off his shoulders.

Andrew was waiting just around the corner, eyebrow raised. "On?"

"On," Kurt agreed with a smirk. "Got the tickets?" The smirk widened when Andrew pulled out a set of tickets and he took in the name. "Perfect. This is going to be great. Now, go away and meet me in the foyer. Text me when Jeremiah gets here."

Andrew saluted and disappeared. Rolling his eyes, Kurt walked back into the room, pulling out his phone to put it straight back in his pocket. "Andrew's on board, our movie isn't until seven so we have plenty of time before - what?"

Blaine was standing in the middle of the room, staring at him. "I should have noticed when you first got here. You always dress great but you look even more amazing today."

And if Kurt hadn't been sure of what he was doing before, that pretty much cemented it. "Thank you," he said, trying not to blush. "Now, just sit down and relax a bit. What time is Jeremiah picking you up?"

Blaine checked his watch. "Ten minutes."

"Tell me about the competition season for you guys last year," Kurt said immediately, not wanting Blaine to have time to start freaking out again. "How far did you get."

"Regionals," Blaine said, sitting on the bed next to Kurt again with a wry smile. "As in, we made it to Regionals level and then never went. This guy Jim - not a Warbler anymore, you'll see why in a second - threw a huge 'We made it to Regionals!' party the night before and spiked the punch."

Kurt burst into laughter. "Oh my god! Wes would have murdered him!"

"Wes got plastered," Blaine managed to get out. "It was the funniest thing I've ever seen - I was one of the few who didn't drink the punch so I remember everything. Anyway, he tried to get Thad to marry him to his gavel and Thad ended up twisting it midway through so David and Wes were getting married instead. Then they divorced rather messily - and I mean that literally, drunken vomit is really really gross."

"You don't have to tell me that," Kurt said, shuddering a little at his own memory. "So I'm guessing everybody passed out and missed the competition."

"Better," Blaine said, his smirk growing. "They all passed out, the few of us who were sober finally got some sleep after babysitting all night and then it turns out Wes had sent a series of fifteen alarms to make sure he got up in time to go to Regionals. We didn't need to be up before seven, his alarms started at five." Kurt lost it again, collapsing onto Blaine's shoulder in laughter. "You can just imagine it, they've all got hangovers from hell and can't work out why they're hungover and Wes starts spouting off some conspiracy theory about the competition drugging us and insists on calling up the nurse. The headmaster came along."

"How do you guys even still exist?"

Blaine laughed. "The principal tried to disband us but Jim owned up and Wes started crying and that was kind of enough for him to take pity on us. Thankfully he missed the sight of Jeff throwing up in one of the antique vases otherwise we would probably never have seen another competition."

Kurt was nearly crying himself with laughter because the Warblers he had met were kind of _nothing _like the picture Blaine was painting and this was a million times better than any thoughts of his own club getting drunk. As he fought to regain control his phone buzzed and Kurt pulled up the text. "Oh, that's Andrew. Apparently Jeremiah's down there too."

Blaine frowned, grabbing his phone. "He didn't text me."

"Maybe he found Andrew before he needed to," Kurt said placatingly because Blaine actually looked a little put out by that. "Don't stress about it. Are you ready to go?"

"Not really?"

Kurt squeezed his arm and stood. "Of course you aren't. Come on."

The two boys were waiting for them in the foyer and Kurt tactfully stepped away from Blaine as he greeted Jeremiah, smiling at Andrew instead. "You look great," he told him with the barest hint of a smirk because _yeah_ he looked great, anybody who Kurt picked out outfits for looked great. And he certainly wasn't going to be going on a date with a guy who had bad fashion sense.

"Thank you," Andrew said, echoing his smirk. "As do you."

"I know." He heard Blaine suppress his laughter beside him and Kurt rolled his eyes at Andrew who nodded to confirm it - Blaine had been paying more attention to him than Jeremiah.

It was going to be an interesting night.

"So how are we doing this?" Jeremiah asked. "Do you two want to ride with us or do you have your own transport?"

Kurt glanced back at Andrew who shrugged. "You're the one who was driving. I don't care either way."

"Let's take my car," Kurt said, making up another plan on the spot. "We'll follow you guys."

Blaine looked a little overwhelmed at that prospect - and Kurt found himself wondering whether he was going to have to babysit the boy for all of his life and rather quickly deciding that didn't bother him in the _slightest_ - and Kurt just gave him a reassuring smile before following Andrew out to his car.

"You are having way too much fun with this," Andrew said once they were following Jeremiah's car out of the parking lot.

Kurt shrugged. "I'm watching the guy I love go on a date with someone else. If I don't have fun with it then I'm going to be miserable all night until… well."

"I know."

"Thanks for doing this."

Andrew smiled at him, touching his arm lightly. "Not a problem. It could work out for both of us anyway so it seriously isn't a hardship."

"I hope it does."

They lapsed into silence for the rest of the trip - only another few minutes anyway and then Jeremiah's car was pulling into a parking lot, Kurt following suit. Kurt let out a slightly shaky breath as he unbuckled his seatbelt and checked his hair one last time in the mirror before snapping the visor back up. "Let's do this."

Blaine was right - the restaurant Jeremiah had chosen was small and severely lacking in occupants. Probably a good thing considering the sexuality of the four present but it still left Kurt wondering why Jeremiah seemed to feel the need to hide Blaine's existence. If Blaine were his date, Kurt would probably be shouting it to the world.

But that was for later. For now, Kurt and Andrew simply dragged a table across to the one Jeremiah and Blaine had been seated at, Kurt making sure to take the seat next to Blaine. Their orders were taken quickly and as soon as the server had left, an awkward silence fell over the table. Kurt could see how tense Blaine was getting and knew it was up to him to fix things. "So," he began, "Jeremiah, tell us a bit about yourself."

Jeremiah shrugged. "Nothing to tell. Work at the Gap by day, Battlefield extraordinaire by night."

Andrew physically turned in his seat at that to stare. "Battlefield 2?"

"Of course, do I look like a caveman?" But Jeremiah was smiling and Kurt had to admit it was the first time he had seen the boy smile properly at all. "At least until Three comes out anyway. Until then I'll just stay ranked seventh."

"Oh my god, I've fought against you! I'm thirteenth!"

And they were off. Kurt rolled his eyes and turned to Blaine who was watching the scene with mild horror. "I can honestly say I have nothing to contribute to this conversation," he muttered to Kurt.

"Neither. Good thing we haven't picked apart the latest Vogue then, isn't it?"

The smile of relief Blaine shot him warmed Kurt's heart and they immediately launched into their own conversation. Kurt had just finished explaining how leopard print would work next season (but not on Blaine, never on Blaine) when their food came. The other two were still going and were likely to continue all night if Kurt hadn't kicked Andrew under the table, reminding him that they were here. Not that Kurt minded all that much but Blaine might actually be wanting to spend some time with his date and Kurt didn't want to get in the way of that.

... okay, he did. But only because he knew what really made Blaine happy and it didn't rhyme with 'hair's a liar,' which Jeremiah's might as well have been because that was the only thing that was passing him remotely as gay at the moment.

"So are you guys ready for Regionals?" Andrew asked, turning his attention back to Kurt who immediately deflected the question to Blaine.

Blaine shrugged a little. "We don't have a complete setlist but we're working on it. I've got a few suggestions that naturally Kurt would say are too Top 40 but I really do think - oh, I'm sorry, are we keeping you up?"

Kurt blinked in shock because okay, wow, he had never heard Blaine with _attitude_ before. But he could see why as he glanced at Jeremiah to see the boy yawning. "Sorry," he said, not sounding contrite at all. "Guess I'm just not that interested in show choir."

Blaine tensed and Kurt lightly knocked their knees together under the table, shooting him a sympathetic and simultaneously warning glance - _I'm __sorry __he's __a __jerk __but __don't __let __it __ruin __your __night_ - that seemed to help. "So what are you interested in?" Blaine asked, deliberately keeping his tone light.

Jeremiah shrugged again and Kurt resisted the urge to bang his head against the table because _this _was who was picked over him to spend Valentine's Day with, to be in love with? Though judging by his side glance to Blaine, the other boy had suddenly seen the error of his ways; either that or the pained expression was due to his food not agreeing with him but that wasn't a particularly romantic thought and who talked about gas pains anyway?

"Tell us about the Gap?" Kurt found himself asking. And then immediately regretting because Jeremiah?

Actually _liked _his job.

And now Kurt was literally holding himself back from knocking himself unconscious against his food because the one thing he hated more than someone who wouldn't shut up about their job was someone who wouldn't shut up about their job in such an _awful _company. Kurt lived for fashion; the last thing he wanted was to hear about cheap poly cotton blends and what kind of amazing sales they were on. Especially when Blaine was looking thoughtful and Kurt knew there would be a serious intervention the next time Blaine went shopping.

But more than that, Blaine looked _bored_, an expression Kurt wasn't used to seeing on his face because he never looked bored when it was just the two of them. Kurt mentally chalked up another point in the competition he was fairly sure Jeremiah wasn't aware they were in but he was winning so it didn't matter.

By the time Jeremiah had finished talking their ears off - and Kurt had noticed halfway through that Andrew actually looked _interested_, dear god what was the world coming to? - they were all done with dinner and everybody politely declined dessert in favor of heading to the movie theatre. In other words, stage two.

It was only when they got there that Andrew pulled out his tickets, showing them to Kurt who wrinkled up his nose. "_Brotherhood_? Andrew, really?"

"You guys are going to see _Brotherhood?__" _Jeremiah stared up at the poster with unconcealed longing. "It looks amazing."

Blaine was matching Kurt's expression, shaking his head. "Oh god, anything but that, please."

Jeremiah suddenly looked thoughtful and Kurt mentally cheered, glad he wasn't the one who would have to mention it. "You know," he started, "Andrew has two tickets and Kurt doesn't want his and I'm sure you two would find something that you've got in common that you'd want to see so maybe we could split for a little while?"

Kurt shrugged. "Anything to get me out of that movie, but it's up to Blaine."

And now all eyes were on Blaine and Kurt suddenly felt so awful for it because it was clear that Blaine _wanted _to kick up a fuss, not so much to stay with Jeremiah (or possibly so, Kurt wasn't sure) but because it was his date who was going off with someone else and yeah, that was probably going to suck. But Blaine simply smiled and lifted a shoulder. "Go ahead. Have fun."

The two boys didn't need telling twice, disappearing in the direction of the concession stand even though they had just eaten. Kurt turned his attention to Blaine who could clearly be more impressed by the turn of events but trying to hide it. "You alright?"

"I have to say, this isn't how I expected the night to pan out," Blaine said thoughtfully, his tone thankfully not too hurt. "I guess he's just not the guy I thought he was."

Kurt dropped a hand on Blaine's shoulder, letting it rest there for a second. "Are you okay with that?"

Blaine shrugged. "I guess it's good that I found out now. Obviously it's not the best of first dates but…" he hesitated and Kurt waited, knowing Blaine needed to speak on his own time. "I can't say it was that bad. If it had just been me and Jeremiah it would have sucked a lot but… you helped."

Strike two.

"They're still showing _Burlesque_," Kurt said softly.

Blaine's eyes widened. "Oh my god, what are we doing here then?"

"And that's why you're my favourite," Kurt said happily, linking his arm through Blaine's and tugging him in the direction of the ticket stand. And if Blaine had caught any extra meaning behind the words, Kurt wouldn't let him think about it. At least not yet.

They had both seen _Burlesque _naturally - together when it had first come out then with the girls and Kurt once more with Rachel when they had purposely picked a time that the theatre would be empty so they could belt their lungs out to the songs. It turned out to be the same this time and Kurt shot Blaine a smirk who caught on instantly. "Go on then."

It was easily the best movie Kurt had seen and even better now that Blaine was the one singing along. As they continued to shoot grins at each other, Kurt was trying to work out how Blaine could actually still be this oblivious because this was kind of _not _how friends acted. Maybe the movie on its own but add this to every other couple-like action they had done over the past few months and they were pretty much dating without labels. Which was exactly why Kurt had gotten so confused and why he was doing everything he could right now without actually coming out and telling Blaine the truth. As tempting as that was, Kurt knew it would be counterproductive. Blaine had to work this one out on his own.

Their movie ended half an hour before _Brotherhood _so naturally they had to wait for the other boys to come out. Kurt gestured to a seat across from a _Rise __of __the __Planet __of __the __Apes_ poster and gestured for Blaine to join him. "Happy Valentine's Day," he said quietly, not really minding if Blaine didn't catch it.

"You know," Blaine said thoughtfully, staring up at a giant photo of Tom Felton, "I had a lot more fun tonight than I thought I would."

"Yeah?"

Blaine nodded. "I don't think it would have been such a good night if you hadn't been here. Nobody else makes me quite as happy as you do."

Strike three and you're out of denial.

Kurt got to watch it happen - the way Blaine's brow furrowed in thought like he was struggling to process an idea, the internal debate and then the most beautiful moment where his eyes widened and he turned to stare at Kurt like he had never even realized he existed before.

"There you go," Kurt said quietly. "I knew you'd get there in the end."

"You knew how I felt about you?"

Blaine's voice was quiet and almost strained, like it was an effort to speak. Kurt didn't blame him - when he had learnt about his own crush on Blaine it had felt like being punched in the chest and for him it had come out of nowhere. Blaine _had _known, once upon a time and he was about to learn the truth.

"David," he said simply.

Blaine hissed out a shocked breath. "I'll kill him."

"Will you?" Kurt asked mildly. "Blaine, if I hadn't known and you'd gone on this date with Jeremiah tonight, I would have given up on you completely. And besides, _you _didn't know you still liked me, only David knew that the crush you had first talked about when I transferred hadn't gone away like you said."

"But I -"

"Shh," Kurt hushed him softly, turning to face him properly. "Just let me talk, let me explain. When you said you were going to ask out Jeremiah on Valentine's Day, I was… well, surprised is one word for it. Apparently everything else was obvious because David caught me after the meeting and told me that he knew I was upset but -"

"I upset you?"

Kurt sighed. "Yes," he said simply. "You upset me because I thought you were going to ask me, that you asked whether it was too much to sing to someone on Valentine's Day because you were going to sing to me."

Blaine hissed in a sharp breath. "Kurt, I didn't -"

"Let me talk?" Blaine nodded, snapping his mouth shut and Kurt continued. "David told me that, as lovely as you are, you err a little on the wrong side of naive and oblivious at times. He also told me that when you first met me right up until maybe a few weeks after my transfer, you only ever talked about me and it was so obvious to him and Wes that you had a crush on me. And then you just stopped. And David would have believed that you had just gotten over me except you had said something about me looking up to you as a mentor and how important it was that you set a good example and be the support system I needed."

There was a long silence and Kurt could see the pieces slotting together. "I made myself believe I was nothing more than a mentor because I thought that was what you needed."

"And at the time I did," Kurt said reassuringly. "But what I _wanted _was a lot more and… and I still do, Blaine."

"You set this up."

There was no judgement in Blaine's tone which was why it was easy for Kurt to agree. "Jeremiah was you feeling lonely when you saw everybody else paired up for Valentine's Day. It wasn't going to last anywhere beyond this date -"

"Because I was still interested in you whether I knew it or not."

Kurt nodded. "So I didn't want you to go through an awkward night on your own - I'm sorry but I could tell from the moment I saw Jeremiah that he wasn't right for you. With that in mind, I called in a favor from Andrew, knowing full well that we didn't like each other but that he was the kind of guy who might go for Jeremiah and… well, look, I wasn't going to pull you and Jeremiah apart if you did click or anything. I just hoped that by being here tonight, I'd help if things went wrong."

"You did help," Blaine murmured, voice filled with emotion. "Can you just give me a minute?"

"Of course." Kurt tilted his head back and closed his eyes, waiting, knowing Blaine was probably doing the same. And it was a _lot _to take in because Blaine had come so close to admitting that he did feel the same but Kurt knew he needed time to sort his own head out. After all, everything he thought he had known about himself and his feelings had turned upside down and finding out that one of your best friends had known all along what you didn't was probably quite distressing.

It wasn't long before Blaine was touching his arm and Kurt opened his eyes. "I am pretty sure I screwed up badly," Blaine began and Kurt frowned, suddenly realizing how defeated Blaine looked. "I went after Jeremiah thinking it was love when really I've been crazy about you and - god, I didn't even let myself realize. And I hurt you and Kurt, that's the _worst_. So, um, thank you for showing me where I went wrong and I know I've lost every chance I had with you so I just hope the next guy you give your heart to realizes before it's too late and -"

Once Kurt had finished kissing the _stupidity _out of Blaine he broke away, gripping his shoulders. "I want you," he said firmly. "I wouldn't have done this if I didn't still want you, idiot. Well, no, I probably would have still been here for you but that's besides the point, _I __still __want __you._"

"You mean -?"

"Do I have to keep kissing you to make it clear?" Kurt finally asked when their lips separated for the second time. "Because I will and it won't be a hardship, believe me."

"Mm, that sounds like a great - wait." Blaine held out a hand, pressing it to Kurt's chest gently. "We can't."

Kurt ignored the swooping feeling in his chest. "Oh, okay. Um, can I ask why?"

"Because technically I'm still on a date with Jeremiah and you're on one with Andrew."

Kurt winced. "Fair point," he conceded. And then movement caught his eye and he smirked. "But I don't think they've got any issues with it."

Blaine turned to look at what Kurt had seen - Jeremiah pushing Andrew up against a wall outside their theatre and kissing him soundly. Smirking, Kurt continued to watch and wait for them to break apart and turn around and see them… any time now…

With a sideways glance, Blaine cleared his throat loudly and Jeremiah pulled away, turning to face them. "Oh!" he exclaimed, wide-eyed, staring apologetically at Blaine. Behind his back, Andrew winked at Kurt who was fighting to keep a straight face. "Blaine, I - uh…"

"Save it," Blaine said coldly and Kurt glanced at him in surprise, just to see his impassive face break into a grin. "Kurt and I kind of found each other out here."

"Excuse me?" Kurt demanded. "Who found who?"

"Whatever." Blaine waved a hand dismissively and Kurt caught it, linking it with his own. "Anyway, I think we can say that things aren't going to work out with us, Jeremiah. I'm glad you two are happy though, I guess it worked out for everyone."

Kurt resisted the urge to groan at Blaine's excessive _cheesiness_, choosing instead to focus on Andrew. "You have a lift back to Dalton, I presume?" Andrew nodded. "Alright. See you there." The two boys left and Kurt turned his attention back to Blaine, exactly where it belonged. "Now it's just you and me. I think it's time to go back to basics and work our way up."

Blaine smiled. "Coffee?"

"Coffee."

* * *

**Some of you wanted to know what the 'someday' meant in yesterday's bottom authors note. It didn't actually relate to the story; that was me saying that maybe someday I'll have a Blaine to hold me like that. **

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Someone needs to check how bad the storm is-"**_

_**"Me and Kurt will go." *half drags out of choir room***_

_**"...aren't there windows right behind us?"**_

_***yells out door* "WANKY!"**_


	227. Paintball

**So _Perfect _was perfect and whoever said Kurt would be having a good cheerful and light-hearted Senior year fed us a bunch of lies.**

**Now onto the important stuff.**

**I met one of you guys today - Chrisie and I arranged to meet up since we live in the same city. Anyway, she arrives with a bag in hand and I already knew something was scheming because Angela had been all cryptic with me. What I was _not _expecting was to open a scrapbook filled with letters from about 20 of you guys to me. **

**You guys...**

**I cried. I sat there in public flipping the pages going 'oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,' and crying and I just can't believe you would do something like that for me. I will talk to each person who sent me a letter personally and I'm putting up photos on Tumblr tomorrow for everybody to see it. It's just so amazing.**

**From **_**ILoveHim91: paintball**_

**I absolutely just imagined the lunchroom scene here in TPPP with Kurt hiding behind a tray. Lost it. **

**Oh, and this hits on angst. Just a warning. I mean, we know Karofsky's bullying of Kurt was affecting him really badly and that includes the physical but, once again, we never saw any kind of follow up to how Kurt coped with that and got over it.**

* * *

Paintball

It turned out the Warblers _did _know how to have fun.

Well, actually, that much was debatable because their idea of fun was kind of Kurt's idea of _hell_. Yes, it was an excuse to pull out some of his best military style boots - the waterproof ones naturally - but the rest of the outfit certainly wasn't going to be as flattering. And the activity itself?

Yeah, Kurt was staying in bed.

"Come on," Blaine urged softly, hand running down Kurt's back. If he was actually trying to convince Kurt to get out of bed then he was doing a pretty poor job because now all Kurt wanted was to lie here with Blaine pretty much _petting _him for the rest of the day. "You'll have fun."

"You can't prove that. Plus, I'm sick."

Blaine laughed. "You're not sick. If you were sick then you'd be doing a lot more complaining and making me stay here and run around after you all day instead of encouraging me to go. Besides, you told me you never get sick. Immune system of an ox and all that."

And oh damn, he had told Blaine that hadn't he? "Well I think it's exhaustion," Kurt said, allowing his eyelids to slide closed. "I've been very busy lately and -"

"You fell asleep on me for three hours yesterday and then went to bed at seven and slept for another twelve hours," Blaine pointed out before sliding his palm under Kurt's head and lifting it from the pillow. "If you're actually tired enough to sleep more then I'm going to start believing you are sick." Kurt opened his mouth hopefully but Blaine continued. "And if so, I'll be getting you down to the nurse. Probably by carrying you."

Kurt sighed. "You're going to make me do this, aren't you?"

He sat up, Blaine's hand still cupping his face. "Well I'm not really going to force you," Blaine finally said. "But I want you to come. I want you to come and have fun with us and… well, it would kind of be our first event together as a couple."

"Oh," Kurt said softly. "That - yeah. But you want it to be _paintball_?"

"I want it to be something. And I don't want to go today without you."

Blaine's expression was so earnest that Kurt found himself relenting before he had even made the conscious decision to do so. "Okay, fine. But if I get a single bruise, you will be the one paying for it."

"Done deal." Blaine jumped off the bed and headed for the door. "I want to see you out here in five minutes, Mr. Hummel!"

"Five _minutes_?" Kurt yelled indignantly at the closed door. "It takes longer than that to pick an outfit, let alone do my hair and -"

Blaine was laughing, Kurt could tell. "Whatever you wear is going to be covered up anyway, your hair will no doubt be ruined and you will probably be covered in paint."

"I will _not_!" Sighing, Kurt pulled together one of his more casual outfits, teed it up with his boots and gave his hair a few minutes of attention before wrenching open the door. "You said I wouldn't get a bruise. To be covered in paint means those pellets would have to have hit me and you're not letting that happen."

Blaine raised his hands placatingly. "I'll take care of you, don't worry. I can't promise you won't get hit but I'll destroy anybody who does."

"Protecting my virtue via paintball. How charming."

"I'm just a charming kind of guy."

Kurt rolled his eyes. "You are, that's the bad thing."

Blaine stopped him, taking his wrist gently. "Is it really a bad thing?"

"Of course not, silly." Resisting the urge to roll his eyes again, Kurt maneuvered Blaine's grip so they were holding hands properly. "It's endearing and actually pretty cute."

Blaine looked as if he was contemplating that one. "Huh. I've gotten dapper, charming, mentor-like and a myriad of names from David that we won't even go near, but _cute __- _that's new."

"I'll be sure to tell you more often then."

They continued their playful banter all the way down to breakfast, slipping into the comfortable routine that felt like it had really been going on for much longer than the six days they had been dating - on one hand, dating felt so foreign and Kurt was convinced he was going to wake up soon; on the other, it was like he and Blaine had been dating since the moment they met. So really it was strangely comfortable.

The other boys were used to it too, barely batting an eyelid as Kurt and Blaine entered the cafeteria together and joined their table. That said, it was more likely than not due to their avid discussion about the events of the day which Blaine immediately joined in on, leaving Kurt to realize that he was the only Warbler who wasn't thrilled with the prospect of spending the day firing small bullets that exploded in a burst of colour and pain at one another. Even Jeff - who Kurt had been sure would be in the same boat when it came to events that possibly ruined hairstyles - was enthusiastic.

"Okay, listen up!"

Kurt groaned under his breath and Blaine chuckled as Wes jumped up on his seat. "We're going to split into teams now to save time when we get there. I'll lead Team A and David -" David shook his head and Wes smirked. "Fair enough after last time."

"What happened last time?" Kurt whispered to Blaine.

Blaine was smirking too. "His entire team performed a tactical maneuver and ganged up on him. Nobody's in the habit of going against Wes any -"

"Blaine! How about you lead the second team?"

Now it was Kurt's turn to smirk but Blaine simply shrugged. "Fine by me, as long as I get Kurt. And Nick and Jeff for that matter."

Wes nodded and began sorting the rest of the group out. "I thought nobody went against Wes?" Kurt asked.

"As I was saying, nobody's in the habit of going against Wes anymore _except __me_," Blaine said happily. "I'm his tactical enemy, Nick and Jeff have always been my wingmen and now I have you."

"And what good am I to your team?"

Blaine grinned. "You give me something to fight for."

Kurt really had managed to pick the _cheesiest_ boyfriend ever.

* * *

They were down for four rounds. Home bases had been decided on - even though there weren't any definitive rules saying that home bases had to be respected, apparently the Warblers played that way - and Blaine was currently running through their strategy. And when everybody else had disappeared, heading out to their spots, Kurt turned to him and raised an eyebrow. "So I now have no idea what's going on."

"Okay," Blaine said calmly. "Just follow me, shoot the others and don't get shot. Of our team, myself, Nick and Jeff are the biggest targets - Nick as our sniper, Jeff as the one who can change plans at the blink of an eye and myself as the one who can pretty much read Wes's mind and know when their group has changed plans or what he's going to do."

"So I'm hiding behind the person that everybody's aiming for?"

Blaine laughed. "Stupid plan, I know. You can always stick with Cameron -"

"Oh my god," Kurt interrupted. "_No_. Let's just go."

Seeing Blaine hit by a paintball not two minutes after they had left their base had Kurt freezing up with fear, especially when Blaine hissed at the sting like someone had punched him and Kurt had tried to imagine what it would have been like for Blaine getting beaten up at his old school and this hit a little too close to home for that. But Blaine shrugged it off, fired back at the person who had hit him and then ducked back down next to Kurt. "You're alright?" he asked anxiously.

Blaine nodded. "It's a part of the game. I'm used to it by now. Now, come on, we need to get over to where Nick and Jeff are." He pointed to a set of mounds over by the trees at the back. "It's a risky spot but they know what they're doing and I know Wes is over there too. Ready?"

_No._

"Yes."

Blaine grabbed his hand and they began to sneak through. Kurt was surprised that they got to the area without seeing anybody from the other team but the reason why was clear the second they made it - most of them were over here. "You didn't warn me about _this_!"

"I didn't think they'd all be over here," Blaine whispered back before turning to Cameron and Andrew. "You two need to sneak back and sacrifice otherwise we're never going to win."

Kurt watched as the two did exactly what Blaine asked without complaint. "They're going over there to get shot on purpose?"

"Cameron and Andrew always sacrifice first. They know they suck at the game." Blaine was watching them go, waiting until they popped up halfway back across the field and drew the attention of nearly half of Wes's team. "The stupid thing is that everybody from theirs except for Wes and his three lackeys always seem to fall for it. And now we attack."

And the game was clearly on. Jeff was covering Nick who was taking well calculated shots at Trent, one by one until he finally admitted defeat and fell. Kurt found the whole idea of playing dead disconcerting but Blaine assured them that it was the most interesting way to play the game and easier than trying to get off the field without getting shot at again. With Blaine covering him, making sure a single pellet didn't hit him, Kurt was actually starting to have a bit of fun. He wasn't a particularly violent person - or at _all _considering what he had been through himself - but watching the paint splatter against people and objects awoke the artist within and now all he wanted to do was add a nice splotch of green to David's shoulder just like … _that_.

"Nice shot!" Blaine praised him, ducking behind his cover before glancing around at their team. Nick and Jeff were on either side, shooting rapidly but both looking a little worse for wear. Blaine was calculating, his eyes landing on Kurt who knew what was going to happen. "Babe, can you cover the back? Just for a few minutes, I only need a few more shots on Wes until he's out and then they're going to crumble."

Kurt hesitated for a second before nodding. It was only a game after all and he would be fine even if he did get hurt, it would just be another bruise to add to the collection and _no_ his mind was not going there today. "Okay," he said, spinning around and eyeing up the trees behind them before kneeling up a little and taking aim, waiting. He figured Blaine would cover his back as well because Kurt was pretty much a sitting target right now with Wes hiding out somewhere behind him.

What he hadn't planned on was Blaine running out of ammo at that exact moment. "Crap. Kurt, I'm reloading, just hold tight -" And then there was a burst of laughter, even as his boyfriend ducked down and frantically fiddled with his gun to load it up. "Nice, Jeff, real nice."

The first paintball hit him and Kurt flinched because they hadn't been kidding, that _hurt_. But it wasn't just the pain that shocked him, it was the fact that knocking into his back like that felt exactly like the handle of a locker, like every time Karofsky had shoved him, knocked him to the ground, proceeded to call him worthless and horrible names and there was another one and no, Kurt really could _not _handle this.

"_Blaine._"

Still laughing, Blaine spun around to look at him. "Kurt, I - what?" It only took one more second for Blaine to understand and he paled. "Oh god. Nick, cover us!"

"But I've got a good spot and -"

"I swear to god, Nick, cover us now or I'll never recommend you for a solo again. This is about more than the stupid game."

Nick turned to stare at them before his eye fell on Kurt and he clearly understood. Without a word he jumped out from his hiding spot, allowing Blaine to usher Kurt in there, pulling him into his arms straight away. "Come on, come here, it's okay, you're safe." Kurt buried his head into Blaine's neck, knowing Blaine could probably feel the tears against his skin now. Sure enough his grip tightened and his voice turned a little more desperate. "Don't cry, it's alright. Shh, please don't cry, Kurt, you're going to be okay, nothing's going to hurt you."

"I'm sorry," he finally got out. "I'm sorry, I tried, I didn't think it would be like this -"

"I know, it's okay. It's okay, it's not your fault, not at all, I should have thought -" Blaine gave up and simply held him tighter. Kurt calmed down quickly, suddenly feeling ridiculously ashamed for breaking down like that over a _game_ and - "And you are not allowed to apologize," Blaine said softly.

Kurt huffed out a laugh and raised his head. "I really should though. We probably just lost because of me."

"Screw the game. Are you alright?"

Kurt nodded. "It didn't hurt that much, I just -"

"Not talking about the physical here."

"I know." Kurt sighed. "Is there any way I can get out of here without being shot at? I mean, you can keep playing, it's just kind of uncomfortable down here is all."

Blaine nodded, poking his head out. "Nick, how many are still in?"

"Just us three for our team and they've still got Wes and David."

"Okay." Blaine gently unwrapped his arms from Kurt who got the hint and shuffled out of his lap before watching in shock as Blaine stood, placing his gun at his feet and raising his hands. "We call surrender!" he called out to the others. Wes let out a victory cry and the others joined suit. "Jeff," he said in a quieter voice, "you're taking over as team leader and get one of the others onto your team. Kurt and I are out."

"You don't have to -" Kurt began as he climbed to his feet.

"Yes I do." Blaine led him back out of the course and into the building where they had changed. They returned their uniforms and guns before Blaine gestured to one of the seats in the corner of the otherwise abandoned room. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Kurt shrugged. "I'm fine now, if not a little embarrassed. It was a really strong reaction, I know, it just took me back, reminded me…"

Blaine nodded and his hand came to rest over Kurt's, their fingers lacing together instinctively. "I know. I'm so sorry, I should have thought of that at the start and definitely shouldn't have pressured you to come."

"I didn't know it was going to happen though," Kurt explained. "It took me by surprise which was probably why I panicked so much, I thought it would just hurt."

"You haven't really reacted much to what happened to you," Blaine said thoughtfully. "I mean, yeah, you flinched a little at some of the locker slams but you never really got jumpy when people grabbed your shoulder or anything. So this might just be all of that pent up and coming out now. And I understand that completely, you know that."

"But it's not like you reacted that way or anything."

Kurt winced, aware of how bitter his voice had sounded and immediately opened his mouth to backtrack, apologize, but Blaine was already talking. "No, but what happened to me happened a few years ago. You're still recovering from what happened to you -"

"You're saying I'm weak?" Kurt demanded, suddenly hating where the conversation was going and simultaneously egging it on because they needed to talk about this, because Kurt had been thinking about it for the past six days and it might very well be driving him insane already.

Blaine shook his head earnestly. "No. _God_ no, Kurt! You're one of the strongest people I've ever met."

"Then… I don't know, am I broken? Not worth it? Used goods?"

"_No_. Kurt, where is all of this coming from? I've never said anything of the _sort _to you -"

"Then why won't you kiss me?"

Silence.

"Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head, refusing to look up. "It's fine," he said flatly and obviously untruthfully. "I'm used to being undesirable, I guess I shouldn't have assumed that you would -"

"_Stop it."_

Kurt froze. "Blaine?" he asked tentatively because he had never heard his boyfriend use that tone of voice before, like Blaine was disappointed in him.

Blaine sighed. "Kurt, I'm trying really hard not to get angry here and I know part of this is because you're shaken up from before but please, _please _do not sit there and tell me that I don't want you. I want you more than you would believe, Kurt, but I also know that you've had some pretty screwed up experiences in the past and you're also a romantic. I didn't just want to throw it at you, I wanted you to have a say."

"Then why didn't you talk to me about it?"

"I'm not sure," Blaine admitted slowly. "I've been wanting to but I didn't want to put pressure on you in case you thought that me bringing it up just meant that I wanted it. I mean, I do want it but I only want it if you want it and if you're ready and -"

"Okay, this right here?" Kurt finally looked up, fixing Blaine with the softest glare he could. "This is you mollycoddling me. This is you treating me like I'm broken and like I can't make a decision on my own or that you can't say anything without it affecting me. And I get where it's coming from and I appreciate it but I can't read your mind if you stay silent for fear of hurting me. I want to know what you're thinking, Blaine, and I want to know how you feel and what you _want_. Because chances are that I'll want the same thing."

Blaine nodded. "I can respect that. And in the spirit of honesty, I've never wanted to kiss you more."

Kurt smiled. "Neither."

And Kurt was sure that now was the moment, that now Blaine was finally going to lean in and kiss him just the way Kurt had always dreamt but no, Blaine was still talking. "So, just a quick question, you've been waiting all this time for me to kiss you?" Kurt nodded a touch impatiently. "Why didn't you just kiss me?"

_Well, now that is a very good question._

Blaine must have realized that he didn't have an answer because he was laughing. "Just look at us," Kurt said, shaking his head. "We really can't get this relationship thing right, can we?"

"Do we really need to?" Blaine asked, suddenly serious. "For one, we're not the stereotypical teenage relationship but also… Kurt, I like us the way we are. And that's not me saying I don't want to kiss you or take things further but I like that things are comfortable between us, that we take each other for granted, that we sometimes get it wrong but we work through it together. Because that's what we're doing now and I just like _you _and -"

And Kurt leaned in and kissed him. Blaine recovered from the surprise fairly quickly and began to kiss him back and they could have been doing this for the past _week _and Kurt literally kicked himself for that one.

"Not that I'm complaining," Blaine asked when his mouth was free to talk again, "but why then?"

"You reminded me of how much I like you," Kurt said simply. "And that's what the first kiss is meant to be about, showing the other person how much you care about them."

Blaine was staring at him with an intensity that made Kurt shiver, but whatever was going to have come from that disappeared as the rest of the boys entered the room, most of them making a beeline for the food area. "Looks like the second round is over," Blaine said. "And judging by the looks of it, Wes won again."

"Hey, just curious about something," Kurt said, tugging at Blaine's hand and standing up on the bench so they could see the battlefield outside. "If you got Jeff to hide over there with you and me two mounds in front, it would look like he's actually hiding in that one _there_ and he'd get a lot more people, especially if you put Cameron in as a decoy. And then just spread the others out along this series here… oh, and then you should put Nick here because nobody would be expecting him here, they'd all think he would be near Jeff and if he's the sniper then he could handle long distance and nobody would suspect him."

Silence. Kurt frowned and turned to Blaine who was staring at him with his mouth open. "What?"

Instead of answering, Blaine was turning away, searching the room. "Jeff!" Blaine called out, waiting for the blonde boy to join them. "You're fired as tactical advisor," he said immediately. "Kurt's in charge and the name of the next two games is to listen to him and make sure not a drop of paint touches him. Understood?"

"Ouch!" Jeff exclaimed. "What did I do to deserve that?"

"I think the question is, what did I do to deserve your spot?" Kurt said, winking at the blonde who he knew wasn't actually angry. "It helps to be boyfriend of the general, you know."

"Plus," Blaine added as Jeff left, "it helps to have lips that taste as delicious as yours."

Kurt snorted. "Your lines need work."

"Please. You like my lines."

"I like _you_," Kurt bantered back. "Your lines could use some work. I'll give you the length of the relationship to get it right."

"Oh, so a lifetime then?"

Instead of calling him out on cheesiness, Kurt simply smiled. "A lifetime it is."

* * *

**Oh god, can someone call me out on _my _cheesiness?**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"So, Jeremiah, do you like Harry Potter?"**_

"Nah, he's kinda stupid if you ask me."

*states at in silent horror*

"KURT, SAVE ME!"


	228. Scars

**I've made a Tumblr post about the scrapbook. I'll link it up to my profile either when I get home from work (in 11 hours) or sometime tomorrow afternoon so you can all see :)**

**From **_**Ms Imogen Blaine Anderson: Blaine has a secret-those scars really aren't from a bike accident, and the new ones aren't from playing with a cat (feel free to change excuses). Kurt figures it out, as he has old scars too.**_

**AU from... let's say A Very Glee Christmas onwards. That's about where I think Kurt starts getting confident in himself again.**

**You guys know what this topic means to me. Again, I hope I did it justice.**

**Trigger warnings. Explicit talk of self harm. Please don't read if you are going to be triggered. **

* * *

Scars**  
**

Blaine loved being a student at Dalton Academy.

Of course everybody knew that. Somehow, without the details being leaked at all, people became aware that Blaine had been bullied at his old school and the reason for coming to Dalton was for the zero tolerance. Even without that fact, it was obvious that Blaine loved Dalton - he often told others of the wonderful experiences at the school, joined extra curricular activities with enthusiasm and took great pride in his uniform and standard of dress. Blaine also loved the uniform. Smart, comfortable enough to work in, and with a blazer to die for. For someone who had _no _idea about fashion, it worked very well for him.

But the main reason Blaine loved the blazer was because it had long sleeves. And long sleeves meant he could hide.

If the news behind the real reason of Blaine's transfer ever got out, Blaine knew nobody would ever look at him the same way. Here stood the lead soloist of the Warblers, the out and proud homosexual, the guy who got along with everybody... all of that would crumble at his feet if people learned his secrets. The cutting, the depression, the suicidal thoughts - it would all destroy him. Blaine knew that, and he couldn't allow it to happen.

So he hid. He hid behind the uniform, he hid behind the popularity, he hid behind that smiling face everybody saw every day. Oh, that wasn't to say he _wasn__'__t _happy - after all, he was at Dalton and everything was great there. But there was certainly more to Blaine than he would ever feel comfortable letting on, things that would wipe that smile from his face if _they _ever found out.

And for a long time he could live that way. Having Jeff as a roommate helped; since Blaine showered at night and Jeff in the morning, Blaine always knew he would have time to get changed without any possibility of being caught out. Nobody badgered him about his past, nobody said anything that would bring up the old wounds. And if anybody _did _find out, he could just whip out an excuse - remnants of bullying for the old ones, and cat scratches or football accidents for the fresher - and they would accept it, because people trusted him here. Life was as good as it could be for a recovering self-harmer.

And then Kurt showed up.

If Blaine had known at the time that turning around on the stairs that day to help the boy out would result in the eventuality of his secrets being found out, he could honestly say he would have kept walking. Yes, he would have lost an amazing friend, but he would have kept his privacy and his reputation intact, and that's what had mattered back then. But at the time, it had just been another boy who had too much pain in his eyes, someone who Blaine could relate to and understand and even _help_. Help this kid out like he had wanted to be helped, and perhaps he could heal a few of his wounds too.

So he befriended Kurt, became a mentor of sorts to the boy, and slowly helped him heal from the horrific bullying and abuse he had received at his past school. All done while slowly falling for the boy himself. And once Kurt was strong again, Blaine found himself at a loss of what to do. Kurt didn't need him anymore, Kurt was stronger than _he _was... and Kurt was getting too close.

It didn't help that Blaine had found himself starting to cut again. It wasn't every day like in the past, but every couple of weeks the pressure and temptation would build up, and he would give in to his old vice again. He knew if anybody found out about _that_, things would be even more ruined than if they learned about his past.

So as much as Blaine didn't want to do it, he began to distance himself.

Kurt didn't notice at first. They still got a coffee about once a week and talked about whatever subjects came up, but Blaine wasn't always around at lunch anymore, preferring to hide out in the library. He wasn't always available after school, busy with homework. Weekends were always out of the question anyway, with Kurt returning to Lima. And slowly, Blaine distanced out their coffee dates until they hadn't had one in a month.

And now it seemed that Kurt was noticing, if the way the boy had just shown up unannounced at his door said anything.

"Blaine?" Kurt paused and gave Jeff a look. The blonde boy immediately disappeared from the room and Blaine realized they had planned it. "We need to talk."

Inwardly hating himself, Blaine gestured to his textbook. "I'm actually a little busy right now, Kurt. Could you maybe come back later?"

He had already prepared himself for the dejected look on Kurt's face (the one that broke his heart every single time) and for the boy to acquiesce and leave. What he hadn't prepared for was Kurt kicking the door shut behind him and crossing his arms. "Not this time. Not again." He walked across the room, sitting on the edge of Jeff's bed and facing Blaine. "You've used that line too many times on me for me to not realize what's going on."

Blaine sighed, knowing full well that it was true. Kurt was smart, of course he was going to have worked it out eventually. "Alright then. What can I do for you?"

"I want to know what I did wrong."

Blaine blinked a couple of times. "Excuse me?"

Kurt rolled his eyes, but Blaine could see the flickering of uncertainty. "Blaine, you've been shutting me out for weeks. At first I thought what you were saying was true, that you were just busy with schoolwork and all that. But I talked to Jeff and he said that you're hardly ever studying and you don't have any trouble with your subjects like you led me to believe. So I know there's something else to it, and I want to know what's going on."

"Kurt, I - I don't know what you're talk-"

"I knew you'd say that." Kurt's voice, quiet and bitter, interrupted him. "Look, I get it, okay? You felt sorry for me when I first got here so you felt it was your... _duty_, to help me out. Gay kid to gay kid and all that. And now that I'm settled in, you don't want me dragging you down. I understand. I just wish you could have told me _before _I made a fool of myself trying to be your friend when you clearly didn't want it."

_Oh crap._

"Kurt, no, this isn't about that at _all_." Blaine put every ounce of sincerity into his words, trying to get Kurt to believe him. "I like being your friend, I promise. You are such an amazing person, and I'm so sorry if I gave you the impression that you were just someone 'dragging me down' because you're _not_. I just -"

He cut himself off, knowing he didn't have any explanations other than the truth. And the truth was not coming out, no matter how much he was beginning to suspect he might be in love with the boy sitting in front of him.

"Blaine..." Kurt reached out for his arm but Blaine jerked it away on instinct, fingers lacing through the cuffs of his sleeves nervously. Kurt looked wounded for a second before a contemplative look crossed his face. "Okay, tell you what. How about we go and get a coffee tomorrow and you can prove to me that you want me around?"

Blaine knew he was stuck, so did the only thing he could do. "That sounds great. Where do you want to go?"

Kurt was already standing. "I'll pick you up after your last class. I know a good place." He offered Blaine a quick wave before heading out of the room, leaving Blaine blinking in surprise after him, still trying to work out the meaning behind Kurt's sudden mood change.

_Could he have...?_

Blaine refused to let himself think it. He had worked _so _hard to keep his secrets hidden and if Kurt figured them out, he didn't know what he would do. So he just turned back to his homework and hoped for the best the next day.

* * *

As promised, Kurt picked him up straight away after his last class, leading him down to his Navigator. "So, where are we headed?" Blaine asked, trying to keep his usual chipper attitude in place.

"Out to Lima actually. I know it's a long way," Kurt herded off his questions, "but it's Friday. If it gets too late you can just crash at my place."

Ignoring the slight thrill at the prospect of spending the night at Kurt's house, Blaine smiled, nodding his agreement. "That sounds good to me. So, how was your day?"

The car trip passed in a comfortable element of small talk. Blaine realized that he had a lot to catch up on since he had, for all intents and purposes, been ignoring Kurt the past month. Apparently McKinley were working hard to beat them at Regionals and Kurt was feeling the pressure of not being able to hang out with his friends as much. It was nothing personal, he insisted, just the fact that they could inadvertently spill their respective groups secrets in casual conversation.

Of course this fact alone just made Blaine feel worse about what he had done. After Kurt had left his room, Blaine had about an hour alone before Jeff had returned. In this time, his studying had only lasted about five minutes before his thoughts returned to the look on Kurt's face, the way Kurt had thought that _he _was the one who had done something wrong... and the guilt had completely overwhelmed Blaine. _You__'__re __the __one __who __screwed __up, _the voice nagged at him, _you__'__re __the __one __who __deserves __to __be __hurting._

So he had grabbed the craft knife he kept sitting innocently in his pencil holder, ducked into the bathroom, turned the shower up full boar and cut. It was only once and wasn't particularly deep, but it helped Blaine to clear his head.

"Blaine?"

Shaking his head, Blaine turned back to Kurt with his best smile in place. "I'm sorry, got lost in thought there. What were you saying?"

"We're here." Kurt gestured out the window and Blaine turned, before turning straight back to Kurt in confusion. "I know, it's not a coffee shop," he said almost sheepishly, "but we have a coffee machine, and I'd rather avoid the crowds this afternoon."

Blaine glanced up at the house they had pulled up outside. "Your house, I presume?" At Kurt's nod, he shrugged. "Works fine for me. Do I get to meet your family?"

Kurt was already out of the car so Blaine had to catch up before he heard his answer. "No, Carole and Dad are at work, and I think Finn's got football." As Kurt unlocked the front door, Blaine frowned. _So, __me __and __Kurt, __alone __at __his __house? __What? _"I hope you don't mind, but things are just so crazy around Dalton right now that I wanted some time away from so many people. If you're not comfortable with it, we can always go to the Lima Bean."

"No, no it's fine." Blaine followed Kurt into the house, where he was directed to a living room and ordered to sit. As Kurt headed into the kitchen, Blaine looked around the room, taking in the tasteful design that had to be attributed to Kurt and trying not to let the fact that he was sitting in his crush's house get to him.

Kurt returned a few minutes later with coffee, which Blaine took eagerly. In his attempts at avoiding Kurt, he had had to cut back his own coffee trips which hadn't boded well for his caffeine addiction. "This is great, thank you."

Kurt nodded, taking a sip of his own and putting it on the table. "So, I've been thinking." The shiver that ran up Blaine's spine at that was unexpected, especially because he couldn't tell where Kurt was taking the conversation. His optimistic side immediately tried to tell him that Kurt was admitting to feelings of a similar nature, but as Kurt continued, that hope died. "I was thinking about what you said yesterday about it not being about me. That I wasn't the reason you drifted away. That's still right?"

Blaine nodded. "Yeah," he said quietly, praying that Kurt wouldn't ask for an elaboration.

"Yeah. So then I wondered what else could make someone drift away from somebody else like that. And I figured if it wasn't me, then it must have been _you_."

Blaine slowly put his coffee mug down on the table, trying to think of something quickly. Kurt was waiting, clearly wanting to hear what Blaine had to say. "Well," Blaine began, his mind still whirring frantically, "I mean, things are stressful, you said it yourself. It might not have been schoolwork, but we do have Regionals coming up and... and all that stuff," he finished lamely, just hoping it was enough.

For a second, he thought it was. But then Kurt shook his head and, in one sentence, potentially destroyed Blaine's life.

"Blaine, I need you to roll up your sleeves."

_No..._

Blaine gave Kurt his best confused expression, mind working frantically to think of a cover story that would be believable, or a way to make this whole conversation stop in its tracks. "I don't understand, Kurt. What are you implying here?"

Kurt simply raised an eyebrow. "I'm waiting, Blaine."

"Why would you need me to roll up my sleeves?" Blaine was beginning to panic but so far doing well at keeping it off his face. "It's not like it's warm in here, in fact it's a little cold. So I'd rather -"

"Blaine, if you don't do it, I will."

Kurt's voice was quiet, but the effect was as strong as if he had screamed the words in Blaine's face, and Blaine knew there was no other option. Taking as long as could, Blaine unbuttoned the cuffs of his blazer sleeves, slipping the thick material off his shoulders before taking a deep breath. _You __could __still __run, _he told himself, before remembering that Kurt had driven him to Lima and walking back to Dalton was probably not the smartest of ideas. But at this point he would almost take anything to keep his secret safe, to keep people's judgement away...

Except Kurt was still staring at him, waiting. And Blaine realized he _must _already know, yet there was no judgement in his eyes. So, for the first time in four years, Blaine rolled up his sleeves and bared his scar covered arms.

Kurt's gaze held his for a second before dropping to his arms. Blaine unconsciously looked down too, his eyes taking in every scar and remembering the stories behind them. Every taunt, locker slam, rejection and bashing were written in the pale lines on his skin forever. But the worst thing to Blaine's eyes was the freshest cut from the previous night, practically mocking him and making it so clear to Kurt that this wasn't a thing of the past. This was still ongoing, and Blaine was still a screw up.

He couldn't look up, couldn't bring himself to meet those eyes again which _had _to be judging him now. Now that Kurt had seen it for himself, he couldn't see Blaine the same way again. There was just no way. And that was what he had feared the most - not that they would take his positions away from him, but that people would see him differently. He wouldn't be just Blaine anymore, he'd be 'Blaine the Emo,' or 'Blaine the Cutter,' or...

"Blaine."

All he could do now was look up, into Kurt's eyes which were... filled with tears?

"Can I?"

Kurt gestured to take Blaine's hands and he nodded. Then Kurt's hands were squeezing his, thumbs running lightly over the unmarred skin at the bottom of his hands. "Blaine, why didn't you tell me?"

And that was all it took for Blaine's composure to crack and years worth of tears to erupt. He was in Kurt's arms instantly, hands rubbing circles into his back soothingly. As he sobbed his heart out, the words kept replaying in his head - _why __didn__'__t __you __tell __me?_

"I - I haven't told anyone," he whispered brokenly into Kurt's shoulder. "I couldn't. It would d-destroy everything I stand for."

When his breathing finally calmed down enough, Kurt pulled away, his own eyes red. "Tell me," he said quietly, taking Blaine's hands in his own again. So Blaine did. Over the next hour, he shared all the stories of his past that he had never told another soul - the bullying that Kurt knew so well himself, but also the indifference of his parents and what had started his cutting.

"It's like they never noticed me, or cared. So I thought if I tried doing something drastic, they'd notice. But they didn't... and then I couldn't stop. It felt too good." Blaine sighed brokenly. "It's my release when singing isn't enough. And I just kept getting lower and lower and it kept getting worse..."

"What changed?" Kurt murmured quietly. Their hands were still linked and had stayed that way the entire time, Blaine taking an immense amount of comfort from the gesture. "I know you still do it, but it looks like you're getting better."

Blaine nodded slowly. "I think I am. Coming to Dalton helped, getting away from the bullying and starting over. I got to make myself into whoever I wanted to be, and if that happened to be the confident lead soloist of the Warblers then I was going to take it with both hands. I'm respected there, not hated. And I know I'm just a fake -"

"You're not." Kurt's voice left no room for argument. "Blaine, there's a difference between putting up a mask and putting on a whole new personality. You're being you right now, and you're still Blaine. Yes, you hide sometimes, but we all do, because we're all afraid of different things."

Blaine couldn't hold back the bitter laugh. "I'm sorry, when are you ever not yourself?"

Kurt raised an eyebrow but thankfully didn't take offense. "When I sit back in Warbler rehearsals and put on a smile and pretend I'm okay with you getting all of the solos, for one. Not that I said that to make you feel bad," he added hastily, correctly interpreting Blaine's emotions. "Not at all. I know the Council decides it. But the real Kurt Hummel would be throwing a diva tantrum of the likes that the Warblers have never seen, I promise you that."

Blaine allowed himself a smile at that. "So why don't you?"

"Because it's not the right thing to do in that situation, and because it takes more strength to be a part of the team. It's the sacrifice I make." Kurt squeezed his hands lightly. "But that's not what we're talking about. You put on a mask because you want people to think that you're courageous. Have you ever thought that it might be braver to _admit_ that you're broken?"

The words hit Blaine hard. "You mean let people see me like this?" He shuddered at the thought. "Kurt, I _couldn__'__t_."

"Why not? What is it that you're afraid of?"

"Judgement." The word slipped out before Blaine could think about it, but he knew it was the truth. "I'm afraid everybody will see me as someone to be pitied or someone who can't take care of himself, when I'm _not _that person anymore. I still break down sometimes, and I still have nightmares, and yes I still c-cut," and god did he _hate _that word, "but I'm _stronger_ now."

Inexplicably, Kurt was smiling at him. "Did you listen to what you just said? Those aren't the words of a broken man, Blaine, they're the words of a _fighter_. And if people saw this person right here, they couldn't judge you, at least not your friends or fellow Warblers. Because they'd see what I see - someone who got knocked down before, but picked himself back up and kept on going."

Blaine shook his head, wanting to deny the words. _How __could __anybody __see __this __as __me __fighting __back? _He unconsciously removed one of his hands from Kurt's, trailing it lightly over the freshest scar, wincing at the sting he felt. Kurt's hand covered his instantly, tugging it away. "Don't do that," he said quietly. "You don't want it to get infected. Have you treated it?"

"It's not deep enough for that."

Kurt lifted his wrist slightly, inspecting the fresh cut. "I'd feel better if you put something on it, or at least wrapped it. It must be stinging."

Blaine frowned, looking back up at Kurt as a thought struck him. "How do you know all of this stuff? Please tell me you haven't...?"

But Kurt was already rolling up his sleeve, revealing a few faded scars. Blaine sucked in a breath, even though they were clearly from a long time ago. "I only tried it twice. Once in a fit of emotion, the second time to see if it helped. It didn't."

"Kurt," Blaine whispered, not sure what to say. The fact that Kurt _understood_ where he was coming from made the discovery suddenly so much more relevant. Kurt had been where he was and gotten through it. It might not have been as significant as his own battle, but Kurt _knew_. And Kurt was still here, still sitting with him, and Blaine was in love with him. They were the facts right there, no matter what else.

"Once I saw your reaction to me trying to take your arm last night, I knew there was something deeper going on." Kurt rolled down his sleeve. "I did some research, but I was fairly confident I was right." He hesitated for a second, his hand hovering in the air. "Do you trust me?"

"Always," Blaine murmured, the word coming to his lips without having to think about it. Kurt nodded, holding his eye contact for a few more seconds before gently lowering his fingers to trace the scars at the top of Blaine's arm.

Blaine sucked in a breath and Kurt stopped immediately. "Too much?" he asked, concern etched into his face, and Blaine shook his head. It was a lot, yes, but Blaine had definitely exposed himself a great deal already, so he figured he might as well keep pushing himself. Kurt's fingers continued to run down the lines, tracing over every single scar on Blaine's right arm before moving to the left. Blaine watched in silence as the fingers skimmed over his arm, skirting around the open cut before finishing at his hand, which Kurt took again. "That was brave of you," he murmured quietly, catching Blaine's eye again.

"I'm not brave," Blaine said stubbornly. "This isn't brave. Turning to a knife when I get freaked out isn't brave, Kurt, it's cowardice. It's me not being able to talk about what's going on or deal with it properly."

"That may be true, but what's brave is you opening up to me like you have. I saw that fear in your eyes when you realized I knew, and I honestly thought you were going to run, that I'd pushed you too far. But you stayed." And before Blaine knew what Kurt was doing, his arm was being lifted and Kurt's lips were pressed gently against one of his largest scars.

This time, Blaine didn't even move, feeling the complete love of the gesture washing over him. He knew he had Kurt's complete acceptance, no matter how many times more he might screw up in the future. And it was right then that Blaine knew he was ready to start fighting back. Fighting against the fears that had held him down for so long, fighting against the masks he felt he always had to wear, and fighting the addiction. It was time to beat this thing.

"I'm ready," he murmured. He didn't elaborate, and he didn't need to. Kurt understood, and he was already pulling him in for a hug, silently offering his complete support. Blaine knew he would need it. But for now, there was something else he needed to do. So, pulling away so he could look into Kurt's face again, Blaine said the words that had been on his mind for days.

"I love you."

Many would say it was a bold move, but Blaine knew he could handle the rejection more now than at any other time. Whether Kurt loved him romantically or not, Blaine knew Kurt still loved him as a friend. So it was more of a surprise when Kurt, after a moment of shocked hesitation, replied with, "I love you too."

"And I'm going to fight this," Blaine continued after a few moments of meaningful silence. "I'm not letting it have any more power over me. I know it won't be easy, but one day I'll be clean and I'll be proud of it. And I'm going to be myself, because you were right. It's braver to be me."

Before he knew what was happening, Kurt's lips were pressed softly up against his. Blaine kissed back on sheer instinct before his mind kicked into gear. He almost wanted to pull away, to tell Kurt that he didn't want to be kissing someone like him, someone so messed up. Then he remembered the scars on Kurt's arms and the look in his eyes and knew Kurt would never accept that anyway. _And __maybe __it__'__s __not __such __a __bad __thing __for __me __to __have __him._

Kurt pulled back a moment later, eyes searching to make sure Blaine was okay. "And I'm going to help you," he murmured. "Where do you want to start?"

Blaine swallowed back his fears. "I know just the place."

* * *

"I now call this Warbler meeting to order." Wes banged his gavel slightly louder than usual, all attention focused on him. If anybody looked close enough or knew Wes as well as Blaine did, they would see the slight redness around his eyes that indicated he had been crying. "Blaine has the floor today, and he has something important to say. If anybody tries to take this in a less than serious manner, I will not hesitate to throw them out. Not just out of the meeting," he added. "Out of the Warblers."

Wes nodded in his direction and Blaine stood, tugging Kurt up with him. "I have to come clean," he began, before finding the rest of his words failing him. He glanced helplessly at Kurt who squeezed his hand meaningfully, and Blaine knew what he had to do. Under the watchful eyes of every Warbler present, Blaine released Kurt's hand, undid his blazer and let it fall off his shoulders, revealing a short sleeved dress shirt underneath, his forearms completely bare.

The stunned silence echoed around the room and Blaine refused to meet anybody's eyes, not wanting to see the judgement. It was only when the first set of arms were around his neck that he looked up in surprise. "You're still Blaine," Jeff said quietly in the silence of the room. "Nothing changes that in our eyes."

And with that, the floodgates had been opened. Every single Warbler was on their feet, making their way to the front of the room to surround Blaine in a group hug. He couldn't hold his tears back as he looked around the room, not seeing a single glimpse of the judgement he had feared for so long.

The quiet rapping of the gavel caught everybody's attention again, but nobody moved to sit down. "Just one more thing," Wes announced. "All in favor of Blaine staying as our lead soloist?"

Blaine was the only person who didn't raise his hand which quickly changed when Kurt put it up for him. Blaine turned to him, trying to silently offer him every thank you under the sun for what he had done. Kurt just smiled, leaning in to kiss his cheek lightly. "I'm so proud of you," he whispered in his ear.

"Face it, Blaine," Wes said, abandoning his gavel and joining the rest of the group. "We love you."

And as the rest of the group echoed the sentiment, Blaine couldn't help but know it was true. And with all of that love surrounding him, he knew he could fight. He could fight, and he would win.

* * *

**This story is dedicated to everybody who has helped me with my own self harming issues. Whether it has been by reviewing one of my self harm based stories with positive comments, offering yourself as someone for me to talk to if necessary, helping me talk through things, or just sending love in general, you have all helped me so much more than you will ever realize. You are all my Warblers.**

**To everybody who struggles with self harm themselves, you can win too. If you ever want to talk, my Ask on Tumblr is always open (link in my profile) and my PM inbox here - although more unreliable - also.**

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Okay, guys, I think I know how to beat Wes!"**_

_**"No offense, Kurt, but you've only played paintball once before-"**_

_**"Just listen. I stole Wes's gavel. We hang it from a tree branch about 9 feet up. His gavel senses will show him where it is. While he's trying to get it, we ambush him with Redvines!"**_

_**"...can I taunt Wes with the Redvine?"**_

_**"Yes."**_


	229. Puppy

**Back on le night shift tonight. It's my 24 hour day and I have crates to unload. Great. **

**After this chapter, there's only five more to go. Oh my god. **

**From **_**Anonymous (via Tumblr): Kurt decides to get a puppy. Blaine is jealous because Kurt spends more and more time with the puppy and less with Blaine. But the puppy is only a replacement for Blaine, because Kurt is trying to get over his unrequited feelings for him:)**_

**Angela melted over this. Twice ;)**

* * *

Puppy

_We got a puppy! - Finn_

Kurt stared at his phone in disbelief. He couldn't be serious...

_Whose idea was that? - Kurt_

Tossing his phone on the bed, Kurt continued pulling his weekend bag together. Just as he had zipped it up and unplugged his laptop, his phone buzzed again.

_Mom decided, Burt couldn't say no to her. And I can see why, he's so cute! - Finn_

Kurt raised an eyebrow. That must be one damn cute puppy if it made Finn act that way, and Kurt figured he'd better get home and see what all the fuss was about

_I'll take your word for it. Be home soon - Kurt_

As he locked the door to his dorm room, Kurt heard his name being called from down the hall. Turning, he did his best to stop his heart from fluttering as he saw Blaine heading towards him, wearing his usual disarming smile. "Hey, you're off already?" he asked, gesturing to Kurt's bags.

"Yeah, long drive, you know?" Kurt kicked himself inwardly for his less than coherent reply. _Honestly, __just try __make __it more __obvious __that __you __have __a __massive __crush __on __him._

Blaine thankfully didn't seem to notice. "Here, let me carry something," he said, grabbing Kurt's laptop before he could protest. "How is everybody back in Lima? Tell Mercedes I said hi."

"I will, I think I'm seeing her on Saturday." Kurt pushed open the front door, holding it for Blaine who gave him a smile of thanks. "But apparently we just got a puppy."

Blaine literally froze mid-step, swiveling to face Kurt. "Seriously?"

"Yeah?" _Why __is __that __such __a__… _

"I love puppies! You have to send me a photo when you get home, okay? Do you know what kind?"

Kurt couldn't help but laugh at how excited his friend was about a puppy that wasn't even his. "No, Finn just told me before. I'll let you know when I get there."

"Okay!" Blaine put the laptop in Kurt's car before stepping back, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I adore puppies, but my parents never let me get one."

And the look on his face was just so adorably dejected that Kurt couldn't help but make the offer. "Maybe you can come out and see ours? I mean, if you're not busy this weekend?"

"I'd love to! Can I come on Sunday?"

Kurt grinned, pulling out his car keys. "Of course you can. I guess I'll see you then?"

Blaine nodded eagerly and before Kurt knew it, he was hugging him. It wasn't like they didn't hug goodbye often, but whenever Blaine caught him off guard it was always a little overwhelming. "Have a good weekend!"

It took a few minutes after Blaine left for Kurt to pull himself together, but the smile stayed on his face most of the way home. He knew his crush was a bit on the ridiculous side - enough so that Kurt didn't really feel he could call it a crush anymore - but really, it was Blaine's fault. "Honestly, he's like an excitable puppy," he told himself as he pulled into his driveway. "No wonder he wants one."

Grabbing his bag, Kurt quickly made his way towards the house and let himself in. "I'm home, now where is this little mons-"

Kurt froze for about three seconds before dropping to his knees as the most adorable Golden Retriever puppy bounded over to him and began to lick his hands. "Oh my, aren't you the _cutest_ thing I've ever seen!" he cooed, completely unable to help himself. The puppy accepted his attention for a few seconds before scampering back to Finn, who was sprawled on the ground with his back against the couch. "What's his name?"

"We haven't decided yet," Carole said, entering the room with a bowl of food. "Your dad thought you'd like to be a part of the process."

"Knew you'd object if Finn named him something you didn't like." Kurt shuddered in memory of what Finn thought was a good name as Burt walked in, before hugging his dad quickly. "Good week?"

Kurt nodded, but his attention was immediately recaptured by the golden bundle of fluff and paws that was currently chowing down the food in front of it like it was going out of fashion. "I never thought you'd stoop so low," he teased his dad lightly. "But yes, let's talk names."

"I was thinking -"

"You're last resort, Finn. I'm not going to forget _Drizzle _anytime soon." Kurt shuddered again. "Carole, any ideas."

Carole reached out to pat the puppy who had finished with his food and was currently demanding more attention. "I've always liked Oscar… or Jacob."

Kurt shook his head immediately. "Sorry but I don't want to be reminded of Oscar Wilde, we've just spent a month covering his work in Literature and I hated it. And don't think your Twilight obsession went unnoticed there, too many people are calling their dogs Jacob now."

"Plus that reminds me of Jacob Ben Israel and that's just gross," Finn chipped in helpfully. "Can we call him Waldo?"

Kurt turned slowly, giving Finn his best scathing glare. "I'm sorry, did we miss the fact that we bought a _red __and __white __dog_?"

"Well you think of something then!" Finn retorted. Kurt suddenly felt something wet nosing into his hand and glanced down to see the still-unnamed puppy clearly trying to get Kurt to pat him. Kurt acquiesced, scratching behind his ears and smiling fondly. _He__'__s __such __an __attention __seeker__… __reminds __me __of __someone __else__…_

"Everett," Kurt said, surprising himself with the name. He wasn't sure where it had come from, but for some reason it seemed to suit the puppy - the only better name choice being Blaine, but that would absolutely not work without raising questions that Kurt didn't want to answer.

Finn was nodding. "I like it! Where'd you get it from?"

"Not sure," Kurt said absently, unable to stop the grin from crossing his face as the puppy rolled onto its back. "Just came to me." Burt and Carole didn't seem to have any objections, so Kurt figured that was that. "Now, little guy," he said, picking up the puppy and heading off to the backyard. "Let's see if you can learn any tricks."

Finn followed, of course, and just as Kurt was about to put Everett down he remembered Blaine. "Oh, get a picture of us together," he told Finn, handing over his phone and sitting down on the grass with Everett. Finn snapped the photo and Kurt quickly sent it off to Blaine.

After determining that they weren't going to be able to teach Everett any tricks until they had dog treats and he had a nap, Kurt's phone began to ring. He picked it up absently, his heart flipping when he saw Blaine's name on the screen. "I guess you got the photos then?" he answered, hearing a laugh in response.

"He's adorable!" Blaine gushed, Kurt quite unable to hide his smile. "Can I still come over on Sunday?"

"Of course." Kurt picked up one of the many chew toys they had somehow already acquired and proceeded to engage in a violent tug-o-war battle.

Blaine began to laugh. "I can hear that, sounds like he's got a bit of personality!"

"Too much, I think. He's full of energy and I'm considering teaching him some positive outlets for it… perhaps singing?"

Blaine laughed again and Kurt grinned. _If __I__'__d __known __all __it __would __take __was __talking __about __a __puppy __to __make __Blaine __laugh __this __much, __I __would __have __gotten __one __ages __ago! _"So, what's his name?" Blaine asked.

"Huh? Oh, Everett." There was silence from the other end and Kurt frowned. "Blaine?"

"Still here. Um, I'd better go, leave you and… Everett to it. I'll see you on Sunday."

Blaine quickly hung up, leaving Kurt confused. _Did __I __say __something? _And then a horrible thought struck - was Everett the name of one of Blaine's old bullies? Was that where he had inadvertently gotten it from?

Deciding he wouldn't get answers until Sunday, Kurt returned to playing with Everett who was once again vying for attention. _He __reminds __me __of __Blaine __more __and __more __by __the __second. _

_At __least __he __wants __to __spend __a __lot __of __time __with __me._

* * *

Kurt woke on Sunday morning to the harsh sensation of a wet tongue against his cheek. Groaning, he rolled over and batted at Everett irritably. "At least Blaine doesn't lick me," he muttered.

"Dude, I should hope not. That's gross."

Kurt just about fell out of bed. "Wh-what are you doing, Finn? Did you tell Everett to lick me?"

"No, I told Everett to wake you up, he decided to lick you." Finn clicked his fingers and Everett went bounding back across to him. "Blaine called, said he couldn't get through on your cell. He'll be here in half an hour."

This time, Kurt really did fall out of bed. "Half an hour?" he spluttered, untangling himself from the blankets quickly. "I need longer than that for my hair alone! Get out, get out, I have work to do!"

Finn left quickly, thankfully taking Everett with him, and Kurt pulled himself off the floor to rush into the bathroom. "Of course it would be Blaine who would potentially see me less than perfect," he groaned to himself as he scrubbed furiously, trying to mentally plan the perfect outfit that was both dog and crush appropriate. Once he had an idea, he jumped out and pulled it on before returning to attack his hair.

Kurt had only just finished styling perfection and was checking his phone to see why he hadn't gotten Blaine's calls - a dead battery being the culprit - when a knock at the door came. Checking his reflection one more time, Kurt quickly made his way downstairs, stealing Everett off Finn and opening the front door.

The usual polite expression Blaine wore when he came over to visit lasted all of two seconds until he saw Everett. "You're even cuter in real life!" he cooed, reaching out to pat him. "Yes you are!"

Kurt coughed lightly. "Hi, Blaine."

Blaine looked up sheepishly. "Sorry, Kurt," he said, but made no move to stop patting Everett. Kurt sighed and handed him over. "He's just so adorable!"

"Come on through to the back yard and I'll show you what we've taught him so far."

Kurt led Blaine through the house, his manners returning long enough to greet Carole and Finn before being completely distracted by Everett again. "So what can he do?"

Over the next hour, Kurt showed off Everett's impressive command of sitting, lying down, rolling over and shaking hands. Blaine then proceeded to attempt to teach him how to play dead, acting it out himself with such comedic value that Kurt was in near hysterics. "You're more of a puppy than him!" he gasped out, watching Blaine's expression turn thoughtful for a second before shrugging whatever it was off. Kurt made a hesitant suggestion. "You really want a puppy, don't you?"

Blaine placed Everett on the grass gently and sat next to him. "I'd love a puppy. They're so energetic and playful and love you no matter what."

_Just __like __you_, Kurt thought, trying not to laugh as Blaine flopped back on his back, Everett immediately seizing the chance to lick someone's face. "He is pretty cute," he said instead, deliberating for a second before copying Blaine and falling to lie on his back, right next to his friend.

There was a moment of silence, Everett sniffing around the grass. "So," began Blaine, his voice sounding carefully measured. "Why Everett?"

"I'm not sure," Kurt said honestly, staring up at the clouds. "Finn wanted Waldo and Carole was about to go all Twilight on me so I just said the first name that came to mind." And it was true; no matter how much he thought about it, Kurt couldn't work out where the name had come from.

Blaine turned his head to look at him and Kurt copied the action, trying not to focus on how close their faces were. "Hi," Blaine said quietly, an uninterpretable emotion flickering in the back of his eyes. "My name is Blaine Everett Anderson."

_No…_

But of course he had; it all made sense now. He had certainly been thinking of Blaine and how puppy-like he was at the time, and of _course _he knew Blaine's middle name was Everett. And now Blaine would think he was a creep or had a sad infatuation with him and it was all just going _wrong_.

"I guess I'd better ask again if it was intentional." Kurt shook his head immediately and Blaine let out a small laugh. "I think that's better in a way. Even without thinking about me, I remind you of a puppy… and I mean enough to you that you'd practically name your dog after me."

For a boy who managed to be oblivious so often, Blaine had hit the metaphorical nail right on the head this time, that much was for sure. Kurt sighed and dropped his eyes. "I'm sorry, I can't help it, and I can't say that if I had known I wouldn't have done it anyway. And I know you're the first openly gay single guy I know and some would say I'm just latching to the first person but it's not -"

"Wait." Blaine was frowning. "Are you - do you _like _me?"

Kurt blinked, twice. "You… uh, you hadn't - _oh_." His voice had dropped to a whisper and he could feel his face burning. Blaine hadn't been perceptive after all, and now _Kurt _had just gone ahead and let the cat out of the bag. Or perhaps dog was more fitting for this situation.

"No, I didn't," Blaine murmured, and there was something in his voice that made Kurt look up. Blaine's expression was of wonder and amazement and… _relief_? "If I had known, I would have done this a long time ago."

And Blaine leant in and kissed him.

Kurt's entire thought pattern derailed at this point and all he could do was kiss Blaine back and try to convince himself that this was real and Blaine _did _like him and they were _kissing_…

And then Blaine pulled away with a grunt and half-laugh and Kurt frowned. The cause was identified a moment later as Everett scampered between them and attempted to lick Kurt's face. "He's learning tips from his namesake," Blaine said laughingly and Kurt groaned, batting the dog away.

"As cute as he is, I'd quite like it if you were the only one kissing me, thanks." Blaine smirked but obligingly kissed Kurt again. It would have gone on for much longer but Kurt had questions he needed to ask. "Hey," he said, somewhat breathlessly, "why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't know you felt the same, obviously." Blaine rolled his eyes but he was still smiling and Kurt couldn't bring himself to be offended. "The fact that it took a _dog _to get us together is a little sad, I'll admit."

Kurt nodded. "But hey, at least you have a dog that's practically part yours now," he said, watching Blaine's face light up as planned. "And you can feel free to come and visit him whenever you like."

Blaine pretended to think about it for a second before smirking. "I'd much rather see his owner. Besides, Everett clearly reminds you of me, so it must be…" Blaine paused and Kurt mentally prepared himself. "Puppy love!"

"You are _terrible_," Kurt groaned, "and I'm going to shut you up now."

But they were both smiling as their lips met again.

* * *

**I so want a pair of those kissing puppies from SLS...**


	230. Cheerio

**Late last night, around 11:30pm, this story hit ten thousand reviews. They're still rolling in just as rapidly as they have been since the 9k mark when I asked for reviews and there is a chance that I could hit 11 thousand before this story ends. Dear god I love you guys.**

**From **_**xX-Fiona-Xx: Kurt gets hauled in to perform as a Cheerio whilst he's at Dalton because Sue insists on doing a performance featuring him.**_

**I was on the Glee Continuity Fails Tumblr (that thing is _amazing_, if you want the link just PM me for it) and one of the fails was "Kurt never quit the Cheerios." So, needless to say, I'm using that to my advantage here.**

* * *

Cheerio

"So, Porcelain, quid pro quo?" The two boys stared at her in confusion. "What do you have for me?"

"I'm sorry Coach but you and I are not in cahoots."

"Probably should have nailed that down before I gave you my top secret intel." Coach Sylvester capped her drink and raised an eyebrow at Kurt. "Porcelain, you just made yourself a powerful enemy. Unless, of course, you do something for me."

Kurt shook his head, backing up a step. "I apologize again if you think I owe you anything but I really don't so -"

"But you see, Porcelain, you actually do." Blaine frowned, partly in confusion but mostly in disgust as the woman actually took a drink of the concoction she had just made. "You see, when I took pity on you and let you into my Cheerios last year, you never actually quit. Just took off that uniform of yours - and I worked very hard to get a male one in female sizes so you should be thanking me for that alone - and went crawling back to your Glee club that never ended up giving you those solos you were kicking up a fuss over. So because you never quit, you're still one of us."

The word _Cheerios _was familiar to Blaine for some reason other than just a breakfast cereal but he couldn't work out what it was and why Kurt had been - and apparently still was - a part of it. Kurt looked confused as well but for a different reason. "I thought you already lost at Nationals this year?"

"We did, but I merely had to tip off the judges that the winning team were all on a combination of steroids and trucker's pills that nobody could confirm nor deny when all of the urine samples mysteriously went missing. So they're doing a rematch and when I went through footage of our other winning years I realized that its all well and good to have my scantily clad teenage girls who can shoot fire out of their breasts but what I really needed was the soft pale icing on the cake."

Kurt sighed. "Coach, I haven't done any cheerleading in over a year now and I certainly haven't kept to the diet. Plus, I don't know any of the routines you've been running this year."

_Cheerleading._

Blaine was so stunned that he nearly missed Coach Sylvester leaning in and poking Kurt's stomach experimentally. "I'm sure Sandbags can still lift you."

"Didn't Santana quit?"

"She's surprisingly easy to win back. All I had to do was promise not to fire her little Britt-Britt out of a cannon and they came crawling back, wanting to be on the winning team." She threw her coffee cup in the bin, Blaine blinking at it a few times before realizing his head was only hurting because he was thinking about all of these things. "Rehearsal is tomorrow, Porcelain. Bring your pet hobbit; if things get really dull, I might work him into my routine in some comedic sort of way." And as she walked away, Blaine swore he heard something about throwing off the top of the pyramid and immediately felt sorry for whoever this person was.

"I had forgotten how intense she was," Kurt said thoughtfully from beside him. "I guess I'm roped into that now… and of course you don't have to come if you don't want to, she was just saying that to be herself."

"Sorry?"

"The hobbit thing?"

Blaine winced. "Ouch. Didn't actually realize that was for me." Kurt actually sniggered and Blaine glared half-heartedly (he seriously was _not _that short). "I'd actually like to come if you wouldn't mind. It'll be - interesting."

"You are not allowed to bring Wes or David to gawk," Kurt said immediately.

Blaine chuckled, shaking his head and beginning to head over to their table. "They may kill me or try to bribe me but no, I won't bring them."

"Or let Rachel find out that you're at McKinley this close to Sectionals."

"Of course not."

Kurt took a deep breath and the final condition came out in just under a murmur as he sat down. "Or laugh."

Blaine dropped to his seat a little heavier than expected. "Kurt?" he asked, leaning in slightly across the table. "Do you really think I'd laugh at you?"

"I haven't done any of it in so long and I didn't have any illusions of the uniform looking any _good _on me and really I think this is just Coach Sylvester's way of causing me public humiliation for not giving her any information back. And nobody really wants to look at the male cheerleader anyway."

Blaine had to laugh at that. "Somehow I think I'm the kind of guy who'd want to look at the male cheerleader," he explained to Kurt who rolled his eyes. "But I'm sure it's going to be great. How bad could it be?"

Kurt sighed. "You'll see."

* * *

Blaine saw, alright. And what he saw?

_Holy hell. _

"It's tighter than I remember," Kurt said as he placed his folded Dalton uniform into the bag next to Blaine, tugging an armband onto his wrist. "Good thing this is just a once off otherwise I'd need to go a size up."

"I think it looks fine," Blaine said, trying not to let on how dry his mouth had suddenly gotten. "The colour suits you. Um."

Kurt raised an eyebrow, spraying his hair again. "Really? Apparently the white washes me out and the red makes my cheeks look redder but thanks, I guess. You're not going to get bored up here while we practice?"

"I - uh, no, I think I'll be just fine."

Kurt tossed the hairspray back into his bag and nodded. "Alright," he said with a grin before making his way down to the gymnasium where the rest of the cheerleaders were stretching. He immediately dropped into the splits effortlessly and Blaine felt his jaw trying to drop because that wasn't normal but so _very _hot that it didn't matter.

_You think Kurt's hot?_

The problem was, it wasn't the first time Blaine's mind had gone down this path, especially since Valentine's Day. And while it wasn't necessarily a bad thing that he was starting to admire Kurt, to possibly see him in a way that was a bit more than friends, the last thing Blaine wanted was for it to only be a result of knowing that Kurt liked him, that if he liked Kurt back then he could have someone to call his own and someone who would love and care for him like he had always wanted.

No. Kurt definitely deserved more than that for his first boyfriend and Blaine wasn't going to make any kind of move until he was sure that what he was feeling for Kurt wasn't suggestive feelings.

Although watching Kurt stretch like that made it _very _hard to keep his mind clear.

Coach Sylvester began to bark out orders through her megaphone and Blaine marveled at the way that everybody simply followed them with no complaints or arguing. The Warblers were well behaved, yes, but even they didn't listen to Wes that closely, like they were actually afraid of what he would do if they disobeyed. Though judging by the stories Kurt had told him about this woman, Blaine was pretty sure he would do anything she asked as well. If he needed another reason to not be interested in women, this one definitely helped with that.

And then any other thoughts were wiped from his mind as two girls hoisted Kurt between them and lifted him into the air.

Blaine was halfway to his feet before he came to his senses, gripping the edges of his chair and forcing himself to sit down again. Obviously no harm was actually going to Kurt - while their coach seemed almost sadistic, Blaine didn't believe she would let them lift Kurt without beings sure they wouldn't drop him - but the fact that he _could _be hurt was enough to have Blaine's heart racing a mile a minute.

And then they _tossed _him and _no_, Kurt really couldn't die now, there were so many things Blaine hadn't told him yet and he hadn't had the chance to kiss him or take him on a date or -

Kurt fell safely into the arms of one of the girls who buckled a little at the knees but stayed steady and Blaine let out the breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Right, Porcelain's finally decided to hit puberty so we won't be doing that one again," Coach Sylvester barked into her microphone.

Even from his seat, Blaine could hear Kurt's mutter of, "Why did I choose to do this again?" and grinned, shaking his head. Kurt was really something.

_Oh._

There was a moment of stillness and then Blaine grinned again, sudden and delighted because he knew for certain it was _real_ now. He wasn't just interested in Kurt because he should, he was interested because he _was _interested. It was as simple as that and he was almost kicking himself for not having worked it out earlier but now that he had… what?

Well of course he had to tell Kurt, but how? How could he turn around and admit that just a week ago he had thought he was in love with Jeremiah but now he was interested in Kurt? After all, he was still sticking by his decision to not screw things up but it was now getting to the point in Blaine's mind where not telling Kurt how he felt would screw things up more. After all, they were both gay, both liked each other, both single… why not?

And it really was that simple.

With that out of the way, Blaine settled back to watch the rest of the rehearsal. And yes, there were a few more moments where his heart nearly stopped but all in all it was just fun to watch Kurt back in one of his natural elements, effortlessly performing a talent that Blaine had never even imagined him capable of.

That was, until he fell.

It was an accident, Blaine could tell that much straight away. Probably a lack of practice on Kurt's part (which was understandable, he hadn't really been _expecting _to be a cheerleader again) combined with his growth spurt and close to an hour of non-stop practice. They were holding Kurt in the air again for the seventh time - apparently Coach Sylvester's earlier proclamation of not doing that again had been changed - when someone at the bottom wobbled slightly. It wasn't the first time that had happened either but usually everybody else managed to hold their balance long enough to keep it together.

This time, Kurt didn't and with a shriek he toppled backwards.

The next thing Blaine knew, he was pushing past the girls who had crowded around Kurt, skidding to his knees next to him. "Kurt, oh my god, Kurt are you alright?" he babbled, reaching for Kurt's hand before stopping, not sure whether he was injured or not.

"I'm okay," Kurt said immediately, reaching up to take the hand Blaine had offered and pulling himself to a sitting position. His slight wince didn't go unnoticed, nor did Blaine's reaction to that. "It's okay, I'm not actually hurt from the fall - the first thing we learned was how to fall properly. I'm just really stiff."

"Right, you're taking a break," Blaine announced before turning to the coach who was watching them with an eyebrow raised. "Coach Sylvester, either you give Kurt half an hour off or I'm taking him back to Dalton right now."

Blaine could actually see the grudging respect on the woman's face at that. "Alright, ladies, half an hour. I'll be carting out the newest formula of protein shakes, I want everybody to load up and then line up for weigh-in."

"Come on," Blaine said quietly as the girls headed off to do what Coach Sylvester had instructed. "Let's get you to a proper seat. Can you walk."

"I think so," Kurt said hesitantly. Blaine kept a hold of his arm as he climbed to his feet but when he noticed Kurt's iron grip on his arm in return he raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay, maybe it's a bit of an effort."

Blaine only hesitated for a second. "I'll carry you then."

Kurt stared at him. "I - no, I couldn't ask you to do that."

"You're not asking, I'm offering." Blaine pointed out. "It's just to the seats and the girls have been lifting and carrying you all day."

"This is different though."

If Blaine hadn't already been standing close to Kurt, ready to pick him up, he wouldn't have caught the half-whisper or the way Kurt ducked his head, blushing slightly. "Come on," he said instead of replying, wrapping an arm around Kurt's back. "Ready?"

After a few seconds of hesitation on Kurt's part, he finally wrapped his arms around Blaine's neck, letting the boy pick him up. Kurt was light, almost surprisingly so and it was ridiculous how easily he fit into Blaine's arms like he was actually meant to be there. And as Kurt rested his forehead against Blaine's shoulder with a sigh like he didn't even realize he was doing it, Blaine leant in so his lips were only inches from Kurt's ear. "Maybe I want it to be different," he whispered.

Kurt froze and Blaine continued walking, smiling to himself. He slowly navigated the steps until he reached his seat and gently placed Kurt into it before sitting next to him. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Explain."

Blaine smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that would probably help." Kurt was staring at him, waiting but the understanding was shining in his eyes and Blaine knew he knew, he just wanted to _know_. And for the life of him, Blaine couldn't summon the words. So he simply did the next best thing; leaning in and kissing him.

Kurt made the most adorable surprised murmur against his lips before cupping his face, kissing him back softly. Blaine could feel his breath puffing out against his cheek; shaky and overwhelmed and he knew Kurt had been waiting to do this for a long time and it felt like Blaine had as well without even realizing it and this was his new favourite pastime, hands _down_.

He didn't really want to stop kissing Kurt but the logical side of his mind reminded him that Kurt had just had a fall and probably needed to be checked on. The slight whimper Kurt made when they split apart was equally as adorable as his first noise, especially when he caught himself and blushed again. "Now that we've gotten that explanation sorted out," Blaine said jokingly, smiling when Kurt smirked, "let's deal with this fall of yours."

"I'm okay, really," Kurt said immediately.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "Lift your arms above your head, Kurt." He regretted it a second later when Kurt actually did it, barely suppressing his wince. "Hey, no, come on, I know that hurts," Blaine said, gently tugging Kurt's arms back down. "Just let me help you, please? You must have some kind of muscle relaxant in that bag of yours, yeah?"

Kurt reached over to his bag and pulled out a tube, holding it up for Blaine's inspection. "We usually use this. I can reach my shoulders fine -"

"Let me?"

Kurt toyed with the edge of the tube. "I - um, I'm not sure - what are you doing?"

Blaine had already stood and was moving to the seat behind Kurt. "I'm not going to take your shirt off," he said reassuringly, already knowing that was what Kurt's issue was. "I'm just going to do this." He slipped his hands over Kurt's collarbone, letting his fingers dip under the fabric slightly as he applied pressure to Kurt's shoulders. "Okay?"

In response Kurt passed him back the tube, relaxing into Blaine's touch. Smiling, Blaine worked the cream onto his fingers and began to massage Kurt's shoulders, feeling the muscles relax. And really, this was the kind of thing he could get used to for the rest of his life, being able to just sit here and take care of this beautiful boy who he could actually call his own - _could __he_?

"Hey?" he asked, leaning in to rest their temples together. "Are we dating now?"

Kurt made a murmur of approval. "Sounds good to me."

A whistle blew behind them and Kurt moved away reluctantly, climbing back to his feet. "I'd better get back. Should only be another half hour and then we'll be done."

"Are you sure you're -?"

"I'm fine," Kurt said, smiling knowingly. "Trust me, it's not the first time I've fallen. I'm used to it." He kissed Blaine's forehead, a sudden gesture that had Blaine grinning before he could stop it. "I'll be back soon."

"Hey," Blaine said suddenly as Kurt began to descend the stairs. Hopefully it wasn't too much of a risk but he really did want to say it. "If we need sex appeal at Regionals, I don't think we've got a problem."

"Oh?" Kurt asked, leaning against one of the seats. "Why's that?"

"We have you."

Instead of blushing or brushing off the comment, Kurt _winked_ before turning and practically sashaying down the stairs. Blaine blinked after him a few times before leaning back in his seat with a groan.

This was pretty much the best way to die _ever_.

* * *

"Porcelain!"

The static-filled words echoed through the window, Wes stopping mid sentence to turn and stare at it. "What was that?"

Kurt lifted his head from Blaine's shoulder with a sigh. "That would be my cheerleading coach," he explained wearily. Blaine hugged him a little tighter, knowing how exhausted Kurt was from all the practice he had been doing. "Last rehearsal before our Nationals redo is this afternoon, I guess she pushed it forward."

"Porcelain, you have five minutes to get out here before I use my mole to contaminate all of your skin and hair products and re-sign your contract for another ten years with the Cheerios."

Blaine winced. "You're not calling that bluff, are you?"

"God no." Kurt stood, hoisting his bag onto his shoulder. "Sorry Wes, but she scares me more. I'll catch up later." He leaned back down, Blaine tilting his head up to kiss him before he pulled away with a smirk. "You want to come, don't you?"

"Um." Blaine bit his lip. "Yes?"

Kurt laughed. "Come on. At least you fall into one stereotype for a teenage boy."

"Blaine's stereotypical?" Cameron asked as Blaine grabbed his things and followed Kurt out (Wes would probably kill him later for bailing on Warbler practice but some things were worth it) before stopping as Kurt turned back with another smirk.

"Oh yes. He thinks cheerleaders are hot."

"Just one," Blaine murmured in Kurt's ear as they left the room. "There's only one cheerleader on that squad who catches my eye."

"Brittany will be thrilled. She's been wanting to make out with you for awhile."

Blaine let out a mock sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, I've been trying to work out how to ask her for ages." Kurt elbowed him and Blaine grinned. "Seriously though? Cheerleading is the best thing in the _world_."

"You're such a boy."

"You love it."

Kurt smiled. "I do."

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Oh, aren't you a cute little doggy, yes you are!"**_

_**"Blaine?"**_

_**"Everett, you're going to be my sidekick with your adorableness! Say Redvines. ****Can you say Redvines?"**_

_**"Blaine? You're creeping out my family. And Finn went off to get his cape and ****mask to join you, apparently. Just try not to be blinded by the technicolor ****stripes and rainbow unicorns."**_


	231. Hands

**To everybody who asked for the continuity fails blog, it's gleecontinuityfails . tumblr . com without the spaces. **

**I know this won't make a difference but to everybody begging me to not end the story, the answer is a definite no. You all knew it had to end sometime and if I continued it to 300 like I've been asked to do repeatedly, it would then end at 300 and it would probably be worse because you'd be even more comfortable and used to the story. I would appreciate it if you were just thankful for 234 because _seriously_ 234, wow. **

**From **_**getmeoutofthistie: Kurt has a thing for hands. He notices it first when he's round Blaine's house and has convinced him to play piano. Then again when Blaine's talking to him and being really expressive with his hand gestures. He just loves the way they move for some unknown reason.**_

**In the end of Season Two when so many people seemed to be advocating for another Klaine kiss, I was one of the few who actually _didn__'__t _want one. I mean, I love it when they kiss and 3x05 did so much for my heart but I just loved the stage their relationship was at, is still at. Where hand holding is just as much a symbol of love for them because sometimes they can't even have that so they cherish it. And after Kurt's comments in _Sexy _about the touch of a fingertips, you can tell how much he loves it and Blaine loves it because Kurt does. **

**So this prompt just allowed me to truly get into that.**

**This is my favorite non-AU chapter of _Kiss_.  
**

* * *

Hands

He had noticed it the very first time they had met.

How could he not, when Blaine's hand was in his less than a minute after Kurt had stopped him on the staircase, warm and inviting and perfect? Kurt's head was spinning by the time they got to the commons and it wasn't just due to the obscure route they had just taken that Kurt was willing to bet half his collections was not a shortcut.

He just happened to love hands and couldn't miss the way Blaine's fingers filled the places between his own perfectly in a way Kurt had only ever dreamt of.

* * *

A lot of time had passed since that day. Kurt and Blaine had gone through so many ups and downs in their friendship, Kurt had fallen hopelessly in love around Christmas and, just after Valentine's Day, Blaine had returned the feelings. And now they were each other's boyfriend - first potentially awkward and devastating relationship for both of them that Kurt couldn't help but believe in completely after the first week. Yes, all high school couples thought they would be the one to defy stereotype, but none of them had ever slipped so comfortably into being in a relationship, like they had always been there just without the label, the understanding.

Kurt had that with Blaine and he wasn't planning on letting it slip away any time soon.

Dates were simple. Occasionally one would take the other out to dinner or a movie, but most of their time was spent at one another's houses, hanging out with the Warblers or New Directions or at coffee shops. Places that were comfortable, easy, familiar. Relationships had the potential to be difficult enough, why make it harder by trying to be something else somewhere else entirely?

Kurt loved Blaine's house, adored Blaine's mother and avoided Blaine's father whenever he happened to be home. Those were the weekends they usually spent around Lima, but this weekend his father was away on business and Kurt found himself sitting at the kitchen table with Blaine, knees touching under the table and hands occasionally brushing together as they talked to his mother. It was simple and domestic and Kurt was getting very used to it.

He was also used to the shrill beep of the pager which meant their time was about to be cut short.

Blaine's mother was a doctor, but more than that she was a woman with high morals. She trusted her son but also knew what it was like to be a teenager in love. So when she had to be called out for a job, the two boys weren't allowed to stay in the house alone together - they could go for a walk or get coffee or go to Kurt's house, as long as they weren't alone in Blaine's house.

(Kurt had had to resist the urge to tell her that they hadn't so much as kissed on several occasions.)

So when the tone rang out, Blaine sighed and glanced at Kurt. "Your house or the Lima Bean?"

"My parents aren't home and I really couldn't handle more coffee," Kurt said. "I guess I could call Mercedes or someone." Blaine matched his reluctant look - as nice as it was to see their other friends, it was lovely to spend some time together too and they had been lacking in that for quite a while now.

A clearing of the throat had them both looking up. "It's a two hour job tops," Mrs. Anderson explained. "And you boys have given me no reason not to trust you so... Blaine, I know you wanted to show Kurt the new piece you learned? It'll be easier with a quiet house."

Blaine hugged his mother for slightly longer than usual as she left before turning to Kurt and taking his hand. "Come on. I've been wanting to show you this for ages."

"Why didn't you play it at Dalton?"

Blaine pushed open the door to the sitting room, gesturing to the gorgeous piano inside. "It sounds much better on ours. And I wanted you to have the full effect." Sitting on the piano bench, Blaine glanced up and patted the seat next to him. "Come here?"

Kurt settled in next to him, their bodies pressed together with just enough room for Blaine to use his other hand. Catching sight of the sheet music, Kurt gave an appreciative murmur. "I approve."

"I'm glad. It's for you."

And before he could comment, Blaine began to play and all of Kurt's words disappeared.

He had always known that Blaine was extremely talented when it came to musical instruments but had only ever heard him play upbeat peppy tunes on the Dalton piano or used it to work with guys to prepare their harmonies. To see Blaine with his whole concentration dedicated to this one piece, hands dancing over the keys with perfect precision, Kurt was simply shocked into stillness. If he had looked up he would have seen the way Blaine's brow was slightly furrowed in concentration, eyes intent on the keys but slipping ever-so-occasionally to glance at Kurt, the way his head tilted to the side a little, the smile when he got a section right.

But none of that could ever entrance Kurt as much as Blaine's hands.

They were the cause of the perfection emanating from the instrument and they were perfection in themselves. Graceful jumps across the keys, veins lightly flexing in the back of the hand... it was all amazing.

The piece was over before Kurt really had time to take it in, but his response summed it all up.

"Beautiful."

He could hear his tone - soft and reverent and almost intimate - and it was almost too much for the situation, almost embarrassing how much affection was being conveyed in his words and surely Blaine would feel the same, surely it was Kurt coming on too strong again like he always did?

Blaine ducked his head a little and Kurt could see the pleased smile appear on his face. "I'm glad you liked it," he murmured before lifting an arm to wrap around Kurt's waist, fingers splayed gently against his side. Kurt leant into the touch unconsciously, resting his head against Blaine's shoulder with a happy little sigh. He fit so perfectly there that it was hard not to be content.

For awhile there was just peaceful silence and then Kurt sighed again, less cheerful this time. "I really want to hear that piece again," he explained, "but I don't want you to let go of me either."

Blaine chuckled gently. "Well I might just have to teach you what this hand does," he squeezed Kurt's side lightly, making him shiver, "so I can keep holding you."

Kurt obediently lifted his hand to the keys, smiling softly as Blaine began to instruct him.

* * *

Blaine threw all of himself into everything he did. Whether it was anything from a full-blown argument - and thank goodness they hadn't had one of those yet - to something as simple as homework, he was dedicated to that one thing. In fact, Kurt found out the only thing that could ever distract Blaine was him, and Kurt took more than a small amount of pleasure from that.

Of course this enthusiasm spread to conversations, especially the friendly debates the two found themselves in all the time. But somehow Kurt hadn't noticed _this_ until now.

"I just don't think the Warblers are capable of more than a two step shuffle."

Blaine sighed, shaking his head. "Let me lay it out for you." He placed his hands side up on the table, palms facing each other and Kurt glanced down, naturally having been watching Blaine's hands the whole conversation. "We're here. We have this whole stage," a circular motion, "to work with. We've got a few who can't walk without falling over, yes," hands raised in a shrug, "but they can stay near the back and sway." Hands swaying and Kurt was starting to feel a little dizzy from watching it all, almost too caught up in the gestures of Blaine's hands to listen to what he was saying. "David can backflip in the middle and -"

He silenced when Kurt snorted. "Did you just try to make your hand backflip?"

"Oh!" Blaine glanced down at his hands, clasping them together almost self-consciously. "Talking with my hands again. Apparently it's a bad habit, I do it all the time though - see?" Because Blaine's hands had just risen of their own accord, adding the extra emphasis to his words and Kurt watched as Blaine actually blushed a little. "It's off-putting, I know. Just - here." Blaine took both of Kurt's hands, clasping them in his own. "Now I can't."

Kurt shook his head and released one of Blaine's hands. "I think it's adorable," he said quietly. "Carry on."

The blush was equally as adorable and Kurt was glad it wasn't going away. "I - yeah. Okay, obviously Jeff's a trip hazard but as long as Nick's protecting him, it should be fine -"

Kurt propped his chin up on his hand and watched. Blaine's hand gesture for 'protect' was a clasping motion and he smiled as Blaine's hand tightened slightly around his at the same time.

* * *

Sometimes when Blaine held him, Kurt couldn't think.

Blaine himself was intoxicating enough with his charm and words and smiles, but there was something altogether different about the silence, the way Blaine's head fit perfectly in the space between Kurt's neck and shoulder, the deep relaxed breaths he would take, the way he pressed that little bit closer any time he feared Kurt might be pulling away. It all took Kurt's breath away and he just needed to hold on to Blaine and make sure to never wake up from this amazing dream.

Of course there was a difference between a simple hug, one they could do in public after a date or passing by one another in the school between classes or simply because, and holding one another like this.

When Blaine held him, really held him, it was always like their last goodbye. Bodies pressed together, twined together, drinking one another in like they may never get to do this again. And yet they were both perfectly relaxed, perhaps because of the simple knowledge that somebody wanted them, desired them, needed them.

Blaine's hands would always find their way to his back, tracing patterns into his skin or ghosting down his spine but always, always touching him. His hands made Kurt feel safe, loved, wanted, beautiful. And as long as Blaine held him like this, Kurt would never have to fall again.

* * *

It was the day that Blaine came in hiding his hands under his blazer sleeves that Kurt knew something was wrong.

Blaine always reached out for his hand, for one. Kurt wasn't sure whether his boyfriend had a similar love for hands or just liked being close to him, but Blaine's hand would be in his the second they met up unless circumstances dictated otherwise. So to see his boyfriend sitting next to him in Warbler rehearsal with his blazer sleeves draped down over clenched fists, smiling like everything was normal but not holding his hand, Kurt knew something was wrong.

Waiting until the end of the meeting was torture, but Kurt wasn't exactly going to demand an answer from Blaine in the middle of rehearsal. But finally Wes called an end and Kurt slipped a hand on top of Blaine's wrist, squeezing lightly to indicate he should stay when Blaine turned to him with a curious smile. "What's wrong?"

"No, I'm asking you that," Kurt said, waiting for the rest of the Warblers to disperse before continuing. "Why are you hiding?"

It would take someone who knew Blaine as well as Kurt did to notice his tells - a slight tensing of the jaw, the way one covered hand curled almost protectively over the other. Otherwise, Blaine appeared entirely calm. "What do you mean by hiding?"

"Your hands," Kurt said, to the point but as gently as he could. "You always hold my hand during rehearsal. And unless it's something I've done, which I really don't think it is," Blaine shook his hand immediately and Kurt smiled faintly, "then I have to assume that you're hiding something."

Blaine, never one to lie, sighed and gave a small nod. "Okay, so you know my dad and I don't have the best of relationships. We, ah, got into a bit of an argument last night. A Warbler thing, as usual. Thinks it's a waste of time."

Kurt winced, knowing how much musical theatre meant to his boyfriend. "So you told him it wasn't?" he asked, still trying to work out why that meant that Blaine couldn't hold his hand.

"Tried. He didn't listen and I - I got angry," Blaine admitted quickly before rolling back his sleeve to reveal a bruised fist. "I punched the wall."

And Blaine looked so ashamed and Kurt just couldn't have that.

"It's okay," he murmured, taking Blaine's hand in his own as carefully as possible, examining the damage. Almost like a dream, Kurt lifted Blaine's hand to his lips, kissing the bruised knuckles gently one by one. "Don't hurt these," he said softly, stretching out the fingers and kissing Blaine's fingertips. "They're beautiful. Just like the rest of you."

"Kurt," Blaine whispered, his voice strangled.

Kurt shook his head. "Shh," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of Blaine's hand. "Your hands are what attracted me to you, you know? I mean, obviously there's all the intangible things like your heart and your personality that I just adore about you, but seeing your hands, the way you gestured to me when you were singing Teenage Dream? That got me. I love hands and yours are perfect. And you're perfect and your father is deluded and I will support you no matter what you choose to do with your life, even and especially if he won't."

And Kurt was more glad than ever that he knew all of Blaine's expressions, meaning he could wrap his arms around his boyfriend just before Blaine began to cry, holding him for as long as it took Blaine to realize that he was loved unconditionally by at least one person in this world.

As much as he wanted to just take Blaine's face in his hands and kiss away all of Blaine's insecurities and fears, he knew it wasn't time. Blaine wouldn't want their first kiss to be one of pity (even though it wasn't pity, not at all) so Kurt would wait.

Blaine was worth the wait, after all.

* * *

It took a week for the conversation to come up, just when Kurt had stopped believing that it would.

"So," Blaine said, interrupting the former silence of completing homework together, "you have a thing for hands?"

Kurt groaned, remembering his word choice. "Not a thing thing," he explained quickly. "Just... I just find them beautiful. The way they can move and make the most amazing of creations and how so many things can be done through them. And the way you hold my hand is just..." Kurt struggled to find the word, Blaine waiting patiently. "_Right._ It's like that's where my hand belongs, in yours. You could be doing so many things with your hands and instead you're using them to hold mine, to be close to me." Almost without realizing it, Kurt had taken Blaine's hand in his own, running his fingers across the back gently. "Beautiful," he said again.

"You're beautiful," Blaine said softly and his other hand came up to cup Kurt's cheek.

Kurt had to close his eyes at that, his entire focus on the feeling of Blaine's fingers against his skin, Blaine's thumb rubbing circles across his cheekbone. He had meant to argue, to start one of those cheesy cliche couple moments arguing over who was the most attractive but he couldn't respond. Not now.

Blaine laughed gently. "I thought that might happen. And for the record, I love the way you cherish hand holding and that's something we'll always have. But I was - well, I've been wondering whether I could show you how much I care about you in another way?"

"You never have to ask that."

He knew Blaine wanted to though, wanted to ask questions and make it clear what he was doing and be completely sure that Kurt wanted this and probably even talk about the implications it was going to have. So Kurt simply opened his eyes - not without supreme effort - and fixed them on Blaine's, silently telling him everything he needed to know. They had gone past the need for words a long time ago, after all, even before they were dating.

His eyes slipped shut again as Blaine traced another circle around his cheekbone and now it was down to trust - Blaine trusting that Kurt was ready and Kurt trusting that Blaine wouldn't leave him here, waiting for something that would never come.

And then the soft touch of lips against his and Blaine was kissing him. Soft gentle brushes of skin against skin and then firmer, properly, loving and reassuring and everything a kiss was always meant to be. Kurt focused on kissing back the same way, on giving Blaine every one of those things in return, on loving Blaine just the same as Blaine loved him.

Blaine's hand was still on his cheek and Kurt leaned into it before lifting his free hand to hold Blaine the same way, giving himself over entirely to Blaine and feeling him do the same.

And their other hands stayed clasped together, a constant tether, a silent reassurance and a symbol of love.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"Peace." *walk out of Warbler practice***_

**_*watches them leave*_**

**_"Quick, to the Warbler-mobile!"_**

**_"To stalk them?"_**

**_"To stalk them."_**


	232. Tickled

**I've slept for fifteen hours out of the past eighty two. Tomorrow night's authors note will more than make up for this lack of words though.**

**From **_**Mariekejee: Kurt doesn't like to be tickled, so tries to distract Blaine while he's tickling Kurt. And he finds there's only one possible distraction.**_

* * *

Tickled

The first time ended up being far too unintentionally hilarious for Kurt. But really, Blaine had brought it upon himself.

Kurt just hadn't realized how touchy feely his boyfriend was, was all. Sure, Blaine liked giving hugs and holding hands but he had done all of those things when they were just friends too, they were an expected part of spending time with Blaine and Kurt had quickly gotten himself used to it. And yes, he probably should have known that dating would bring an added element of touching, but since Blaine hadn't kissed him or done anything of the sort yet, Kurt hadn't anticipated it.

Plus, that was kind of the last thing Kurt had expected to happen. Blaine just didn't seem like... well, a tickler. Yes, he had his childish moments - and had far more of them than Kurt ever did, that was for sure - but he usually stuck to simple teasing. They had both been hurt by actions in the past and Kurt was sure it was part of the reason they weren't too physical with each other just yet. As their relationship built, light nudges and elbows to ribs were being included, but nothing on the scale of actually hurting or irritating each other with their actions.

So when one of their usual arguments over artists and albums had gotten a little too heated and Kurt had - playfully of course - accused Blaine of being a 'caveman of modern music', Blaine giving a mock gasp and digging his fingers into Kurt's sides had been quite the shock. Shocking enough, in fact, that Kurt had shrieked loud enough for half of Dalton to hear and slapped his boyfriend. Hard.

Across the face.

Blaine's hand flew to his cheek, Kurt's to his own mouth. They stared at each other for a few stunned seconds before Kurt began to giggle helplessly. "Oh, you should see your face right now!"

"I can't _feel_ my face," Blaine retorted huffily. "Was that really necessary?"

"You startled me! I can't help my reactions!"

Blaine pouted. "Are you seriously that ticklish?"

"Don't know," Kurt responded cheerfully. "Nobody's ever tried."

"Then what was that for?"

"You should know better than to sneak up on me!"

Blaine's jaw dropped and he simply gaped at Kurt for a few seconds who just patiently watched him. "I'm right in front of you!"

Kurt shrugged. "Semantics."

* * *

The second time was just unfair.

Blaine had clearly learned his lesson and this time when the need so clearly arose for him to tickle Kurt - and really, Kurt had only threatened to dump water on his head, it was a completely unjustified reaction - Kurt found his hands pinned behind his own back, Blaine's weight against his body to stop him from getting up and - oh hell, he _was_ ticklish. Desperately so.

"No!" Kurt shrieked, the complaint turning into laughter as he tried desperately to wriggle free of Blaine's grasp. But his boyfriend held on, continuing to tickle Kurt's sides, taking far too much delight in torturing his helpless boyfriend. All Kurt could do was feebly protest while trying and failing not to laugh because that would indicate enjoyment and there was no way that Kurt was enjoying this.

His pleas to be let up were ignored, Blaine clearly taking great enjoyment in making him suffer. He only stopped when Kurt somehow managed to spit out a threat of kicking Blaine where it hurt if he didn't stop, amidst laughter, gasps of breath and the hiccups he had developed from laughing too hard. Apparently that was a threat Blaine took seriously.

His smirk didn't disappear for quite some time though, not even when he was ignored and snubbed for the rest of the night by a still-sulking Kurt. It took several apologies, promises to never do that again - ones that Kurt just knew would be broken anyway - and helping Kurt to get rid of his persistent hiccups before Kurt would finally talk to Blaine again, let alone forgive him.

And okay, maybe they spent the rest of the evening cuddling after that but he wasn't that hard to buy. Not really.

* * *

Third time's the charm and Kurt was convinced that Blaine wasn't going to get away with it. Because revenge was a dish Kurt Hummel knew how to serve and he could serve it well. Maybe he had no control over when Blaine decided that a tickle war was in order - and yes, he actually called them that now to Kurt's eternal disbelief - but he could control what he did in response.

It was time for Blaine to get a taste of his own medicine.

Now all Kurt needed to do was antagonize his boyfriend, keep a clear head and turn the tables as soon as possible. After all, there was no way that Kurt was the only ticklish one in this relationship and it was time for Blaine to see how it felt.

It was surprisingly easy to wind Blaine up but the boy had been in a playful mood for most of the day, elbowing Kurt during Warbler rehearsal and winking at him whenever Wes wasn't looking their way (and occasionally when he was). It was pretty much tradition for them to hang out in the choir room for awhile on a Tuesday once the other boys had vacated since they both had a free period at that time, and today was no exception. "So," Blaine said once the others were gone, kicking his legs over Kurt's lap despite his squark of protest, "what did you think of the song selections?"

"I'm still waiting for the day that the Council suddenly realizes that the joke I made about your medley of Pink songs was actually a 'good' idea," Kurt said, finger quotes and all.

Blaine raised an eyebrow. "I for one think it is an excellent idea."

Kurt smirked. "Darling, I hate to say it, but the songs weren't exactly designed for your gender… or social status. No matter how hard you try, you will _never _be 'gangsta'"

And today that was all it took. Blaine pounced, trying to trap Kurt and tickle him but this time Kurt was prepared. "No way!" he shrieked, grabbing Blaine's hands and pushing him so Blaine was trapped underneath him. "It's _your _turn, Anderson!"

Blaine didn't look concerned in the slightest and Kurt really should have taken that as a warning. But he was too caught up in his smug superiority as his fingers dug at Blaine's sides, waiting… waiting…

"Oh, you are _kidding _me!"

"Nope," Blaine said, smirking. "Not ticklish at all. But we can't waste a perfectly good tickle war so I'd better -"

Kurt shrieked again as Blaine's fingers effortlessly found his most ticklish spots. Collapsing back into the couch bonelessly, Kurt attempted to get control of himself for long enough to lower himself to begging. "_Please_? This is - _no!_ - no, this is so not fair!"

He had to do _something_. Not only was this veering on the edge of painful but Blaine was getting that _look_, that superiority complex look that Kurt hated - of course Blaine would never truly think he was better than Kurt but he would be rubbing this in Kurt's face for a long time if Kurt didn't stop him.

_Distract him._

_How?_

_You know how._

The second the thought flashed into his mind, Kurt freed his hands, grabbed Blaine's face and kissed him.

Blaine stopped immediately, fingers freezing against Kurt's sides before sliding up to his face, tangling in his hair and Blaine was kissing him back and it so didn't matter that they hadn't done this before, not when Blaine's lips fit his so perfectly and -

And Blaine pulled away. Kurt whined unashamedly as their lips parted, pouting up at him. "Why?"

"You just did that to stop me tickling you," Blaine said, one eyebrow raised. "Do you really think I'm that easily bought?"

"Let's see," Kurt said innocently. "Blaine, you have a choice. Tickle war or kissing." Three seconds later and Blaine's lips were against his again, Kurt chuckling softly into the kiss. "I knew you were easy," he pulled away long enough to whisper before attaching their mouths again.

The next time Blaine broke away was more out of necessity - oxygen was prevalent to live and living meant more kissing and Kurt could see the logic if he really thought about it. "That's what's going to happen every time you try to tickle me," he explained, sitting up and straightening his blazer. "And I can see those hands," he added without looking up. "Tickle me for the sole purpose of getting a kiss and you die."

Blaine dropped his hands and sighed dramatically. "How am I supposed to get a kiss then?"

Kurt couldn't resist. "Generally you use your lips and point them in the direction of someone else's and just lean in and hope you don't hit an eye or something."

"Why am I dating you again?"

"Because you love me?" Blaine hummed in agreement and Kurt's heart skipped a beat because they hadn't gone _there_, not yet, and they weren't going to. Later, maybe, but not now. "And because I'm a good kisser."

"I think that one needs more testing," Blaine murmured, leaning back in.

* * *

**MusicalEscape:**

_**"...Blaine? What happened to your hands?"**_

_**"Well... I gelled my hair, and then I went to put a cake in the oven, and, well, gel is really flammable... they're minor burns, but it ruined my cake D:"**_

_**"...you only care about the cake?"**_

_**"It was going to be a chocolate cake, Kurty!"**_


	233. Firsts

**My darling readers:**

**Well, this is it. This is the final prompt chapter of the train ride that has been _Kiss_. We stand here with 232 chapters behind us, bringing us to a grand total of 234 tomorrow, a number I never could have reached without your support, prompting and love. There is still one more chapter to go but it's an epilogue so I thought I'd do the mammoth authors note on this chapter since it is really the final one.**

**I want to give a few special mentions so bear with me. **

**First, to _Kasumi __the __Stargazer _for giving me the first three prompts that kicked this whole thing off - without you, I wouldn't have a story. And extra special mentions to _Chasing __Aspirations_ and _XxLittleAngelxX_ who I knew would, without a doubt, review every single chapter within a few hours of posting. These three have also connected with me on a personal level via Tumblr and I feel honored to call all of them my friends. Naomi, Angel and Jordyn, I hope our friendship stays on beyond this story and I love you all so much. **

**_MusicalEscape _has been working with me (in a sense) since about Chapter 75 to write her version of my stories which has been in the bottom of every single Authors Note without fail. She's brought an extra element of humor to my stories and I owe her a huge thank you for that. **

**I also owe a huge thank you to Angela, aka _SquirrelzAttack _for faithfully editing every chapter from about chapter 25 onwards, as well as many of my other stories. We've done a long haul together and it's been so wonderful :) she's just an amazing girl who has not only helped me with my stories, but has been a brilliant friend to me, no matter how many thousand miles apart we are. And I know that friendship will go beyond this story and beyond any other story I write. **

**To all of you who have messaged me, those who have given me reviews, those who have read silently and never acknowledged their presence but have still been there, those who have followed from day one or those who read it all in one hit, thank you a million times over. **

**To those whose prompts I couldn't do, I am sorry. I hope that you can write them yourselves - and if you do, tell me, I'd love to read them :) - or someone else will write them for you. But thank you for all the love nonetheless. And to those whose reviews I couldn't reply to, just know that I read every single one. **

**There is a poll going up soon, thanks to the tireless help of a few of my readers who volunteered for this task a few months ago now, to figure out which chapter of _Kiss _is the ultimate number one favorite chapter. Please do vote on that, I'd love to know.**

**The final prompt comes from _Mispent__Youth: __When __they __are __older, __they __are __both __reminiscing __about __their __first __kiss __and __think __about __other __firsts __in __their __life._**

**I hope this final prompt chapter does the story justice.**

* * *

Firsts

_**Do not open until 7pm on Thursday 21st August.**_

Blaine glanced at the clock, sighing when he saw 6:48 flashing back at him. Technically he could open the letter now but he knew Kurt would know if he did - Kurt always knew. Part of that was due to the years they had been together, but really Kurt had known him that well since day one. And not just day one of their relationship or day one of their marriage, but day one of meeting one another on that staircase at Dalton Academy. It sounded crazy but they knew. They had always known.

He wasn't going to cry, Blaine told himself sternly. He had cried enough over the past few months; mainly over little things like saying goodnight to Kurt on the phone and then not being able to hold him in his arms, hearing that Kurt had had an awful day and not being there to take care of him, and that awful moment when he had gotten the phone call saying Holly was in the hospital with a broken arm and he couldn't be there, couldn't do anything.

They both knew it was the price to pay but it was times like these that being famous really sucked.

Blaine had been on his first official world tour for one and a half months now - long long months with thankfully only a week to go. He was currently in New Zealand, having arrived from his week in Australia yesterday and preparing for his first performance tomorrow. Covering Australasia had been a risk but it had paid off - apparently fans 'down under' were thrilled that they finally got someone headlining in their area and the tickets had sold out long before he had even started his tour back in Europe.

Kurt had worked out the time differences, of course. It was currently four in the morning in New York so Blaine couldn't even call Kurt to share the contents of the letter with him. They had spoken briefly late in Kurt's last night and Blaine would call him again tomorrow but to not be able to talk to Kurt today was probably the worst.

Today was their five year wedding anniversary.

It had almost caused a fight between them when Blaine had come home almost a year ago and told Kurt the dates for his tour. He had been so excited about planning it that he hadn't even realized until Kurt had flatly informed him that their wedding anniversary was right in the middle of those dates. It was only the fact that Blaine had immediately wanted to change it or call it off completely that had kept Kurt from being angry - he truly hadn't even realized otherwise he never would have agreed.

Of course they hadn't called it off. Kurt insisted on Blaine going - this would be amazing for his career and Kurt would never do anything to hold Blaine back, just like Blaine would never have taken the tour if it would have interfered with Kurt's career. But Fashion Week had just finished and Kurt was back to casual designing for the next few months, perfectly able to look after their daughter while Blaine headed off to tour.

So here Blaine was, in an unfamiliar hotel room, watching a clock slowly tick over the minutes, clasping an envelope from his husband in his hands. Waiting.

Seven pm.

Trembling slightly, Blaine slit open the envelope, unfolded the letter and began to read.

_**My dearest Blaine,**_

_**If I were here saying this to you, this would be the time I would tell you to close your eyes but you can't exactly read the letter that way so I just want you to use that wonderful memory and imagination of yours and paint some scenes for me. Okay?**_

"Okay," Blaine said out loud before chuckling at himself.

_**You just agreed out loud, didn't you?**_

Blaine laughed again. "Kurt Anderson-Hummel, you know me too well."

_**And yes, I know you too well. But enough mind reading otherwise you'll start thinking this is Tom Riddle's diary and see what you make me resort to? I was never such a nerd before I met you. **_

_**But then, I was never a lot of things before I met you. You made me a better person - sometimes I try to think back to what I was like in my sophomore year and I can hardly do it. I was selfish, stubborn, too afraid to be myself let alone stand up for others. I thought I was the most amazing thing to ever happen to this world and I feel naive looking back on it because no way is any of that true. I know I used most of that to hide my fears.**_

_**And then you came along and taught me that it's okay to be afraid but to do something about that fear. You taught me to stand up for myself, you taught me to be a part of the team and you taught me how to give up myself and my heart even though I'd only ever been hurt before. And I am so thankful every single day that I did.**_

Oh god, he was tearing up _already_.

It had always been so hard for them to hear the other talk about their past, mainly because they had both been hurt so badly and both couldn't stand to know that somebody had hurt the person they loved. Blaine knew they would always carry the scars of their past but Kurt had helped him heal the open wounds a long time ago and had told him that Blaine had done the same for him.

Even still, as much as Blaine knew Kurt was okay now, all he wanted was to wrap his husband in his arms and hold him tight until the pain was gone for good.

_**But enough about that. Today is meant to be a day of celebration! **_

_**Five years ago today, you and I changed from Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson to Kurt and Blaine Anderson-Hummel. Physically that didn't change a lot; we were already living together and had been living as a married couple does for the past three years anyway. But legally we could now officially say that we are committed solely to one another and staying that way for the rest of our lives. Plus, we get a kickass last name. **_

Blaine had never been more thankful for the privacy of his own hotel room - a combination of slowly escaping tears and sporadic snorts of laughter probably would have scared anybody away at this point. But Kurt had always had a knack of messing with Blaine's emotions in the best way possible.

Just another reason he loved him.

_**All up, you and I have been together for eleven years. That's about ten and a half years longer than anybody expected us to last. We were high school sweethearts, each other's first boyfriend, boyfriends in a controversial homophobic town… how were we meant to last? **_

_**It was - and still is - love. That's how we lasted.**_

_**You were my first everything, Blaine. Every first that meant anything to me was given by you and for that I owe you everything and will continue to give you everything. Forever, because you are mine forever and I am yours forever. And I can never understand why there are people out there scared of commitment, people who would rather live their lives in flings and one night stands because they don't want to settle down. I think monogamy is the most romantic thing alive and I know you feel the same. **_

_**Five years of marriage and this is the first anniversary we've been apart. But do you remember our first anniversary?**_

How could he forget?

* * *

_He was in the studio when Kurt's text had come through. They had missed each other that morning, Kurt already being gone for the day when Blaine had woken up. It was a common occurrence but Blaine had been disappointed nonetheless because they had always loved anniversaries and he had at least hoped to see Kurt before they had gone their separate ways for the day._

I'm going to be running late tonight but I'll pick up something for dinner on my way home. And I left those returns in your car, do you think you could run them to the mall for me? Love you. - K xx

_Well, that was anticlimactic. Blaine frowned down at the message, trying to work out what was going on. Had Kurt forgotten what today was? Should he text back and remind him?_

_No. _

_Instead Blaine sent off a quick confirmation before returning to his tracks. He had another three hours of studio time before a meeting with his publicist for Friday's gig which would get him out of the office by four. Add in half an hour to stop by the mall and he could be home in time to at least try to set something romantic up for Kurt._

_Of course nothing ever went to plan and at five pm, Blaine found himself at the end of a long line of people who had all suddenly decided that a Wednesday afternoon was the perfect day to try and return all of their unwanted belongings. He would be more annoyed but considering he was there as well, Blaine really had no complaining rights._

_Instead he simply gritted his teeth and bore it, texting Mike as he waited to make plans for a dance class that weekend. His publicists had kindly told him that his moves weren't quite up to speed (just something else to add to his less than perfect afternoon) and so Blaine figured calling in the expert was the best way to go._

_Quarter to six had a tired Blaine climbing the stars to their apartment - of course the elevator would be out _again _- rubbing the bridge of his nose. He had vaguely registered Kurt's car in the parking garage and realized that his plans of making a nice evening probably weren't going to happen. Not that he had many any plans in particular anyway; in fact, the only plans on Blaine's agenda were a long shower and bed. After all, if Kurt had forgotten their anniversary then why should he have to put extra effort in?_

_The flat was mostly dark when he arrived but flickering light was emanating from the dining room, confusing Blaine. If the lightbulb was playing up he definitely wasn't going to fix it tonight but it didn't seem like a lightbulb. It was like it was… moving?_

"_Kurt?"_

"_Through here," came his husband's voice from the dining room and Blaine felt an involuntary smile tug at his lips. No matter his mood, just hearing Kurt's voice had always helped. A rant on the tip of his tongue - because yeah, it really had ended up being one of those days - Blaine dropped his bag on the ground and crossed the room to look into the dining room and see… _

_Oh. _

_Holy crap._

"_Kurt?" he asked again, shaking his head a little because no, this wasn't right. Kurt had forgotten about their anniversary, Kurt had been working late and was picking up takeout. _

_Kurt hadn't come home early to set up a romantic evening._

"_Happy anniversary, sweetheart," Kurt said softly, crossing the room to take Blaine's hands. "You thought I'd forgotten, didn't you?"_

"_I, um -" Blaine ducked his head, not wanting to admit it._

_Kurt laughed. "That was the plan. Did I surprise you?" Blaine nodded dumbly and Kurt laughed again, kissed him quickly then gestured to the table. "Come on."_

_Blaine came to his senses about halfway through the meal. "Best husband ever," he informed a smirking Kurt. "I love you."_

"_I love you too. And I hope I'm the only husband ever."_

"_You will be," Blaine promised. "Happy first anniversary."_

* * *

_**Call me cruel but I just love surprising you like that. I think you put it best when you say I always zig when you think I'm about to zag - I'm waiting for the day that you successfully predict something I'm going to do though a part of me hopes that day never comes.**_

And it was true - five years of marriage and Kurt still had the ability to throw Blaine for a complete loop.

Blaine seriously would not have it any other way.

He took a moment to get himself settled more comfortably on the bed, tucking his knees up to his chest. It was difficult, being alone for so long, especially when he got parts of Kurt but not all of him. He could talk to Kurt or read his words but he couldn't hold him or actually be with him on a day that meant so much to them. Ever since that first anniversary they had always made a huge deal of their wedding anniversary, always trying to outshine the other year by year. And this year was Kurt's year and even though they were thousands of miles apart, Kurt was still winning.

Kurt always won and Blaine could never ever bring himself to care.

_**It wasn't long after that when we experienced another first - the one that I had sworn would never happen and the one that you had absolutely no idea how to deal with. That said neither did I, but like I told you that was the first time I had gotten sick since Freshman year of high school.**_

_**Needless to say, in hindsight our worry was actually kind of cute. Especially yours.**_

Blaine couldn't agree more.

* * *

_Kurt was throwing up._

_Somehow Blaine had already made it to the bathroom door before his brain had even woken up properly, so the first sight he actually took in that morning was of his husband hunched over the toilet, deathly pale and wiping the sweat off his forehead. "Kurt?" he asked, trying not to let on how scared he was because this was something he had never seen before and had absolutely no idea how to handle it._

"_Oh god, Blaine, don't," Kurt muttered. "Please, just go back to bed, I'm totally fine."_

"_Like hell you're fine," Blaine argued, knowing his filter was generally broken of a morning and grateful for that for once because he could actually say what Kurt needed to hear. "Considering I woke up to you vomiting, I -"_

"_Please, _please _do __not __use __that __word.__"_

_Blaine winced. "Sorry," he said meekly. "But Kurt, you're not okay and you're not going to get me to leave you like this."_

_Kurt leaned back against the counter, wiping his mouth. "But I look terrible, I know I'm all pale and ghastly and seeing the person you love throwing up is absolutely not romantic at all and -"_

"_Hey," Blaine said firmly. "Enough of that. The person I love is sick and that is all that matters to me right now. For the record you're still gorgeous but even if you weren't, I would still not be anywhere else but taking care of you." He crossed the room and dropped to his knees next to Kurt, taking him in. "How long have you been in here?"_

"_About twenty minutes. I woke up feeling just awful and I came in here for a glass of water and sat down and then couldn't get back up."_

_Blaine's heart stopped at that. "You couldn't get back up? What do you mean? Are your legs alright, can you feel them? Oh god, do I need to call an ambulance, I should have already called an ambulance, I'm going to -"_

_As he moved to stand, Kurt's arm caught his wrist. "Don't," he said, his voice tired. "I was just dizzy. There's nothing wrong with my legs or any part of me except my stomach and my head."_

_He was helpless, simply watching as Kurt wrapped his arms around his stomach with a groan and ducked his head. "What do you - I mean, is there anything I can do?"_

"_I don't know, I -" Kurt cut himself off, closing his eyes and pressing the back of his hand to his mouth. A second later he was pitching forward and Blaine closed his eyes, not because he couldn't handle the vomit but because he couldn't handle seeing Kurt like this. His hand found Kurt's back and rubbed circles until Kurt straightened up, trembling. "I hate this."_

_Blaine reached for the water glass and helped Kurt rinse his mouth out. The shaking hadn't stopped and Kurt was hot to the touch and this could actually be serious and why hadn't he done anything _useful _yet? "Are you alright for a minute? I'm going to make a phone call and grab a few things."_

"_Okay," Kurt murmured and Blaine stood. Dragging himself away from Kurt was pure torture but if this was something that required medical attention then he needed to do it. Grabbing his phone, Blaine called Wes while he dug through the medicine cabinet in the kitchen._

"_Blaine? It's like, two in the morning, what's wrong?"_

_Blaine winced again but couldn't feel too guilty because _Kurt_. __"Kurt's sick," he rushed out, finally find the thermometer. "He's throwing up and really warm and dizzy and he's never been like this before and I don't know what to do and -"_

"_Okay," Wes cut in and Blaine silenced immediately. Years of Warbler practice meant he knew to stop talking the second that tone was used. "You need to start by staying calm because you can do nothing for him if you're panicked. Chances are it's just a virus - there's a 24 hour bug going around at the moment that he could have caught. Did he eat anything different yesterday?"_

_Blaine thought. "No," he said after running through their meals. "Same as usual."_

"_Then it's probably just the virus. Take his temperature and if it's above 103 or he starts getting worse, get him to the hospital. Otherwise try and get fluids in him, keep him comfortable and when he's not nauseous anymore, simple food like dry toast to see if he can keep it down." Wes's voice softened. "He's going to be fine, Blaine. You know Kurt, always a fighter."_

"_I know." Blaine let out a shaky exhale, feeling some of the tension seep away. "Thanks Wes."_

"_Call me back if you need anything."_

_Grabbing the thermometer, Blaine quickly returned to the bedroom and took a pillow and their throw blanket off the bed before returning to the bathroom where Kurt was still resting against the counter, eyes closed. "Babe?" he asked softly. _

"_Mm?"_

"_Still feel bad?"_

_Kurt cracked open an eye tiredly. "I can't remember the last time I felt like this, Blaine."_

_His voice was almost a whine and Blaine just wanted to hug him but knew that was probably a bad idea - even though he would almost definitely get whatever it was if it was contagious, there was no point in tempting fate. "Here," he said instead, sitting next to Kurt and holding up the pillow. "Lean forward for me."_

"_The room's spinning," Kurt complained as Blaine helped him lean forward and eased the pillow behind his head. "I don't like it."_

"_I know you don't," Blaine said soothingly. "I'm just going to take your temperature, okay?"_

_He pressed the strip to Kurt's forehead, praying that the bars wouldn't climb to the top. "Is it bad?" Kurt asked after a few seconds of silence and the worry in his voice was obvious._

"_101," Blaine said with a sigh of relief. "We don't need to go to the hospital. Now, do you think you're up to moving to the bed or -"_

"_No," Kurt said quickly. "Just the thought of moving makes me want to be sick again."_

"_Okay," Blaine said, wrapping the blanket around Kurt. "We'll just stay here, that's alright."_

"_You don't have to -"_

"_Don't even think about trying to make me leave."_

_Kurt sighed in what Blaine knew was a mixture of exasperation and relief, his head dropping to rest on Blaine's shoulder. Forgetting his earlier resolve, Blaine wrapped his arm gently around Kurt's back, allowing his husband to cuddle into him to his heart's content. _

_It never ceased to amaze him that the strongest man he had ever met still relied on him sometimes._

* * *

_**And naturally you got sick the next day and I completely understood your panic.**_

_**You know, people keep talking about falling more in love with a person every single day. I don't think that's the case, because I got to the point where I knew I loved you with my whole heart many years ago. I think it's just about finding different ways to love you every day and loving you when you're sick is one of those.**_

_**Loving you when we're both angry is another we definitely know well. Obviously we've argued many times over the little things as every couple does - and I still regret selling all of my copies of **_**Vogue _that I apparently didn't need, just by the way -_**

"This again?" Blaine muttered before catching himself and rolling his eyes. It was true, they would argue over the stupidest of little things and sometimes Blaine just wanted to tear his hair out and let Kurt have it with both barrels.

That said, making up was always the _best_.

_**and those arguments just make us work out how to love one another better in my opinion. **_

_**But I definitely could have gone on quite happily without… that.**_

Oh yes. _That_.

* * *

_Blaine wasn't sure how it had come to this - Kurt at one end of the room, him at the other, both with fits clenched and glaring daggers and Kurt _screaming _at him - but his mind wasn't exactly working rationally enough to care._

"_You are not even close to perfect, Kurt, so don't you dare try to pin all of this on me!"_

_"I feel a damn lot closer than you right now! Honestly, Blaine, what were you _thinking_? Did you honestly think I could cheat on you?"_

_Oh right. That was what had caused it all._

"_Well you looked like you were flirting, that much is for sure! What kind of conversation involves brushing someone's hair out of their eyes for them, huh?"_

_Kurt threw up his hands in frustration, actually growling at Blaine. "You are driving me crazy! Can't you take my word for it? I thought you trusted me!"_

"_Of __course __I __trust __you, __I __don__'__t __trust _him_!__"_

"_And you don't trust that I can take care of it, that if he was flirting that I would put a stop to it?"_

_Blaine sighed angrily. "You didn't even notice he was flirting until I told you!"_

"_He wasn't flirting!" Kurt stomped his foot, an action that would have been cute if they weren't currently fighting. "Oh my god, you are insufferable! I don't even know why I married you!"_

_Blaine froze as Kurt stormed past him and out of the apartment, slamming the door behind him. He couldn't even flinch at the noise, completely stunned._

I don't even know why I married you.

_Somehow he found a chair to collapse into, staring blankly at the wall because yes, he had been angry too but never _once _had it gotten to the stage where he had regretted being married to Kurt. He regretted the fight - and a brief glance at the wall revealed they had been at it for close to an_ hour_, holy hell -__ regretted freaking out so much over Tobias and okay, not trusting Kurt like he should have, but never had the thought of not wanting to be married to Kurt crossed his mind._

_Blaine tried to tell himself that it was just said in anger, that of course Kurt loved him and still wanted to be his husband but it was a lot harder to do that when Kurt had just walked out and he now had no idea when he was going to return. If he was going to return._

_Time passed. He wasn't even sure how long but eventually Blaine managed to drag himself to bed, forcing himself not to look at the clock. Kurt had left at seven and he didn't want to know how long his husband had been gone. All he wanted to do was sleep and wake up in the morning with Kurt beside him again so they could talk about it and apologize and make up and everything would be fine. Everything had to be fine because Blaine couldn't lose Kurt. Not over this, not over anything._

_He was sure he hadn't gotten more than a few restless hours but when Blaine awoke the sun was shining, his eyes were red and swollen and Kurt wasn't in bed with him. _

_Kurt wasn't back. _

_Blaine shot out of bed, grabbing his phone as fast as he could because anything could have happened to Kurt last night and no matter how mad Blaine was he should have gone after him especially since Kurt hadn't taken his car keys and oh god this was so much worse than the fight and -_

_Kurt's pillow was missing. _

_Blaine let out a shaky breath because at least Kurt was okay. He forced himself to calm down before dealing with the next issue at hand - this had never happened before. They had gone to bed upset with one another in the past but they had always gone to bed together, talked it out or at least sorted it out in the morning when they were both calmer. _

_Never ever had they asked the other to sleep on the couch or felt like they needed to. The bed was theirs to share and no matter what had happened in the past, they never lost that. _

_Apparently this was different. _

_Quietly, Blaine slipped out of the bedroom door and down the hall to the living room before stopping in the doorway, not sure if he could physically move. _

_Kurt was curled in a ball on the couch under one of the spare blankets, eyes squeezed shut as if he had forced himself to fall asleep. His face was still blotchy, a clear sign that he had been crying a lot for a long time and this was pretty much the worst because Kurt was hurting and yes, he had hurt Blaine but still. This couldn't go on. _

_He found himself sitting next to the couch by Kurt's head, gently coaxing one of Kurt's hands out so he could take hold of it. Kurt's fingers laced in his immediately even in sleep and Blaine had to smile because there really was no separating them and any fears he had harbored of Kurt really not wanting him vanished. If Kurt had been angry, Blaine would have known it was his fault but this was clearly Kurt beating himself up. _

_It was time for that to stop. _

_Blaine began to press kisses to Kurt's face starting at the forehead and working down. By the time he was kissing Kurt on the tip of his nose his husband was opening his eyes, clearly a struggle since they were as bloodshot as Blaine's. "Hey," Blaine said simply, kissing him lightly on the lips before rocking back on his heels. "Why're you on the couch, beautiful?"_

_Kurt was never at his best in the morning but his confusion was justified this time. "I - Blaine? I thought you were mad at me?"_

"_You were the one who stormed out," Blaine said without thinking and Kurt flinched away from him. "Oh sweetheart, no, I didn't mean to say it like that. I'm not angry, okay? I'm upset and a little hurt and I want to get it all over with, but not angry."_

"_How can you not be angry after what I said?" Kurt sat up and Blaine could see the guilt in his expression and knew if Kurt were to continue this would get emotional fast. And yes, they should probably talk about it in detail and figure out how it happened so nothing like that could ever happen again but not now, not while it was clearly still so raw and painful for Kurt - for him too. For now, Kurt just needed to know that it was okay and he was forgiven and still loved._

"_Did you mean it?"_

"_Of course not, but -"_

"_Are you sorry?"_

"_Yes, so much -"_

"_And so am I, for not trusting you completely and just letting you walk out instead of coming after you. And now that that's settled, I'm starving. Pancakes for breakfast sound good to you?"_

_Blaine had long enough to start pulling ingredients out of the cupboard before Kurt finally responded from the doorway. "You're just… forgiving me?"_

"_Pretty much." Blaine turned back to Kurt and took his hands. "Because I'm your husband and I promised to love you through the good and the bad and I intend to keep that. And even if I hadn't promised, I still would. Because I love you and I know sometimes you'll say things you don't mean, just like I will. The important thing is moving on from that and I don't want to dwell on it. I just - I want us to be okay."_

_He hadn't expected his voice to become so vulnerable at the end and clearly neither had Kurt. "Oh," he murmured. "Oh, Blaine, of course we're okay. We're always okay."_

* * *

And god, all he wanted now was Kurt.

Of course that wasn't a change from the last few weeks but any time Blaine had to think about the one time Kurt had walked out on him, he just wanted to cry. They had been very lucky in their relationship and marriage considering that was their only proper fight but what most people didn't seem to get was that they couldn't afford to fight like that. Kurt's temperament was that he would snap easily and Blaine would fire up at first but quickly crumble and go along with whatever made Kurt happy. It was a combination for trouble and since neither could exactly live without the other in their life anymore, Blaine wasn't going to let it happen again.

It was their first real fight and Blaine was damn certain it was also their last.

And that was when he clicked on what Kurt was trying to do with this letter. On their first anniversary apart, Kurt was reminding him of all of the other firsts they had experienced together as a couple. It was simultaneously nostalgic - beautifully so - and painful. Their first anniversary apart shouldn't be something to add to the list, but yet here it was.

Blaine read on, suddenly eager to see what else Kurt had decided was worth a mention.

_**You've known me better than I know myself for a long time now - I can't even pinpoint when that happened. Sure, I still surprise you, but you seem to know what I want or need even before I can figure it out and the way you provide for me and look after me is the most beautiful thing in my life. This had always been my dream but it had been unrealistic, unattainable. Someone like you was never meant to love me.**_

_**I know now that's wrong. I know we were meant to love each other.**_

Running his thumb over the smudge on the page, Blaine laughed quietly. Apparently Kurt hadn't kept it together either.

_**And if that hadn't been clear all through high school and while we survived a year apart, it was made so on that first day you joined me in New York.**_

* * *

_Kurt was in his final exam for the year when Blaine arrived at the apartment. Rachel let him in on her way out - she was flying back to Ohio that afternoon to spend some time with Finn before bringing him back with her after Christmas to celebrate New Year's in New York with them. Kurt would go back for Christmas too but not until the week before, leaving a good two weeks of time in New York._

_Time that Kurt had thought he would be spending alone, getting the place ready for Blaine to move in after Christmas when they came together. _

_Blaine spun in a slow circle, taking in the small apartment. He had seen plenty of photos and even gotten a video tour via Skype, but there was nothing like seeing it for the first time properly. After all, this was his new home and Blaine wanted to make the most of it._

_He tossed his bag in Kurt's bedroom - their bedroom - and took that in for a few moments too before returning to the kitchen and setting to work. Kurt would be home at four according to Rachel and Blaine was planning to have the place perfectly set up. Not with some romantic evening; there was plenty of time for those in the future once they were used to being together. No, tonight was about preparing for how things were to be._

_At half past three a homemade pizza was sitting on the counter, music was playing and _WALL-E _(their all time guilty pleasure relaxation movie) was in the player, paused at the beginning. Everything was homely and comfortable and exactly what Blaine had wanted when the door opened, admitting his boyfriend. "Rachel? I thought you'd left already."_

"_She has, it's just me." Blaine poked his head out of the kitchen, smiling and trying not to let it turn into a smug grin when Kurt dropped his bag in shock. "I made pizza for dinner. How was school, sweetheart?"_

_Kurt caught on immediately. "Great now that exams are over. It sure is nice coming home to you, though."_

_Blaine held out a hand and Kurt took it, allowing himself to be drawn in and kissed. "Any chance you could run down to the store and grab some drinks? We seem to be out." The look he received was far more meaningful but Kurt agreed, heading back out the door. And by the time he had returned, dinner was ready and waiting, as was Blaine. They ate together, Kurt chatting about his exams, Blaine simply listening._

_It was only when they were curled up on the couch together, Kurt half-asleep in his arms that it was finally acknowledged. "It is so good to finally have you here," Kurt murmured._

"_Welcome to the rest of our lives," Blaine whispered back._

* * *

_**I love surprising you but I love being surprised by you more. And I always thought I was the silly romantic but you, Mr. Anderson-Hummel, are a hopeless romantic.**_

_**Is there such a thing as loving someone too much?**_

"No."

_**I didn't think so.**_

_**I love you in ways I never thought possible. I love you in the simple - coffee in the mornings, leaving an umbrella out on a rainy day for you, cooking your bacon for that extra twenty seconds because I know how you like it. I love you in the elaborate - the piano for your twenty first, flying to Paris for the weekend two years ago because we loved each other and could, our proposal -**_

Of course it didn't exactly count as a first because it was the only one, but Blaine still couldn't help but reminisce over the proposal. Kurt had been the one to do it and had timed it very well - another few days and Blaine would have started ring shopping. Of course they were always on the same wavelength.

* * *

_They were in Ohio, visiting Kurt's family for a few days as they often did. Blaine loved it, loved seeing Kurt at ease with the people he loved and loved the acceptance he got from Kurt's family as well. This time Rachel was back with them as well and Mike and Tina were in town at the same time so they all convened at the Lima Bean, meeting up with Puck, Santana, Brittany and Quinn as well. Blaine had run into a few of the old Warbler boys on his way in as well and stopped to chat with them for a few moments before they took a seat at the next table over._

_It was comfortable and homely and they rarely ever met up like this anymore and Blaine loved it._

_Kurt insisted on ordering their coffees and took quite a bit longer than usual to return. Blaine, being caught up in talking with the others, barely noticed until Kurt was returning, placing his cup on the table in front of him with a sugar packet beside it. "Sorry, hands were full, couldn't put it in for you."_

"_That's alright," Blaine said absently, popping the lid off as he turned his attention back to Mike who was mid way through a story. "So what did she -?"_

_He froze. _

_There was no coffee in his cup. Instead, lifting the lid had revealed a string with a ring dangling off the end of it._

_An _engagement _ring._

_Blaine slowly turned to face Kurt who hadn't taken his seat. Instead of standing beside him, however, Kurt had dropped to one knee next to his chair, reaching out to take Blaine's free hand. "Blaine," he said quietly, his voice a beautiful mix of nervousness and excitement, "I love you. I can't and don't want to remember life without you and I don't ever want to let you go. So I want to make it official. Blaine Anderson -" Kurt suddenly broke off with a laugh. "Blaine Warbler," he corrected. "Will you marry me?"_

"_You're actually asking that question," Blaine stated flatly. Kurt's smile disappeared and he nodded, once, uncertainly. "You're asking that question like there's any answer I could give but yes."_

"_So," Kurt began slowly, his eyes lighting up again, "that's a…?"_

"_Yes!"_

_Kurt jumped to his feet, tugging Blaine with him and wrapping him in his arms, kissing him thoroughly. Applause broke out around them and then they were both grinning, laughing giddily to the point where they couldn't continue kissing and had to break away. The lid was still in Blaine's hand and Kurt unknotted the ring before slipping it onto Blaine's finger, running his thumb over it. "My fiance," he whispered._

_Blaine kissed him again, letting it say everything words couldn't._

* * *

_**And I just love you in that way that words can't express. I can always feel it when you kiss me, right back even when we weren't calling it love.**_

_**But I can feel it a lot more when you and I make love. It's called that for a reason and I understand that reason now. Sex is about giving every part of yourself over to someone, leaving yourself completely vulnerable and open to anything. And if the person loves you back, then it's about getting love from that person too in such a strong way that again, no words can describe. **_

_**Our first time was perfect and I am so so glad it was with you.**_

* * *

_They had gone back to Blaine's house - empty of course - after the play. They hadn't stopped touching either; holding hands on the drive over, kisses, brushing legs and bodies together as they climbed the stairs to Blaine's room. Just small ways to reassure themselves that they were both here and no matter what had happened the past few days, they were together._

_Blaine had been terrified that he would lose Kurt over it. Waking up hungover had immediately sent off warning signals that he had screwed up and once he had sobered up and remembered, it was all Blaine could do not to leave, go back to Dalton and hide because of course Kurt would never want to talk to him again. Kurt loved romance and Blaine had tried to force him into sex in the backseat of his car. _

_But he had gone on, gone to school, prepared for opening night and worked his way through the performance which was truly the easiest thing of all. Slipping into the role of Tony meant he didn't have to be Blaine for a little while, didn't have to deal with the ways Blaine had screwed up._

_And instead of the after party, he had elected to stay back and work on perfecting something he had gotten wrong, something he could actually fix with practice. At that point he was sure he would never be able to fix things with Kurt._

_He should have known his boyfriend better._

_So there they were, standing in Blaine's room and for all of Kurt's confidence there were still nervous vibes rolling off him and Blaine understood because this was actually huge. This was sex for the first time when they hadn't so much as touched one another yet - not like that anyway - and it had so much potential to be awkward and painful and embarrassing and something they would regret. _

_But Blaine couldn't focus on that. Instead he put a hand on Kurt's shoulder and turned to him calmly. "Do you want to top?"_

_Kurt burst into laughter. Not his usual easygoing laugh but high, almost hysterical and near unstoppable. Blaine pressed their foreheads together, waiting it out, knowing this was just Kurt's nerves leaving his system in the only way they could. "If there's any kind of bedroom etiquette, I think you just broke it," Kurt finally said and Blaine just smiled. "I don't know. I mean, I have no idea what I'm doing and this is our first time and I could just screw it all up really really badly."_

"_We're both virgins," Blaine said, his voice still calm even though his insides were twisting into a bundle of nerves themselves. "I've never done this either. But you seem to be more nervous than me so I think it's better if you take control."_

"_But I don't want to do this to you and hurt you and -"_

"_Okay hold on." Blaine stopped him, pulling away a little and taking him over to the bed, sitting them both down on the edge. "You aren't doing anything to me, just like I wouldn't be doing anything to you. We're doing this together. This is about both of us, okay?"_

_And Blaine watched as the last of Kurt's terror left his eyes. "Okay," he agreed._

_Of course it wasn't perfect. There was awkwardness - how they would lie, how undressed they would get, working out how they both liked it, working up to the actual act of sex itself. There was pain but Blaine had expected that and ended up being the one coaxing Kurt through it while he adjusted. And then there was pleasure and abandonment of restraint and barriers and simple pure love._

_And when Kurt finally turned to face him after they had both come down with the loveliest smile Blaine had ever seen, he knew there would be no regrets. _

_It wasn't perfect but it was perfect for them._

* * *

_**Whoever it was that said you never forget your first time was right. And I know even if we weren't together now, I would never forget that night. It was the night I knew we were inseparable.**_

_**Many people seemed to think we were, of course. I know my dad was worried about how strong our feelings seemed for each other, about how we used 'the L word' after only a few months of dating and of course the freak out when he found out that we were having sex. But that was just because his experiences with high school relationships were that it's about finding yourself, that the first relationship doesn't last and it's just the one to learn how others should work. So part of him thought I was going to get badly heartbroken and it would affect me for the rest my life, and the other part worried that I would break your heart. He's always liked you a lot. **_

_**New Directions didn't understand. I mean, of course Mike and Tina did but even they weren't each other's first partners. Nobody else in that group ended up with their first and only love and I think a few of them definitely saw us as naive, especially when you followed me to New York. Scratch that, I know it, because they came and told me on our wedding day and took it back. **_

_**The Warblers seemed fairly neutral - you'll know of their opinions better than I do - but obviously there was Sebastian who just didn't understand the beauty of a committed relationship. I'm glad he and Dave worked that out.**_

_**But we always knew. And that was all that mattered because nobody knew us like we knew each other. Nobody does.**_

Kurt's handwriting suddenly changed.

_**So it's been two hours and guess where I just went? Naturally over to Rachel and Finn's place to sort out yet another domestic and prevent Rachel from leaving.**_

Blaine rolled his eyes. He would say he could recall the day but unfortunately it was quite common for Rachel to threaten to leave Finn for being insensitive or for Finn to get irritated by Rachel's diva-ness and start a fight. And for some reason they always called Kurt and Blaine to see if one of them could come over and mediate for them. Of course, they always went.

_**I'm just waiting for Rachel to finally realize that Finn would be so much happier back in Ohio - obviously he's happy otherwise he wouldn't stay in New York but I can just see him coaching the football team, occasionally helping out the Glee club and just being comfortable. New York is too fast-paced for him and yes, he has a great job but -**_

_**Why am I talking about Finn and Rachel? This is about us?**_

Blaine chuckled, smoothing down the paper fondly. He kind of loved it when Kurt got off topic.

_**I actually wasn't sure if Rachel would ever leave, especially when we started planning the wedding and she was still showing no inclination of finding her own place. Thank god Finn showed up when he did with the job offer and the thought that maybe instead of both of them living with us like Rachel had suggested, they could find their own place.**_

_**I never thought I'd say it, but thank god for Finn being intelligent.**_

_**So then it was just us, a newly wedded couple in our own apartment, you recording your first proper EP, me starting my new line of designs, happy and in love and enjoying just being the two of us.**_

_**Of course that didn't last for long either, did it?**_

* * *

_He breached the subject carefully, picking a day when Kurt was in a good mood but not the kind where all he wanted to do was talk about why he was so cheerful._

"_I've been thinking," Blaine said carefully as he put away the last of the dishes, pausing as Kurt drained the dishwater out of the sink. "Have you ever thought that it gets a little… quiet around here?"_

"_With you on the piano or guitar half the time and our friends always visiting with no notice?" Kurt raised an eyebrow as they headed into the living room. "Not particularly."_

_Blaine shrugged, watching in amusement as Kurt sprawled on his back on the couch before joining him, fitting their bodies together and resting his head on his husband's shoulder. "Okay, quiet was the wrong word. How about… empty? I mean, we have quite a big place here and it's just us."_

_And it was true - their apartment was four bedroomed and with one as their room and the other as an office, there was a lot of unused room around the house. Of course Kurt had decorated so perfectly that nobody would be able to tell that they never went into the spare room but it was still a large place for two people. _

"_Blaine, if you're thinking about renting out one of the rooms, you can forget it. Apparently Artie and Quinn tried that and they ended up with a drug user. And not just pot, this was serious IV stuff."_

"_How did I not hear about this?" Blaine asked, his curiosity peaked. "What happened?"_

"_They ended up calling the police and the guy's in some rehab clinic, I think. But is that enough to show you that we don't want randoms sleeping under our roof?"_

_Blaine kissed his neck, feather light touches, and felt Kurt shiver a little. "I wasn't thinking that," he murmured against Kurt's skin. "Definitely not some random."_

"_You want my dad to come stay here or something? Or -" Kurt stopped, sucking in a breath. "Wait. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"_

_Blaine smiled up at him. "I might be. I know it's kind of a big step which is why I wanted to talk it over with you and you might be totally against it and it's okay if you are, not everybody wants to, but I'm kind of one of the ones who really does."_

_Kurt seemed to be struggling with his reply. "Of course I'm not against it," he finally got out. "I just - well, I thought we'd wait a little while before we went down that path."_

"_That is totally cool but… well, why?"_

_Another long silence. "You know," Kurt said, his tone thoughtful, "I'm not sure. Maybe - maybe it is something we could start talking about. I'm not completely sure -"_

"_Neither am I," Blaine said immediately. "I'm pretty sure, I mean, I have wanted to for ages now but it's a commitment in itself and something we both need to agree to. I just thought we could, you know, start looking around and maybe start buying some of the stuff we'd need."_

_Kurt nodded. "Yeah. I like the sound of that."_

_They shared a smile before Blaine spoke up again. "Okay, so we've both got the day off tomorrow, I was thinking we could stop by the store first and then maybe fill out some paperwork, visit the pound -"_

"_Woah!" Kurt sat up, Blaine struggling not to fall off the couch as he did. "Okay, this might be moving a little too fast for me, I mean, I just agreed and - hold on. Did you say… pound?"_

"_Yeah." Blaine shrugged. "If you want to go to the pet shop that's fine but there's a lot of animals out there who don't have a good home and may never get one and I just thought -"_

"_Blaine?"_

_Blaine paused, watching Kurt closely. "What's wrong?"_

_"You - oh my god. You were talking about getting a _pet_?"_

"_What did you think I was -?" And the pieces connected. "Oh my god," Blaine repeated. "You thought I was talking about getting a kid?"_

"_Well you have to admit, it sounded like it!" Kurt pressed a shaking hand to his eyes, surprising Blaine because, yeah, it had been a mix up but was it really that bad? "So… okay. Okay, so we're getting a pet instead. Not a kid. You want a pet, not a kid."_

_And he understood._

_"Kurt, hey, not like that," Blaine hastened to explain. "Of course I want to adopt with you someday, of _course_. And I was definitely planning for us to have that conversation sometime, to sit down properly and work out what we both want. But like you said, it's still early and for us to adopt when we're only newlyweds would be moving too fast, I completely agree. But I want to, believe me."_

_Kurt lowered his hand and Blaine took it in his own reassuringly. "Okay," he said again, his voice calmer. "What kind of pet?"_

"_I want a cat," Blaine said immediately._

_Kurt began to laugh. "Oh sweetheart, you sound like you're five," he explained when Blaine frowned in confusion. "But that sounds good to me, I've never been much of a dog person."_

"_It has to be a tabby," Blaine continued. "I mean, nobody appreciates that they're actually beautiful. And I'd like a boy because boy cats are generally friendlier."_

"_You're so picky."_

_Blaine rested his chin on Kurt's shoulder and smiled up at him charmingly. "You love me."_

"_I wouldn't dream of stopping."_

* * *

_**Probably one of your better ideas, I have to say. Getting that cat taught us how to be responsible for something else - though I still believe we did a great job taking care of Rory in high school - and to share each other with another thing.**_

_**That said, I had hoped it would teach you self restraint but you still insist on feeding the blasted thing at least four treats a day and I swear, Blaine, we have the fattest cat in New York.**_

Yeah, Blaine would give Kurt that one because it was kind of true.

_**But I still love it, and I still love you. And I love that we worked out right from that moment that one day, we would end up with children of our own.**_

_**Now might be a good time to confess something to you actually. It might also be a horrible time but I need to get it out anyway. Before we had that conversation - and yes, I mean the one where we got horridly mixed up - I actually… well, Blaine, don't take this badly, okay? Don't stop reading or anything. But I didn't actually want kids.**_

Blaine stopped reading, staring at the page in shock. "Kurt?" he whispered, begging the paper to actually reply, to tell him that it wasn't true and of course Kurt didn't regret it and Blaine didn't force him into it and he wasn't sure if he could keep reading, not without Kurt to explain.

Of course he had to. It was the only way he would find out what was going on.

_**I know you're freaking out now, sweetheart, so let me just make a few things clear. No, you did not force me into making this decision, I made it completely of my own. No, I do not regret choosing to adopt with you. And yes, I love Holly with my whole heart and after marrying you, it's the best thing I've ever done. Okay? Breathe.**_

With a rueful chuckle, Blaine forced himself to calm back down. It wasn't often anymore that he got that worried over something Kurt said because he had learned by now that there was always an explanation. Kurt may be unpredictable but he always had a reason behind what he was doing.

_**Besides, don't you remember the first time we laid eyes on her? Do you honestly think I could ever see her with anything but love?**_

No. And neither could Blaine.

* * *

"_So here's the toddler room!"_

_The woman pushed open the door to reveal a playroom with about ten children running around inside. A few of them glanced over in interest at the newcomers but immediately went back to playing. "Oh my goodness," Kurt whispered._

"_I'll leave you to it for a few minutes, give you time to decide if this is what you want and then we can start talking specifics."_

_Blaine was barely aware of the woman leaving as he stared at all of the children. It was only Kurt grabbing his arm tighter, that drew his attention away and back to his husband. "Are you okay?" he murmured._

"_Yeah. __I __just __- __wow. __This __is _real_.__"_

_Blaine nodded, understanding. "Want to split up and -" Kurt's grip tightened again. "Okay. That's okay, we can walk around together -"_

"_Not that," Kurt said and Blaine frowned, realizing that Kurt wasn't looking at him but across the room. "Look at her."_

_Blaine scanned the room once quickly. "Kurt, there's six girls in here, you'll need to be more -" It was his turn to cut himself off. "Oh."_

"_She looks just like her."_

"_I know."_

_Together they crossed the room, heading to the small table in the corner where a young girl was sitting, colouring in. Unlike all of the other children, she was quiet and Blaine suddenly felt ill at ease about the situation - not about the girl but about why she wasn't playing with the others. "Hi," Kurt said as they reached the table, kneeling in front of her._

_She looked up, frowning but not looking too surprised. Blaine supposed the kids were used to people coming through. "Hello," she said quietly. "Who are you?"_

"_I'm Kurt and this is my husband Blaine," Kurt replied in a tone softer than Blaine had ever heard. "And what's your name?"_

"_Holly," came the reply and the girl put down her crayon, turning to face them properly. "But you don't want to talk to me. You want Felicity or Stephen."_

_Kurt and Blaine swapped a look, their suspicions confirmed. Popularity and bullying, no matter how small, started at a young age and this girl was already a victim. Used to being overlooked by potential adopters in favor of the 'better' kids, the ones who were louder and more outgoing. Blaine was certain that Holly was used to sitting in the corner while people looked around, knowing it wouldn't be her day today either. _

"_Well, I don't know about that," Blaine said, drawing the girls attention to him. "We're pretty happy over here talking to you. Besides, that looks like a Disney princesses colouring book you've got there and I know Kurt loves the princesses."_

_Holly's eyes lit up with a careful hope that she was clearly trying to conceal. "Do you want to colour in Belle?" she asked, turning back to Kurt._

_Kurt grinned at her. "Belle's my favourite," he said, moving over so he could share the book and picking up a yellow crayon. "And oh, you've got Snow White, I love her as well."_

"_Me too."_

_Blaine could only stare for a few moments, watching the two colour together. Kurt was clearly focusing purposefully on the book but Blaine could see Holly glance over at him every few seconds as if to check that he was really there, really wanting to be with her. _

_Kurt only looked up once, to lock eyes with Blaine and nod. Just once, but it was clear. _

"_I might go back and find Ms. Stanford," Blaine said as Kurt finished shading Belle's dress. Holly looked up and Blaine knew half of her was trying to resign herself to the fact that they were going to leave without her. But another half was wondering if maybe, just maybe, it was her turn. Blaine looked at Kurt who nodded again and he smiled. "Holly, how would you feel about us coming back to see you again in a few days?"_

_Kurt was literally holding his breath, Blaine could tell, because this was the important moment. Coming back to see Holly again would count as the first proper visit, the second step to obtaining her as their daughter. But it was up to her - if Holly didn't want them as her dads, then they would never force it._

_He needn't have worried. That hope that the girl had been trying to stifle all burst out, lighting up her face and revealing the most beautiful smile. "I'd love that."_

"_So would we," Kurt told her. "Holly, we have to go back home now but we will come back. We promise."_

"_Can I hug you?"_

_And now Kurt was the one smiling in delight. "Of course you can."_

_Holly threw her arms around him, all earlier resolve to hold back clearly gone. Kurt hugged her back and Blaine could see the pure contentment on his face, understanding completely when Holly broke away and turned to hug Blaine. _

_It was like she belonged and Blaine could tell immediately that she did. _

"_I don't want to leave her," Kurt whispered as they walked out of the room. "I know it's silly but… Blaine, it's like she's ours already. I want her."_

"_It's not silly," Blaine assured him. "I feel exactly the same."_

_They walked in silence for a few seconds before Kurt finally vocalized it. "She looked just like my mom when she was little."_

_Blaine wrapped an arm around his husband. "I know. Just another thing to make her even more special."_

"_And more perfect for us."_

* * *

_**And now you're probably glaring at the paper because not only do you miss me, you now miss Holly too.**_

"I hate you sometimes, Kurt," Blaine grumbled, furiously wiping the tears from his cheeks. One dropped to the paper right next to Kurt's smudge and he laughed, shaking his head. "Of course I love you a million times more."

And Holly too, of course. Their little girl had officially been theirs for just over a year and a half now and Blaine couldn't imagine life without her. It didn't matter that she wasn't biologically theirs in any way, she was _their _daughter, both in name and more importantly in love. And in response to that, Holly had come out of her shell and by the first day of school could be confident in who she was.

Blaine loved her.

They had been talking about a second child too, perhaps next year when life was a little more settled. After all, they were thinking about going that one step further and either adopting a baby or going for surrogacy and that was _huge_. But they both knew it was what they truly wanted.

Closing his eyes, Blaine had to take a second to just stop and wonder. If someone had told him back as a freshman at Westerville High that one day he would be happily married to another man, living in New York, touring as a headlining artist around the _world_ and thinking about adopting a second child, he would have told them to stop teasing him. He knew the same had applied for Kurt and god, if he could build a time machine now he would, just to go back and tell their teenage selves that it _did _get better.

But he was here now. The past was the past and he had Kurt, even if right now all he had was a letter.

Flipping the page, Blaine saw it was the final one and had to sigh. Yes, he could re-read the letter but after awhile he would have to put it away and go to bed alone with nobody to hold in his arms and wish a happy anniversary to, nobody to tell how much he loved them. He couldn't even say goodnight to his daughter.

_**Don't be too sad, okay? I know it's hard being away for so long and even though I'm writing this before you leave, just know that we're missing you like crazy back here too, but you'll be home soon. You'll be back with your family, with an amazing experience behind you.**_

_**Focus on the music. You'll get through.**_

_**But while we're focusing on beautiful things, there's just one more memory I want to bring to you. And we've been through a lot together, Blaine, but this will probably always be my favourite. **_

And immediately Blaine knew what Kurt was talking about. It was his too.

_**Even then, even after everything that had happened in the month or so prior, you knew me. Yeah, you'd made a few mistakes but when it came down to what really mattered, you did everything right.**_

_**I was worried, you know? I worried that if we did ever end up getting back together, you'd be so much of a gentleman that you would worry too much about the Karofsky stuff combined with the **_**Animal _debacle to ever make a move on me. And that's what I really needed - I needed someone to chase after me, to give me things instead of taking what I had always offered._**

_**You figured that out.**_

* * *

_Blaine had never been so nervous in his life. But it was his determination that pushed him through that doorway and into the room where Kurt was sitting. "What's that?" he asked even though he could figure out what it was for himself; there needed to be some kind of conversation starter. Walking into a room and announcing that he actually quite liked Kurt wasn't really the best of ideas._

_That said, it was probably a shade better than telling Kurt to 'finish up' decorating the casket because um, _ouch_? But luckily Kurt either didn't notice or care, smiling up at Blaine like he always, did talking about the songs and - there it was._

_Blaine saw the moment when Kurt's face changed, the expression just that little bit more quizzical and he had clicked, understood that there was more to this than just a duet, more than just Blaine realizing that things needed to be fairer in the Warblers. This was more. _

_He barely kept it together his nerves were that high. Of course Blaine knew Kurt had been interested on Valentine's Day but he had screwed up again since then, they had argued, he had gotten drunk and made out with Rachel and of course they had also sorted everything out but Blaine knew that they were both teenagers, feelings changed as evidenced by his brief outcry of 'love' towards Jeremiah. _

_But what he had felt for Kurt during Blackbird was something Blaine had never experienced before (as cliche as it sounded). It wasn't like he was falling for Kurt, instead like he always had, he had just been trying to find Kurt -_

"_Oh, there you are. I've been looking for you forever."_

_He had continued talking, rambling even, just trying to find the words that would make it right, the words that would actually say exactly what his heart had been telling him the past few days. Finally he he just shut his eyes and went with what his gut was telling him._

"_You moved me, Kurt."_

_And _oh_, the way Kurt looked at him, and that was it. Blaine couldn't wait any longer to lean in, kissing Kurt with everything he had, putting in every word he could never vocalize (I'm sorry I'm so sorry it took me so long and I did so many stupid things along the way but I'm here now and I'm all yours please let me please don't ever let me go please be mine too.)_

_As soon as Kurt started kissing him back, Blaine could feel the rush of Kurt's own words as their lives collided and stayed._

* * *

Kurt had said earlier that he knew they would never be parted on the night they made love for the first time. Blaine knew it from the moment they kissed.

_**You made me feel like I was everything you had ever wanted, like Jeremiah had never existed, like neither of our pasts mattered, like it didn't even matter that our first kiss was over a table with a coffin on it. All that mattered was each other. **_

_**I knew i was in love with you then. I had been calling it love since that Christmas but that was because love was always the word that had been thrown around McKinley when one person talked about their feelings for another. But when you kissed me and when I kissed you back and when it was us kissing… I knew. I just knew. **_

_**We've been through so much together, Blaine. So many firsts that we shared with only each other, that I couldn't dream of having gone through without you. Sometimes I try to think of what it would be like waking up next to someone else and I can't get more than a few seconds into the thought before my mind shuts it down. There is simply nobody else out there for me but you.**_

_**I wish I could keep writing this letter forever but all good things have to come to an end at some time. That said, we haven't yet, so I desperately hope we are the exception to that rule. **_

_**We've been the exception to many rules.**_

_**Somedays I'm sure this is all one huge dream by my teenage self and I'll wake up alone and without you and still crushing on Finn. I could never take a day with you for granted - you're always doing something to make me smile or show me how much you love me and it's on those days that I'm sure that you're not real, that you're too perfect to exist and even if you do, you surely can't love **_**me_._**

_**But I can't look a gift horse in the mouth and I never will and I'll keep pinching myself every day if that's what it takes.**_

_**Even writing your name helps. Blaine Anderson-Hummel. My husband.**_

_**I love you with my whole heart and I will never stop. Through the good and the bad, through everything that life throws at us, we have always been together. Two parts of a whole. You are my favourite person in the whole world and the best thing that has ever happened to me and they haven't invented words that express how much I love you. I don't think they ever will.**_

_**I miss you and I can't wait to see you again, to hold you and kiss you and touch you and be with you in every way possible. **_

_**I love you, Blaine Anderson-Hummel.**_

_**Love Kurt.**_

The tears were falling hard as Blaine pressed his fingers to his lips and placed them on Kurt's name. He was smiling, even as the tears continued to stream down his face, because no matter how much distance was between them, no matter what they had been through and what they would still go through, their love lasted. Their love was real and true and everything Blaine had only dreamed of and he knew with an absolute certainty that his heart would never stop loving Kurt Anderson-Hummel.

And then words below Kurt's signature caught his eye and Blaine wiped away his tears hurriedly to read the postscript.

_**P.S. You have an amazing manager, Blaine. Andrea was very informative when I asked her about your schedule and where you would be staying each time. Which is why I know full well that you are currently sitting in Room 212 of Auckland's Hilton thinking that this letter is the only way you'll get to be with me on our anniversary.**_

_**Turn around, beautiful.**_

The letter fell from trembling fingers to drift to the floor as Blaine stood, nearly tripping over himself in his haste to turn around.

The love of his life was standing in the doorway, smiling at him. "Hope you don't mind me stopping in," Kurt said softly. "But I couldn't go another day without telling my husband how much I love him."

"Oh my god, _Kurt!_"

Kurt dropped his bag in the doorway and all but flew into Blaine's arms, hugging him tighter than he ever had before. Blaine could feel every muscle on Kurt's back under his fingers as he held him, quite unable to think of insignificant things like breathing or not crushing Kurt's ribs when Kurt was _here_. Their lips connected feverishly, urgently, hardly even counting as a kiss but not mattering in the slightest when all they needed was that connection.

Since Blaine's Senior year of high school, this was the longest they had spent apart. Fashion Week nearly always split them and occasionally one would need to go away for anywhere up to two weeks. But six weeks without each other was too long after they had spent so many years building their lives around one another and all they could do now was hold one another and be sure that they were together again and still together.

Finally they found themselves settled on the bed, Kurt in Blaine's arms, completely unable to let one another go and neither one caring in the least. "How?" Blaine asked, breaking the silence that had been lingering for a few minutes.

"I planned it before you left," Kurt explained. "I wrote the letter, contacted Andrea, booked a flight and then figured out what time I'd be able to set this up for."

"Did you just get in?"

Kurt shook his head. "I knew I'd be jetlagged. I got in yesterday, I'm -" he broke off with a laugh. "I'm actually just down the hall from you in 229."

"You mean to tell me," Blaine began, his voice low, "that you've been down the hall _all __day_ and you waited until now?"

Kurt tilted his head back with an innocent smile. "Yes."

Blaine grabbed Kurt firmly around the waist and twisted him so they were facing each other. "You _minx_."

"You love me."

"Oh my god, you have no idea how much," Blaine murmured, pressing his forehead against Kurt's and closing his eyes. "I just can't believe you're here, baby, this means the world to me." And then the horrible thought struck him, forcing his eyes open to meet Kurt's. "How long do I have until you're gone?"

Kurt smiled lazily at him. "I'm on your flight home. Call it a second honeymoon - I hear New Zealand is beautiful this time of year."

"You're here all _week_?" Kurt nodded and Blaine squeezed him tighter, kissing him repeatedly until Kurt broke away, laughing. "Where's Holly?"

"Rachel and Finn have her. Good practice for them." Blaine frowned, feeling like he should understand what Kurt was saying and his husband's smile just grew. "Rachel's pregnant. And now that she's off the stage for the next few years, they're moving back to Ohio at the end of the year so Finn can take the football coach position when Coach Bieste retires."

Blaine shook his head helplessly. "Any more news to throw at me or can I die happy now?"

Kurt pretended to think. "No, you're free to die. Except you're really not because this is the first time I've seen you in six weeks and I quite like you alive."

"I don't actually know how we've survived. I mean, now that I have you here, I can't understand how I went so long without you here."

"I know," Kurt said, pressing closer to him. "But at least we know that after five years of marriage, we're not any less in love."

"And no more separable."

Kurt lightly rubbed their noses together and Blaine smiled as memories hit him again. "I love you."

"I love you too," Blaine whispered back. "I love that I'll get to sleep with you tonight and not even in the sexual meaning, just that I can hold you in my arms and then wake up next to you."

"The bed has been so empty without you," Kurt admitted. "I'm going back to high school days and hugging pillows."

"I would have starved to death without room service. You spoil me rotten with your cooking."

"Holly is the only thing in that house that keeps me sane. If she weren't there, I'd be at the office for every waking hour because it's not the same without you there."

"I never thought it would be this lonely."

"Neither."

They both sighed, finally letting in the emotions they had been blocking out for the past six weeks. No matter how old they were, no matter how comfortable and easy their relationship was, no matter how much they knew the other person was coming back, neither one had ever adjusted to being apart.

Blaine finally chuckled as he realized. "Look at us. We're together again for the first time in six weeks and all we can do is talk about how sad we were for the past six weeks."

"I know," Kurt sighed, rolling his eyes. "I can think of a much better use for those lips, Mr. Anderson-Hummel."

And it was definitely no hardship to give Kurt exactly what he wanted - kissing him until both of their heads were spinning and it was just like being a teenager again because they didn't _need _any more than this to express their love. Of course they would, but that was for a later time and right now all Blaine wanted to do was cuddle with his husband and sleep.

"You know, I really should take you out for dinner or something," Kurt mumbled as Blaine eased them back so they were lying down, Kurt snuggling into his side immediately. "It's our anniversary."

"If you shower me with any more love, I may implode," Blaine informed him matter-of-factly, smiling when Kurt laughed tiredly. "We can do that tomorrow night and even be tourists when I'm not performing. Right now we're not leaving this bed, okay?"

No response and Blaine glanced down to see Kurt's face relaxed and soft with sleep. Smiling he leaned down and kissed his forehead, letting his fingers card through Kurt's hair as he settled in for sleep - the best nights sleep he had gotten in the past six weeks, Blaine knew, and he hadn't even had it yet.

"Happy anniversary, Kurt," he whispered as his eyes fluttered closed.

* * *

**That concludes the final prompt chapter for _Kiss_ and the longest chapter of the series. I would love to hear your thoughts.**

**Stay tuned for the epilogue tomorrow night.**


	234. Epilogue

**This story ****holds over 670,000 words making it the longest story on this site,**** climbed over the 11,000 review mark, has over a thousand favourites and alerts, and is only a few hits from 1.5 million. I am absolutely blown away by everything I have received in response to my submissions to this site. Thank you.**

**It has been a pleasure to have you along for the ride. **

* * *

Epilogue_  
_

_Another one._

This time it was during summer, floating in the middle of a lake with the sun beating down on them and Kurt's lips pressed up gently against his, kissing each other like it was the only thing that mattered and -

This had to _stop_.

Blaine accidentally squeezed too much gel out onto his hand and glared at the bottle for a few minutes before realizing that it wasn't the fault of his hair gel that he was having romantic dreams about his best friend. It was his own but try as he might, Blaine couldn't do a thing about it.

It wasn't as bad as it could be, he knew. After hearing some of the dreams David had been having about his girlfriend last year, it could _definitely _be worse. He wasn't imagining Kurt naked or wanting to do wanton things to him - instead, all he wanted to do was kiss him. Many times in many different ways.

Which didn't make sense because he didn't _like _Kurt.

Oh, of course he liked Kurt as his friend, cared about him a lot as a _friend_ but that was where Blaine drew the line. After everything that had happened over the past month, the other people Blaine had been interested in or thought he was interested in, Kurt had never been one of them so no, Blaine wasn't harboring some secret crush on his friend. At least if he was, it was so secret that even he didn't know about it and yeah, his feelings had been mixed up lately but surely he wasn't _that _oblivious?

The main problem in Blaine's mind was that he actually liked the dreams. He knew he shouldn't - Kurt was his _best __friend _after all - but for someone who had only ever kissed a few people and hadn't properly kissed someone in quite some time (Rachel was definitely not included in that factor), it was easy to slip into fantasies, memories about how it felt to kiss and be kissed. And if his dreams were providing him with a means to do that, then why look a gift horse in the mouth?

(Because it's _Kurt_, his brain reminded him.)

Blaine didn't even know if Kurt was a good kisser but his dream self certainly was. He couldn't count the number of dreams he'd had but in almost every one their first kiss was a moment of sheer perfection under wonderful, exciting and sometimes incredibly strange circumstances. Like just the other night when Blaine had dreamt about Kurt coming and asking what boys lips tasted like and naturally they had experimented and Blaine had learnt that dream-Kurt's lips tasted _exquisite. _Or the one where Blaine had suddenly realized how he wanted to get the same attention Kurt gave to the girls except, you know, in a different way and they had ended up kissing outside the Lima Bean, a location where many of their kisses had taken place.

But they hadn't all been pleasant. A few mornings back Blaine had woken up in tears, honest to god crying because he and Kurt had just said goodbye because he was leaving for the military for four years. Even though it was ridiculous - Blaine was a complete pacifist and war just sounded _awful _- it was still enough to shake him to the core and make him hug Kurt just a little tighter that morning. Even if they weren't together, it was a horrible thought to not see Kurt for that long. And the night after Blaine had compared Kurt to Karofsky, the dream had been enough to get him running to Kurt the next morning and offering up a breathless apology for his awful choice of words - not for sticking up for himself, Blaine still stood by that, but for comparing Kurt to someone who had treated him so badly.

Maybe the dreams had helped, just a little.

But some were just plain confusing, especially when Blaine had experienced time travel and changed the future so he and Kurt could end up together which erred just a little on the wrong side of manipulative for his liking but was actually quite fun to experience. Though he had woken up wondering whether the timeline had changed before laughing at himself and going on with his day (after checking the date of course).

And the rest were just… well, nice. Curled up in an alcove with snow falling outside in the middle of a mega game of Sardines, at Kurt's father's wedding, after Kurt had fallen and ended up with scratches all over his face and Blaine had kissed them better, a conspiracy set up by the baristas at the Lima Bean to get them together, baking in the Dalton kitchen, snow, trees, rain… the list went on.

Somehow Blaine was managing to keep the dreams separate from his waking life but he also worried it wouldn't last for long.

Blaine always kept an eye out for Kurt every morning so he could greet him, something he had done ever since Kurt had started at Dalton. When his friend didn't arrive by first period, Blaine figured he was just running late, stuck in traffic like he had been a few times or simply spending longer than usual on his hair. It wasn't something to worry about - Blaine knew he would see Kurt in second period for Warbler practice.

First period was over before Blaine knew it, mostly because someone had mentioned sai swords near the start of the lesson and Blaine had remembered one of the many dreams he knew he had forgotten involving Kurt and some serious skills with sai swords - a reminisce that had taken up nearly all of the period. Resolving to find out if there was any truth to that, Blaine headed over to the choir room where the other Warblers were slowly arriving. Kurt's Literature class was right next door and when Blaine realized he wasn't in the room, he figured it was time to start worrying.

_Hey, just checking to see where you are and if everything's okay. Text me back if you need notes or something's wrong, okay? - Blaine_

Blaine shoved his phone back in his pocket just as Wes arrived to call the meeting to order. With Regionals so close there was no way he was going to risk angering the boy by doing anything that wasn't 'productive to helping the Warblers to Nationals for the first time in four years.'

That said, wearing the same uniform probably wasn't, and Blaine was mid-argument - how uptight did one have to be to worry about _piping_? - when the doors burst open and Kurt strode in.

It took less than a second for Blaine to realize that something was horridly, terribly wrong and his heart clenched as his first thought was Kurt's dad but no, Kurt wouldn't be here if that had happened and black was actually Kurt's colour and _not __the __time __Blaine._

When Kurt explained it was Pavarotti, Blaine could only feel the slightest bit of relief because as much as the Warblers would try to hide it, they all _loved _Pav. Blaine had spent his time with the bird when he had first arrived and as Kurt continued talking about his love for music and optimism, Blaine had to agree. As stupid as it sounded talking about a bird like that, it was all true.

So when Kurt wanted to sing, nobody was going to argue.

Blaine was too caught up in himself and his own sadness - not quite as grieving as Kurt but he still took a moment to remember the bird as he joined in the harmony without even thinking - to really take note until the end of the chorus. But when he finally glanced up, caught by the motion of Kurt moving across the room, caught in the sunlight -

_Oh._

And everything was _oh._

They had always said the best of revelations felt like being hit by a baseball bat, well someone must have just knocked Blaine over the head with a _B__eaters_ bat because everything had just _changed_.

No, of course it hadn't.

It had always been this way.

No longer could Blaine look at Kurt without seeing everything he had ever wanted. No longer would he be able to think of Kurt as just his 'really good friend', Kurt was someone he cared about more, someone he cherished, desired, _wanted_. Someone he had thought this way about for longer than just today but they were thoughts that he had locked away without even being aware of doing so. But that didn't even matter because he knew _now_ what he truly wanted (needed, even) and that was Kurt.

But not today, of course. Today Kurt needed him and Blaine came to his sense enough to discretely lead Kurt out of the room after his song while Wes coughed loudly and resumed business. Outside in the corridor it only took a second for Kurt to finally let out the last of the tears he had been holding back, sitting on the floor with his back to the wall and Blaine's arm around his shoulders, Blaine waiting.

Blaine would wait. Kurt had waited this long for him after all.

* * *

Being a rockstar had always been Blaine's dream and, as such, had appeared in his actual dreams as well. But never had it been quite like that, where the music had taken a secondary, a backseat to what was important. Until now, nothing had been more important in Blaine's life than getting out of this town, making a name of himself and doing the thing he loved forever. Kurt, it seemed, changed many things.

And now Blaine knew what to do about Kurt.

He had planned to go into the meeting with the utmost of tact, prepared to follow all of the rules about raising a point of order and fully explaining his reasoning - maybe not _that _fully, the Council didn't need to know how he had fallen quite madly for Kurt at some point and singing a duet (_Candles_, by _Hey Monday_, thank you very much for that one rockstar self) with him would hopefully make some dreams come true, quite literally. But as the conversation had followed its usual path and Kurt had looked more and more resigned to that fact, Blaine had snapped.

Of course it hadn't been a dramatic snap but the Warblers still acted like he had jumped on a chair and screamed out that show choir was a waste of time and the arts should lose all funding.

But he had gotten his point across and that was what mattered. The duet was approved, a grudging respect had been earned and Kurt looked like someone had kicked him in the best possible way.

Blaine winked at him, settled back in his chair and pondered the best way to bring it all up.

* * *

So, those dreams he had wanted to stop a mere few days ago?

_Lifesavers._

Blaine had woken up with tears on his cheeks and an impossibly content smile on his face, arms tightening before he realized Kurt wasn't there, they hadn't just been reunited after six weeks apart and they weren't married with a daughter (who Blaine was missing without having met, without the girl even _existing_). And wow, the fact that none of that was real actually _hurt_.

Blaine had the chance to set a foundation for that and he wanted it more than he had wanted a single damn thing in all of his life.

Forget elaborate planning, forget serenades and romantic dinners and putting in the weeks of effort to slowly woo Kurt that he had thought would be necessary. Blaine was going to go down there right now, find Kurt and tell him exactly how he felt.

Okay. Right now he was going to go to class. During free period he was going to find Kurt.

Class dragged on, as expected. Blaine spent the time running over all the possible things he could say to Kurt; all of the things his dream self had said that seemed to work suddenly sounded cheesy, too much, not enough, not right for the situation. And even though it was himself he was taking it from, Blaine kind of didn't want to use lines from someone else and suddenly time hit warp speed and there was the bell and oh, free period, time to find Kurt.

Oh.

_Relax_, he told himself as he began to wander through the common rooms of Dalton, searching. _It__'__s __fine. Y__ou__'__ll __be __fine. __Just __say __what__'__s __on __your __heart._

And there was Kurt and every logical word Blaine had thought of dried up and what was he _doing_ telling Kurt not to focus on the coffin and _emotional_, really? That was _all _he could say?

Blaine took a deep breath and focused before giving up again, just letting the words run because as broken and plain and _unromantic _as they probably were, they were the truth and anything else would sound rehearsed and wrong. All he could do was give himself to Kurt - his unsure, unromantic self - and hope it was enough.

He couldn't even focus on his words, anxiously watching Kurt for a reaction and - _oh._

Kurt had just _lit __up_. He was stunned, Blaine could tell, but the sheer hope in his eyes was so much, almost too much but not even close and Blaine had finally given him that instead of taking it away and now -

And now?

Blaine was out of words and Kurt didn't look like he was finding his own any time soon and _oh __hell __now __what?_

_Do you not realize those dreams were there for a reason?_

Blaine leaned in and kissed Kurt.

The dreams had been amazing. They had offered hundreds of possibilities, fantasies, ways that Blaine could have had a first kiss with Kurt to remember. Nearly every possibility had been covered and 'Blaine' had kissed or been kissed by 'Kurt' more times than he could remember.

He deepened the kiss; waiting, hoping.

They had left Blaine with a standard he wasn't sure he could live up to. So many times his dream self had seemed so much more confident and assured and in control than he was himself - granted, sometimes it was Kurt who was taking control and helping him out but even then Blaine felt like 'Blaine' knew what to do much better than he did. And naturally in the time he had spent waiting, leading up to this moment, he had been sure he would blow it, would never be able to give Kurt the truly romantic moment that he deserved, the moment that dream Kurt had experienced hundreds of times over and real Kurt (the Kurt he was _kissing_) had never had once.

And Kurt began to kiss him back, hand moving to cup his face; giving everything over.

The dreams were amazing and something that Blaine could remember for as long as he wanted, maybe even something he could share with Kurt one day. But they were just dreams and nothing in them had ever happened. Nothing had been as real as this and nothing had been as _amazing_ as this.

Nothing in the world could ever compare to the first time Blaine Anderson kissed Kurt Hummel.

* * *

**This series has been a pleasure to write but nothing will ever compare to the first real kiss between these two amazing characters.**

* * *

**A****nd the final MusicalEscape interp:**

_***happy sigh* "Blaine, I hope we get to grow old together. To spend our lives together. To get our happily ever after..."**_

_**"Yeah, like in Disney movies!"**_

_**"Hun, you're ruining the moment."**_

_**"Will it help if I told one of the little people that once inhabited my hair to go get you a smoooothie?"**_

_**"I swear to all that is holy, I will take your Harry Potter books and tear them up and bury them where the sun don't shine-"**_

_**And they lived happily ever after, in NYC, with a puppy and 12 children, and little people from Blaine's hair serving them. And cake. Lots of cake. Because every happy ending needs cake.**_

* * *

**Final A/N: Always remember what Glee is all about - opening yourself up to joy. To experiencing everything you can from life, to making those moments where your heart sings and the ones where it is simply and utterly content. To love and be loved and love love. To find things that make you so happy you could burst and absorbing them into your life completely, even if people can never understand why.**

**Writing this series has given me that joy and I hope you have experienced a little bit of it yourself from reading it. **


End file.
